Tracing anthropogenic carbon dioxide and methane emissions to fossil fuel and cement producers, 1854–2010

By R. Heede. Climatic Change, 2013

648 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This paper presents a quantitative analysis of the historic fossil fuel and cement production records of the 50 leading investor-owned, 31 state-owned, and 9 nation-state producers of oil, natural gas, coal, and cement from as early as 1854 to 2010. This analysis traces emissions totaling 914 GtCO2e—63 % of cumulative worldwide emissions of industrial CO2 and methane between 1751 and 2010—to the 90 “carbon major” entities based on the carbon content of marketed hydrocarbon fuels (subtracting for non-energy uses), process CO2 from cement manufacture, CO2 from flaring, venting, and own fuel use, and fugitive or vented methane. Cumulatively, emissions of 315 GtCO2e have been traced to investor-owned entities, 288 GtCO2e to state-owned enterprises, and 312 GtCO2e to nation-states. Of these emissions, half has been emitted since 1986. The carbon major entities possess fossil fuel reserves that will, if produced and emitted, intensify anthropogenic climate change. The purpose of the analysis is to understand the historic emissions as a factual matter, and to invite consideration of their possible relevance to public policy.

Subfields: Economics and Econometrics, Global and Planetary Change, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/60385874d6dab68688b1e6469565501c66e7d868

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Citations in the corpus

Exploring the role of incidental emotions in support for climate change policy (2015, background): “According to Heede (2014), just 90 companies are responsible for the majority of manmade carbon emissions since the Industrial Revolution; at the same time, individuals’ daily carbon footprint, especially when examined at the cumulative and collective level, is a substantial contributor to global…”
The climate responsibilities of industrial carbon producers (2015, background): “Heede (2014) analyzed historic production records of the ninety largest producers of coal, oil, and natural gas, as well as cement, from 1854 to 2010, calculating the carbon content of their marketed fuels (subtracting for non-energy uses), process CO2 from cement manufacturing, CO2 from direct flar”
Exploring the determinants and long-term performance outcomes of corporate carbon strategies (2017, background): “Historically, only 90 corporations have contributed to nearly two thirds of total global GHG emissions from 1854 to 2010 (Heede, 2014).”
Fossil Fuel Divestment and Portfolio Performance (2018, background): “…other lists, such as the ‘filthy fifteen’ of the largest and most carbon-intensive US coal mining companies and coal-fired utilities (https://fossilfreefunds.org/filthy-15/) or the 90 US ‘carbon majors’ identified by Heede (2014) to be responsible for two-thirds of historical GHG emissions.”
Non-state governance and climate policy: the fossil fuel divestment movement (2017, positive): “Half of those emissions have been emitted since 1986 (Heede, 2014).”