Barbados' Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Influence on N₂O Emissions
Barbados has seen a notable impact on its nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from agricultural activities, particularly since the mid-20th century. The introduction of chemical fertilizers in 1951 significantly contributed to the rise in N₂O emissions, as these fertilizers release nitrous oxide when applied to soils. This shift in agricultural practices is reflected in the data, where agriculture consistently accounts for a substantial portion of the country's N₂O emissions. Despite fluctuations, agriculture remains a dominant source of N₂O emissions in Barbados.
Energy Sector's Growing Role
While agriculture has historically been the primary source of N₂O emissions, the energy sector's contribution has grown over the decades. The 1973 oil crisis and subsequent energy policy shifts marked the beginning of this trend. By the 1990s, with the establishment of the Barbados National Oil Company, the energy sector's emissions became more pronounced. Although the energy sector's share of total N₂O emissions remains smaller than agriculture, its increasing role highlights the evolving energy landscape in Barbados.
Recent Efforts and Future Outlook
In recent years, Barbados has made strides towards reducing its carbon footprint through renewable energy initiatives. Starting in 2010, the government has promoted solar and wind energy projects, aiming to decrease reliance on fossil fuels. The 2015 Barbados National Energy Policy further reinforced this commitment, setting ambitious targets for renewable energy adoption. While these efforts are primarily aimed at reducing CO₂ emissions, they also contribute to a broader strategy of mitigating overall greenhouse gas emissions, including N₂O. The impact of these initiatives is expected to grow over time, potentially altering the trajectory of Barbados' emissions profile.
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.