Central African Republic's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
2024 N2O Emissions Profile
Central African Republic's N2O emissions totalled about 10 megatonnes CO2e in 2024. Agriculture dominated, at around 8.3 megatonnes CO2e or 83.1% of national emissions, rising by about 0.014 megatonnes CO2e per year over the ten years to 2024. Other sources contributed around 1.6 megatonnes CO2e (16.1%) but declined by about 0.066 annually. Waste and energy were each 0.4%, at roughly 0.04 megatonnes CO2e; waste rose slightly while energy edged down.
Historic Agriculture Emissions
Agricultural emissions began at around 0.2 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and rose gradually to roughly 0.9 by the early 1920s. They increased more strongly thereafter, reaching a high of about 6.3 in 1980 before falling back. Emissions then climbed rapidly to around 8.6 in 1997 and peaked at roughly 9.7 in 2000. After dipping to about 6.9 in 2002, they recovered to around 8.3 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Energy Emissions
Energy emissions were very small in the nineteenth century, at around 0.001 megatonnes CO2e in 1851, but rose gradually through the twentieth century to about 0.05 by the mid-1980s. They peaked at roughly 0.053 megatonnes CO2e in 1992, then eased and remained low. Energy emissions ended at around 0.035 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Waste Emissions
Waste emissions started at about 0.001 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and remained minimal into the mid-twentieth century. They rose gradually but persistently, reaching roughly 0.04 by 2009. Growth then slowed, with a small dip to around 0.037 in 2014 before increasing again. Waste emissions reached their record high of about 0.044 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Other Emissions
Other emissions were close to zero through 1981, reaching only around 0.02 megatonnes CO2e. They then surged sharply to their peak of roughly 3.0 megatonnes CO2e in 1982. Emissions generally declined thereafter, though with fluctuations, falling to about 1.4 in 2023 before recovering slightly to around 1.6 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
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
Reach is where funding is
10,000 people are using Climate Change Tracker for free every month. A tiny monthly donation keeps us going!
Cancel anytime. Payments processed by Stripe.com. You can manage, upgrade, cancel, and download receipts in our self service portal on Stripe. Using Stripe you agree to Stripe's Privacy Policy.
More ways to donate
via PayPal
via DonorboxAbout the Data
National N2O emissions data through 2024 is from the PRIMAP-hist dataset, which combines several published sources into a historical emissions time series.
The Key Insights paragraph was created using a large language model (LLM) in combination with our data, historic events, and a structured approach for best accuracy by separating the context generation from the interpretation and narrative.
Data Sources
PRIMAP-hist The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series (1750-2024)
Update cycle: Every few monthsDelay: Less than 1 yearCredits: Gütschow, J.; Busch, D.; Pflüger, M. (2025): The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series v2.7 (1750-2024). zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.17090760