First public global database of fossil fuels launches

Source: The post is based on the article “First public global database of fossil fuels launches” published in Indian Express on 17th September 2022.

What is the News?

The World’s first Global Registry of Fossil Fuels has been launched.

What is the Global Registry of Fossil Fuels?

Launched by: Carbon Tracker and the Global Energy Monitor 

Purpose: It is the first-of-its-kind database for tracking the world’s fossil fuel production, reserves and emissions.

– It includes data from over 50,000 oil, gas and coal fields in 89 countries. That covers 75% of global reserves, production and emissions. This registry is available for public use.

What are the key analysis that can be made from this data?

Firstly, the United States and Russia have enough fossil fuel still underground untapped to exhaust the world’s remaining carbon budget. That’s the remaining carbon the world can afford to emit before a certain amount of warming occurs, in this case, 1.5 degrees Celsius. 

– These reserves would generate 3.5 trillion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions which is more than all of the emissions produced since the Industrial Revolution.

Secondly, of the 50,000 fields included, the most potent source of emissions is the Ghawar oil field in Saudi Arabia, which churns out some 525 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year.