Hungary's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agriculture Sets The Tone
Agriculture has defined Hungary's nitrous oxide profile, contributing roughly two-thirds of national N2O and around 450 megatonnes over time. Emissions rose gradually through the early 20th century, then accelerated during the post‑war era, peaking near 8 megatonnes in the 1980s. A sharp drop followed in the early 1990s, after which levels have broadly stabilized since the mid‑1990s at around 5 megatonnes with only a gentle uptick.
Industry’s Rise And Retreat
Industrial emissions were minor before the 1950s, climbed quickly through the post‑war decades, and reached highs around 5 megatonnes by the late 1970s. Since then, the trend has reversed decisively, falling steadily to well below 1 megatonne today. Even so, industry accounts for just over one‑fifth of cumulative N2O-around 150 megatonnes-highlighting its historic footprint despite the strong long‑term decline.
Smaller Sources, Modest Movement
Other sources have edged down since the early 1980s to roughly 0.1 megatonnes. Energy rose through the mid‑20th century and has hovered near 0.3-0.4 megatonnes since the late 1990s. Waste has remained small and fairly steady around 0.2 megatonnes. Together, these non‑agricultural sources remain much lower than agriculture alone.
Current Trajectory And Priorities
Today, agriculture-the dominant source-appears broadly stable with a slight rise, while industry continues to decline and other sources trend down. Bending the agricultural curve downward is pivotal for further national reductions, while sustaining the industrial decline will consolidate gains. Focusing effort where most emissions occur will deliver the largest climate impact.
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 created using a large language model (LLM) in combination with our data, historic events, and a structured approach for best accuracy by 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.