Equatorial Guinea's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Early Emissions and Independence
In the early decades, Equatorial Guinea's N₂O emissions were minimal, primarily from agriculture and other sources. The country's independence from Spain in 1968 marked a shift in land use and agricultural practices, but the impact on emissions was modest due to the country's small size and population.
Oil Discovery and Industrial Growth
The discovery of offshore oil reserves in 1995 was a turning point, leading to increased emissions from energy-related activities. The subsequent expansion of oil production by 2000 significantly boosted industrial activity, contributing to higher fossil fuel consumption and associated emissions. This period saw a notable rise in N₂O emissions from energy sources.
Infrastructure and Agricultural Changes
The 2010s brought an infrastructure development boom, further increasing emissions from construction activities. In 2015, agricultural modernization initiatives aimed to reduce food imports and increase local production, potentially affecting N₂O emissions due to increased fertilizer use. These changes reflect a shift towards more intensive land management practices.
Recent Trends and Pandemic Impact
In recent years, emissions from waste have shown a notable increase, reflecting changes in waste management practices. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to a temporary reduction in economic activities, including oil production, likely resulting in a short-term decrease in emissions. However, the overall impact on annual emissions was limited, as activities resumed post-lockdown.
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.