Gridded CO2 Emissions from Fossil Fuels and Cement, 1751-2013

R. J. Andres and Oak Ridge National Laboratory produced a 1° latitude by 1° longitude gridded time series of CO2 emissions from anthropogenic sources for 1751-2013. The data estimates emissions in million metric tons of carbon per year from fossil-fuel burning, cement manufacturing, and gas flaring. National annual estimates were spatially distributed using a 1984 human population grid as a proxy within political units.

Use Cases

• Modeling atmospheric CO2 concentration patterns based on gridded emission sources.
• Analyzing long-term trends in national and regional fossil fuel consumption over a 262-year period.
• Studying the correlation between historical population distribution proxies and emission hotspots.
• Validating climate and carbon cycle models with spatially explicit historical emission data.

Strengths

• Covers a 262-year time series from 1751 to 2013.
• Provides global coverage on a consistent 1° by 1° spatial grid.
• Based on established national inventory methods from Boden et al. (2016) and Marland and Rotty (1984).

Limitations

• Spatial distribution within countries relies on a static 1984 population proxy, which may not reflect internal shifts over centuries.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Collection Method

National annual estimates based on fossil-fuel, cement, and gas flaring statistics were combined with gridded data on political units and a 1984 human population grid.

Time Range

1751-2013

Geography

Global