Bahrain's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Early Industrialization and Oil Discovery
Bahrain's journey into industrialization began with the discovery of oil in 1932, marking a pivotal shift towards an oil-based economy. This transition significantly increased the country's carbon footprint, as oil extraction and combustion became central to its economic activities. The establishment of the Bahrain National Gas Company in 1966 further contributed to greenhouse gas emissions, despite reducing CO₂ emissions from flaring.
Industrial Expansion and Emission Growth
The commissioning of Aluminum Bahrain (Alba) in 1975 and the expansion of oil refining capacity in 1980 marked significant industrial milestones. These developments led to increased CO₂ emissions due to the energy-intensive nature of aluminum production and the combustion of fossil fuels in oil refining. The 1996 introduction of Bahrain's first natural gas power plant aimed to reduce emissions, yet the overall greenhouse gas impact remained substantial.
Recent Developments and Future Challenges
In recent decades, Bahrain has continued to expand its industrial activities, notably with the 2012 expansion of the Alba smelter and the 2018 discovery of the Khalij Al Bahrain oil field. These events have contributed to a rise in CO₂ and methane emissions. The launch of Bahrain Vision 2030 in 2007 aimed to diversify the economy and promote sustainable development, yet the transition period has seen increased emissions due to industrial growth and infrastructure development. As Bahrain moves forward, balancing economic growth with environmental sustainability remains a critical challenge.
Background
The chart shows a national breakdown by source of the yearly nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from human activities and processes, expressed as weight in megatonnes (Mt). Human-induced emissions are the main driver of the increasing atmospheric nitrous oxide that is warming our planet. The sources of human nitrous oxide emissions are
- Agriculture
- Energy
- Industry
- Waste
- Other
Agriculture
Emissions related to agriculture are mainly from the use of synthetic fertilizers and manure management.
Synthetic fertilizer, used for agricultural processes, contains a lot of nitrogen. That nitrogen in the soil reacts and causes considerable N2O emissions. The use of excess fertilizer, meaning more fertilizer than the plants can use to grow, causes even higher relative emissions. Applying the right amount of fertilizer at the right time can reduce N2O emissions. There are many technical solutions to reduce emissions while keeping, or even increasing, agricultural yields.
When manure is left on the field or otherwise managed in dry processes, it emits considerable amounts of nitrous oxide. Manure can be managed by wet processes, which reduces nitrous oxide emissions but increases methane emissions. Some technical solutions focus on modifying the animal feed to reduce the nitrogen in the manure, thereby reducing nitrous oxide emissions.
Energy, Industry, Waste, and Other
All non-agricultural categories together have much lower emissions than agricultural emissions alone.
N2O emissions related to energy are almost all from the combustion of fossil fuels. For example, the combustion of fossil fuels in power plants, cars, and airplanes not only causes CO2 emissions but also emits nitrous oxide (N2O). Any advances to reducing fossil fuel dependency will thus also reduce nitrous oxide emissions.
Most industry-related emissions are from the chemical industry for producing fertilizer, nylon, and similar products. Technologies are available to reduce emissions in these processes.
Nitrous oxide emissions from waste come from, for example, wastewater treatment and landfills.
Wikipedia: Nitrous oxideIPCC: AR6, 5.16 Anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions
Units and Measures
N2O emissions are expressed in the total weight in megatonnes per year. 1 Megatonne is equal to 1 million tonnes.
Wikipedia: MegatonneWikipedia: Global warming potential
About the Data
The last available year in all the emission datasets is 2023. N2O emissions come from the PRIMAP-Hist dataset. It is a rich dataset that combines several published sources to create a historical emissions time series for various greenhouse gases.
The Key Insights paragraph was generated using a large language model (LLM) using a structured approach to improve the accuracy. This included separating the context generation from the interpretation and narrative.
Data Sources
PRIMAP-hist The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series (1750-2023)
Update cycle: Every few monthsDelay: Less than 1 yearCredits: Gütschow, Johannes; Busch, Daniel; Pflüger, Mika (2024): The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series (1750-2023) v2.6. Zenodo.