Indonesia's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Expansion and Emissions Growth
Indonesia's N2O emissions have seen a significant rise over the decades, primarily driven by agricultural activities. The expansion of plantation agriculture during the Dutch colonial period set a precedent for land-use practices that have continued to impact emissions. By the 1980s, agriculture accounted for a substantial portion of the country's N2O emissions, with a notable increase in the 1990s and 2000s. This trend aligns with the rapid growth of palm oil plantations, which have contributed to deforestation and peatland drainage, further exacerbating emissions.
Industrialization and Energy Sector Impact
The energy sector has also played a crucial role in Indonesia's emissions profile. The New Order economic policies under Suharto in the late 20th century spurred industrialization and the expansion of oil and gas extraction, leading to increased emissions from fossil fuel combustion. Although the energy sector's contribution to N2O emissions is smaller compared to agriculture, it has shown a steady increase, reflecting the country's ongoing industrial development.
Forest Fires and Environmental Challenges
Severe forest fires, often linked to El Niño events, have periodically spiked Indonesia's emissions. The 1997-1998 fires, for instance, were catastrophic, releasing vast amounts of greenhouse gases. These events underscore the vulnerability of Indonesia's peatlands and forests to climate variability and highlight the challenges of land management. Despite efforts like the 2010 moratorium on new forest concessions, the effectiveness of such measures remains debated, as emissions from land-use change continue to be a significant concern.
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.