Empirical estimates of the methane–income elasticity

ABSTRACT:

We estimate the income-elasticity of methane emissions per capita derived from production, final production, and consumption in a global sample of countries for 1997–2011. We find relative decoupling between emissions and income, and evidence for a piecewise-linear relationship. The relation between economic growth and emissions improves as countries reach high levels of income, although the magnitude of the improvement is small. This points to very minor methane-efficiency gains from economic development.