Cameroon's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Dominance and Fluctuations
Cameroon's N2O emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture, which has consistently been the largest contributor over the decades. The introduction of plantation agriculture during the German colonization and its expansion under French and British mandates likely set the stage for this trend. Notably, the 1980s and 1990s saw significant increases in agricultural emissions, coinciding with the discovery of oil reserves and economic adjustments following the devaluation of the CFA Franc. These events may have influenced land-use changes and agricultural practices, contributing to the observed fluctuations.
Energy and Waste Contributions
While agriculture remains the primary source, emissions from energy and waste sectors have shown gradual increases. The discovery of oil reserves in 1977 marked a shift in the energy sector, contributing to rising emissions. The completion of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline in 2000 further underscores the energy sector's growing role. Waste emissions have also increased, particularly with urbanization surges in cities like Bamenda, which have led to challenges in waste management and increased emissions from landfills.
Recent Efforts and Future Outlook
In recent years, Cameroon has taken steps to address its emissions. The national reforestation program launched in 2019 aims to enhance carbon sequestration, while hydropower development initiatives are expected to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Additionally, the agricultural modernization efforts in 2023 focus on reducing emissions through improved practices. These initiatives reflect a growing commitment to mitigating climate change impacts and suggest a potential shift towards more sustainable emission levels in the future.
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.