Cyprus' Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Broad Rise, Then Stabilization
Cyprus's nitrous oxide emissions were very low for more than a century, grew through the late 20th century, and have broadly stabilized since the late 2000s. Agriculture dominates the picture, while energy, industry, waste, and other sources together remain smaller than agriculture alone.
Agriculture Leads, Then Edges Down
Agricultural emissions rose steadily from the early 20th century, reaching around 0.2 megatonnes by the late 1990s. Since then they have eased slightly and fluctuated within a narrow range, indicating a gentle downward drift rather than a sharp reduction. Agriculture still accounts for roughly 70% of national N2O, so even small changes here drive the overall trend.
Industry And Energy Edge Up
Industry has climbed gradually since the 1960s, moving from negligible levels to a modest but growing share today. Energy-related emissions increased from the mid-1980s to the late 2000s and have since leveled off at a relatively steady level. "Other" sources rose into the late 1990s before easing back somewhat, while waste has trended upward more recently but remains comparatively small.
What Matters Going Forward
The dominant sources-agriculture, industry, other, and energy-show a mixed trajectory: agriculture is gently declining, industry is inching upward, other is easing, and energy is broadly flat. Sustaining and deepening the gradual decline in agriculture, curbing the ongoing rise in industry, and keeping energy from rebounding will be central to reducing Cyprus's overall N2O impact.
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 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 (1750-2023)
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.