High-resolution mapping of CH4/N2O emissions from industrialization-related anthropogenic sources in China

CH4 and N2O are critical non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHGs) that collectively contribute to more than one-quarter of anthropogenic global warming, accounting for ∼35%–45% of the total climate forcing [1]. China is the world's largest emitter of CH4 and N2O, accounting for 17.88% and 16.67% of global emissions, respectively [2]. As the largest developing and industrial country, China has the most comprehensive industrial supply chain globally, resulting in huge energy consumption, diverse industries, and amounts of waste and wastewater generated [3]. To achieve carbon neutrality and net-zero pledges targets outlined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, it is crucial to adopt more precise methods for investigating the CH4 and N2O emission pathways of the industrialization-related sectors, i.e. energy, industrial processes and product use (IPPU), and the waste sector. The combined consideration of these sectors might provide a prioritized GHG mitigation strategy to respond to national ambitious targets. Elucidating the relationships among these sectors and their spatial/temporal distributions from a bottom-up perspective could clarify the critical point of emission processes and potential control measurements, and provide the basic information to balance economic development with industrial adjustment processes. In this study, we provided a more detailed, point-source level bottom-up estimation of CH4 and N2O emissions from industrialization-related anthropogenic sources from 2000 to 2022 at a 0.1° × 0.1° spatial resolution. Our approach offered a more continuous timeline and spatial coverage based on a comprehensive database and localized emission factors (the detailed methodologies are provided in the Supplementary Data online and Tables S1, S2). The contributions of these sectors to CH4 and N2O emissions were quantified, and potential mitigation policies were proposed from the perspective of GHG emissions.