India's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
2024 N2O Emissions Profile
India's anthropogenic N2O emissions totalled around 310 megatonnes CO2e in 2024. Agriculture dominated, at roughly 229 megatonnes CO2e or 73.7%, rising by about 4.1 megatonnes CO2e per year over the ten years to 2024. Energy contributed 46 megatonnes CO2e (15%), while waste and other sources each contributed around 17 megatonnes CO2e (5.6%). Industry was small at 0.4 megatonnes CO2e. All sources rose over this period, with industry increasing by about 0.01 megatonnes CO2e per year.
Historic Agriculture Emissions
Agricultural emissions rose from around 19 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 to roughly 51 megatonnes CO2e by 1960, initially slowly and then more quickly. Growth accelerated after the 1960s, especially from the mid-1970s onward. Emissions reached their record high of around 229 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Energy Emissions
Energy emissions began at around 0.2 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and remained low through the first half of the twentieth century, reaching roughly 2.2 megatonnes CO2e in 1945. Growth then accelerated, particularly after the early 2000s. Emissions peaked at around 46 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Industry Emissions
Industrial emissions were negligible in the nineteenth century and remained below 0.5 megatonnes CO2e until the early 1960s. They rose unevenly to a peak of roughly 2.8 megatonnes CO2e in 1976, then generally declined despite fluctuations. Emissions ended at around 0.4 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
Historic Waste Emissions
Waste emissions rose steadily from around 0.4 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 to roughly 5.3 megatonnes CO2e in 1974. Growth continued thereafter and accelerated somewhat after the mid-2000s. Emissions reached their highest level, around 17.5 megatonnes CO2e, in 2024.
Historic Other Emissions
Other N2O emissions started at around 1.6 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and increased gradually to roughly 4.6 megatonnes CO2e by 1980. Growth continued through the following decades, accelerating after the early 2000s. Emissions reached a peak of around 17.2 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.
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
Keep us going and growing
10,000 people are using Climate Change Tracker for free every month. A tiny monthly donation keeps us going!
Cancel anytime. Payments processed by Stripe.com. You can manage, upgrade, cancel, and download receipts in our self service portal on Stripe. Using Stripe you agree to Stripe's Privacy Policy.
More ways to donate
via PayPal
via DonorboxAbout the Data
National N2O emissions data through 2024 is from the PRIMAP-hist dataset, which combines several published sources into a historical emissions time series.
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 (1750-2024)
Update cycle: Every few monthsDelay: Less than 1 yearCredits: Gütschow, J.; Busch, D.; Pflüger, M. (2025): The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series v2.7 (1750-2024). zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.17090760