Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990-2004

The data is sourced from New Zealand's Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990-2004 report, produced by the New Zealand Climate Change Office.

In 1990, New Zealand's total greenhouse gas emissions were equivalent to 61,510.70 Gg of CO₂. In 2004, total greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 13,094.52 Gg (21.3 percent) to 74,605.22 Gg CO₂ equivalent. Over the period 1990 to 2004, the average annual growth in overall emissions has been 1.5 percent per year.

Fluctuations in the trend are largely driven by emissions from public electricity generation. This category can show large year-to-year fluctuations because of the use of thermal stations to supplement the hydro-electric generation, during dry years. Generation in a year with normal rainfall requires lower gas and coal use and a year with less rainfall requires higher gas and coal use. This is a different trend from the steady increase in emissions from coal and gas used in electricity generation found in many other countries.

The Land use, Land-use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector represents a major sink for New Zealand removing 32.8 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in 2004. Net removals in 2004 were 29.0 percent above net removals in 1990. Variations in planting rates and the impact of harvest regimes affect the size of this sink from year to year.

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