Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Industrialization and Early Emissions
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) saw its initial rise in N₂O emissions with the establishment of the country in 1948 and subsequent industrialization efforts. The post-Korean War reconstruction in 1953 further accelerated emissions as coal and fossil fuels powered the rebuilding of infrastructure. The First Seven-Year Plan in 1961 emphasized rapid industrial growth, contributing to a steady increase in emissions.
Chemical Industry and Agricultural Expansion
The 1970s marked a significant expansion of the chemical industry in DPRK, particularly in fertilizer production, which likely led to increased N₂O emissions from agriculture. This trend continued into the 1980s with increased coal production, further elevating emissions. The 1980s also saw a notable rise in emissions from the industrial sector, reflecting the country's focus on heavy industry.
Economic Crisis and Emission Decline
The economic crisis and famine of the mid-1990s resulted in a temporary decline in industrial activity and energy consumption, leading to a reduction in emissions. However, the crisis also caused deforestation for fuel, impacting land-use emissions. The early 2000s saw economic reforms and the establishment of special economic zones, which likely spurred industrial activity and emissions once again.
Recent Trends and Agricultural Impact
In recent years, efforts to boost agricultural production have increased N₂O emissions due to the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 temporarily reduced industrial activity, leading to a short-term decrease in emissions. Despite these fluctuations, agriculture remains a significant source of N₂O emissions in DPRK, reflecting the ongoing challenges in balancing economic development with environmental sustainability.
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.