This includes a small amount of electricity (indirect emissions) as well as all direct emissions from burning fossil fuels to power transport activities. Rice accounted for 551 kilocalories [ 551 / 2917 * 100 = 19% of global calorie supply]. You can download our complete Our World in Data CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions database. The food system as a whole – including refrigeration, food processing, packaging, and transport – accounts for around one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. We will need a menu of solutions: changes to diets; food waste reduction; improvements in agricultural efficiency; and technologies that make low-carbon food alternatives scalable and affordable. But nitrous oxide is not only produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is applied; the same processes occur when we use organic fertilizers such as animal manure. To prevent severe climate change we need to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Single solutions will not get us there. By country: greenhouse gas emissions by sector, Annual greenhouse gas emissions by sector. Fugitive emissions from coal (1.9%): fugitive emissions are the accidental leakage of methane during coal mining. This 31% of emissions relates to on-farm ‘production’ emissions only: it does not include land use change or supply chain emissions from the production of crops for animal feed: these figures are included separately in the other categories. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. There are four key elements to consider when trying to quantify food GHG emissions. This is measured in tonnes per person per year. Fugitive emissions from oil and gas (3.9%): fugitive emissions are the often-accidental leakage of methane to the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction and transportation, from damaged or poorly maintained pipes. Road transport (11.9%): emissions from the burning of petrol and diesel from all forms of road transport which includes cars, trucks, lorries, motorcycles and buses. But under environmental regulations they need to deal with it somehow: intentionally burning it is often a cheap way to do so. In these environments, organic matter is converted to methane when it decomposes. 6% of land use change results from conversion from food for human consumption, and 12% for the production of animal feed. Wastewater (1.3%): organic matter and residues from animals, plants, humans and their waste products can collect in wastewater systems. Please consult our full legal disclaimer. This includes both passenger and freight maritime trips. It all comes at an environmental cost. Iron and Steel (7.2%): energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of iron and steel. Deforestation (2.2%): net emissions of carbon dioxide from changes in forestry cover. One key difference is that direct agricultural emissions (if we exclude land use change and forestry) are not shown; most direct emissions from agriculture result from methane (production from livestock) and nitrous oxide (released from the application of fertilizers). Unlike many aspects of energy production where viable opportunities for upscaling low-carbon energy –  renewable or nuclear energy –  are available, the ways in which we can decarbonize agriculture are less clear. The methodology of the FAO study: ‘Global food losses and food waste—extent, causes and prevention’ – FAO, 2011. Paper & pulp (0.6%): energy-related emissions from the conversion of wood into paper and pulp. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp. ‘Fugitive emissions’ represent the unintentional leaks of gas from processes such as fracking, and more traditional oil and gas extraction and transportation. Deforestation (2.2%): net emissions of carbon dioxide from changes in forestry cover. Agricultural soils (4.1%): Nitrous oxide – a strong greenhouse gas – is produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils. This is where very high carbon soils are used for cropland, and this releases carbon. In this reaction, limestone (CaCO3) is converted to lime (CaO), and produces CO2 as a byproduct. Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use directly accounts for 18.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local. Chemical & petrochemical (3.6%): energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, refrigerants, oil and gas extraction, etc. How can we use this understanding to develop effective solutions and mitigation strategies? Nitrous oxide and methane can be produced from the decomposition of animal manures under low oxygen conditions. Let’s walk through each of the sectors and sub-sectors in the pie chart, one-by-one. Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Oil wells can release gases, including methane, during extraction – producers often don’t have an existing network of pipelines to transport it, or it wouldn’t make economic sense to provide the infrastructure needed to effectively capture and transport it. Rice cultivation (1.3%): flooded paddy fields produce methane through a process called ‘anaerobic digestion’. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. Graver, B., Zhang, K., & Rutherford, D. (2019). Food Waste. Like total greenhouse gas emissions, this breakdown varies between countries. IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Focusing on electricity, or transport, or food, or deforestation alone is insufficient. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use directly accounts for 18.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. The above charts looked total greenhouse gas emissions – this included other gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, and smaller trace gases. Aviation (1.9%): emissions from passenger travel and freight, and domestic and international aviation. Many assume that eating local is key to a low-carbon diet, however, transport emissions are often a very small percentage of food’s total emissions – only 6% globally. While it would be ideal to have more timely data, this is the most recent data available at time of writing (September 2020). The world emits around 50 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases each year [measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO 2 eq)]. Below we look at the breakdown of emissions – total greenhouse gases, plus carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide individually – by sector. To figure out how we can most effectively reduce emissions and what emissions can and can’t be eliminated with current technologies, we need to first understand where … and heating in commercial buildings such as offices, restaurants, and shops.