Czechia's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Industrial Growth and Emissions Surge
The industrial expansion in Czechia, particularly during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, marked a significant rise in N₂O emissions. The Industrial Revolution and the formation of Czechoslovakia spurred increased coal usage, contributing to higher emissions. By the mid-20th century, the communist regime's focus on heavy industry further amplified these emissions, with agriculture and energy sectors being major contributors.
Agricultural Practices and Emission Peaks
The introduction of large-scale agriculture in the 1960s led to a notable increase in N₂O emissions due to the extensive use of nitrogen-based fertilizers. This trend continued into the 1980s, with agriculture consistently being a significant source of emissions. The expansion of the chemical industry during this period also played a role in the rise of N₂O emissions, particularly from the industry sector.
Economic Transition and Emission Decline
The Velvet Revolution in 1989 and the subsequent economic transition resulted in a decline in heavy industry and coal usage, leading to a reduction in emissions. The dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993 and the Czech Republic's focus on modernizing its industrial base further contributed to this decline. The country's accession to the EU in 2004 brought stricter environmental regulations, promoting cleaner energy sources and reducing emissions.
Recent Trends and Future Outlook
In recent years, Czechia has invested in renewable energy, contributing to a continued decline in emissions. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 temporarily reduced industrial activity, leading to a short-term decrease in emissions. As the country continues to adopt sustainable practices, the focus remains on maintaining this downward trend in emissions while balancing economic growth.
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.