Hungary's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Emissions Dominate
Throughout the decades, Hungary's N₂O emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture. The introduction of large-scale agriculture in the 1960s, marked by increased fertilizer use, significantly contributed to this trend. By the 1980s, agricultural emissions had surged, reflecting the intensification of farming practices. Despite a decline in the 1990s, agriculture remains the largest source of N₂O emissions, accounting for over 80% of the total in recent decades.
Industrial Shifts and Emission Reductions
The industrial sector in Hungary experienced notable fluctuations in N₂O emissions. The post-World War II industrialization under the communist regime led to increased emissions, peaking in the 1980s. However, the fall of communism in 1989 marked a turning point, with a significant decline in industrial emissions as heavy industries were restructured. This trend continued into the 2000s, aided by Hungary's EU accession and subsequent environmental regulations.
Energy and Waste Contributions
Energy-related N₂O emissions have remained relatively low compared to other sectors, with minor increases observed during periods of industrial growth. The expansion of natural gas infrastructure in the 1970s helped mitigate emissions from coal. Waste emissions have consistently been the smallest contributor, with only slight variations over the decades. The overall impact of these sectors on Hungary's N₂O emissions has been minimal compared to agriculture and industry.
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.