Eritrea's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Dominance in Emissions
Eritrea's N2O emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture, consistently contributing the largest share over the decades. The decadal data reveals a steady increase in emissions from this sector, with significant growth observed during the mid-20th century. This trend aligns with historical events such as the Italian colonization and subsequent British administration, which likely introduced new agricultural practices and infrastructure, impacting land-use emissions.
Post-Independence and Conflict Impact
The period following Eritrea's independence in 1991 saw a notable shift in emissions patterns. The rebuilding efforts and establishment of new economic systems likely contributed to increased emissions, particularly from construction activities. The Eritrean-Ethiopian War from 1998 to 2000 further influenced emissions, as military operations and disruptions in agriculture led to temporary increases in N2O emissions. The data reflects these changes, with fluctuations in agricultural emissions during this time.
Recent Developments and Emission Trends
In recent decades, Eritrea's emissions have continued to rise, with agriculture remaining the dominant source. However, the expansion of the mining industry around 2010 introduced new dynamics, contributing to emissions from energy-intensive operations. The 2018 peace agreement with Ethiopia marked a period of increased economic activity, likely influencing emissions through enhanced transportation and industrial activities. Despite these developments, agriculture remains the primary driver of Eritrea's N2O emissions, underscoring its critical role in the country's emission profile.
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.