Brunei Darussalam's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Early Developments and Industrial Growth
Brunei Darussalam's journey with anthropogenic N2O emissions began modestly in the 19th century, with agriculture being the primary source. The discovery of the Seria oil field in 1929 marked a pivotal moment, as the burgeoning oil industry began to shape the country's emissions profile. The energy sector's contribution to emissions grew steadily, particularly after the opening of the Brunei LNG plant in 1972, which further intensified energy-related emissions.
Modernization and Urbanization
The 1980s and 1990s saw Brunei's independence and subsequent expansion of its oil and gas sector, leading to a notable increase in emissions. Urbanization at the turn of the millennium further contributed to this trend, as energy consumption rose with the development of infrastructure and transportation. Despite these increases, the agriculture sector remained a consistent contributor to N2O emissions, reflecting the country's agricultural activities.
Recent Trends and Environmental Initiatives
In recent years, Brunei has made strides towards reducing its carbon footprint. The 2010s saw the introduction of renewable energy initiatives, although their impact on emissions was modest due to the continued dominance of fossil fuels. The country's commitment to the Paris Agreement in 2015 marked a significant step towards a low-carbon economy. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 temporarily reduced emissions due to decreased economic activity, highlighting the potential for change in Brunei's emissions landscape.
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.