Title of Document: SPATIAL AND SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION OF CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS FROM FOSSIL-FUEL COMBUSTION; GLOBAL, REGIONAL, AND NATIONAL POTENTIAL FOR SUSTAINABLE BIOENERGY FROM RESIDUE BIOMASS AND MUNICIPAL

Combustion of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, and has led to an increase in the atmospheric concentration of CO2. CO2 is a greenhouse gas, and the increase in concentration leads to an increase in global temperatures and global climatic change. Fossil-fuel consumption, along with cement production, is responsible for 80 % of anthropogenic carbon emissions and consumption of fossil fuels continues to increase. Despite its importance to the global climate and the global carbon cycle, data for fossil fuel CO2 emissions are traditionally maintained only on national levels and annual time steps. A method is developed to improve the spatiotemporal resolution to the leading energy consuming countries of the world. The method uses energy consumption datasets as well as other ancillary datasets to apportion national annual emissions totals into sub-national and monthly emissions datasets by fuel type. Emissions patterns are highly variable both temporally and spatially by fuel type, and detailed information on the distribution of emissions improves our understanding of the global carbon cycle and leads to better understanding of the spatial and seasonal distribution of the drivers o