Ghana's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Emissions Dominate
Ghana's N2O emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture, which has consistently been the largest contributor over the decades. The introduction of cocoa farming in the late 19th century marked a significant shift in land use, leading to increased emissions. This trend continued into the 20th century, with agricultural emissions showing substantial growth, particularly from the 1940s onwards. The 1980s saw a notable increase, likely exacerbated by severe droughts and bushfires in 1983, which further impacted land use and emissions.
Energy Sector's Growing Influence
While agriculture remains the primary source of N2O emissions, the energy sector has seen a gradual increase in its contribution. The discovery of oil in the Jubilee Field in 2007 and the start of commercial oil production in 2010 marked a turning point for Ghana's energy sector. These developments have led to increased emissions from energy-related activities, although they still represent a smaller fraction compared to agriculture. The implementation of the Renewable Energy Act in 2016 aimed to curb this trend by promoting sustainable energy sources.
Impact of Economic and Environmental Events
Ghana's emissions profile has been shaped by various economic and environmental events. The Economic Recovery Program in the early 1990s spurred industrial growth, contributing to higher emissions. Conversely, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to an economic slowdown, temporarily reducing emissions due to decreased industrial activity. These events highlight the complex interplay between economic development and environmental impact in Ghana's emissions history.
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.