The emissions of NMVOC originate from many different sources and can be divided into two main groups: incomplete combustion and evaporation. Wood combustion in households, road vehicles and other mobile sources such as national navigation vessels and off-road machinery are the main sources of NMVOC emissions from incomplete combustion processes. In the Mobile sector road transportation vehicles are still the main contributors, even though the emissions have declined since the introduction of catalyst cars in 1990. The evaporative emissions mainly originate from the use of solvents and the extraction, handling and storage of oil and natural gas. The emissions from the energy industries have increased during the nineties due to the increasing use of stationary gas engines, which have much higher emissions of NMVOC than conventional boilers. The total anthropogenic emissions have decreased by 50 % from 1985 to 2009, largely due to the increased use of catalyst cars and reduced emissions from use of solvents.

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