Dominican Republic's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Expansion and Emissions
The Dominican Republic's N₂O emissions have been significantly influenced by agricultural activities. Since the late 19th century, agriculture has been a major contributor to emissions, with a notable increase in the mid-20th century. The end of the Restoration War in 1865 and the U.S. occupation beginning in 1916 spurred agricultural expansion, leading to increased emissions due to land-use changes. The modernization of agriculture in the late 1970s further amplified N₂O emissions, primarily from fertilizer use.
Energy Sector Developments
The energy sector has also played a role in the country's emissions profile. The introduction of mechanized farming and infrastructure development during the U.S. occupation likely contributed to fossil fuel emissions. More recently, the Punta Catalina coal-fired power plant, operational since 2017, has significantly impacted CO₂ emissions, highlighting the ongoing challenges in balancing energy needs with environmental concerns.
Natural Disasters and Emission Fluctuations
Natural disasters have periodically influenced emissions in the Dominican Republic. Events like Hurricane Georges in 1998 and Tropical Storm Jeanne in 2004 caused widespread destruction, leading to increased emissions from recovery and rebuilding efforts. These events underscore the vulnerability of the country's emissions profile to external shocks, which can temporarily alter emission trends.
Transition to Cleaner Energy
In recent years, the Dominican Republic has made strides towards cleaner energy. Initiatives in 2010 to invest in renewable energy and the 2013 shift towards natural gas for electricity generation represent efforts to reduce reliance on more polluting fossil fuels. These transitions are crucial for mitigating future emissions and aligning with global sustainability goals.
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.