Methane emissions derived from tourism-related solid waste disposal in Cuba. A case study

摘要

This paper provides the results of a case study performed to estimate methane (CH 4 ) emissions arising from landfilling of solid wastes produced by domestic tourism (DTSW), and inbound tourism (ITSW) in accommodation facilities (AF) and non-hotel services facilities (NHSF) in Cuba over the period 1985 to 2011. It also examines potential underestimation, or overestimation of these emissions in the national greenhouse gas emissions inventory (NGHGI) depending on the method used to calculate the generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) and the inclusion or not of ITSW in this. Methane emissions were estimated using the IPCC 2006 Waste Model. In 2011 emissions amounted to, 1.87 Gg CH 4 yr -1 (21.4% from domestic tourism and 78.6% from inbound tourism). Seventy-two per cent of these emissions were attributable to AF and 28% to NHSF. Both domestic and inbound tourism per-capita CH 4 emissions in 2011 from solid waste disposal resulted higher than per-capita emissions derived from MSW disposal from urban local residents in that year.