Carbon emissions, carbon intensity and the global trade in CO2

Energy Matters



In previous posts several commenters have pointed out that we can’t correctly estimate a country’s carbon emissions or carbon intensity without allowing for the CO2 emitted in the manufacture of goods that the country imports and consumes. The preliminary numbers developed in this post indicate that while such “outsourced” CO2 emissions account for probably less than 10% of total global emissions they cause significant underestimation of carbon intensity in some countries that import manufactured goods, such as Switzerland, and significant overestimation in some countries that manufacture and export these goods, such as Taiwan. It is unlikely, however, that current carbon accounting procedures will be changed to take outsourced emissions into account.



Cont....