Italy's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Dominant Agricultural Footprint
Agriculture has been Italy's leading source of nitrous oxide, accounting for just over half of national emissions. Cumulatively, agriculture adds up to over 1,100 megatonnes-more than all other sources combined. Industry contributes about a fifth (around 450 megatonnes), while energy and other are each around 200, and waste is near 100. Together, non‑agricultural sources still fall short of agriculture alone, underscoring where most of the warming impact comes from.
Post‑War Rise, Then Turnaround
Emissions rose most noticeably during the post‑war era. Agriculture jumped in the 1940s and kept growing into the mid‑1980s before beginning a long, gradual decline that continues today. Industry surged from the early 1950s, remained high through the late twentieth century, and then shifted into a marked downward trajectory around the turn of the century.
Energy And Other Trends
Energy emissions climbed steadily from the 1950s, accelerated through the mid‑2000s, and have eased slightly since, remaining relatively elevated. The "other" category stayed low and stable for decades, then trended downward from the mid‑1990s to the present.
Current Trajectory And Priorities
Across the major sources (>5%), agriculture is declining from a high base, industry is falling more quickly, energy shows a gentle downturn, and other is also decreasing. Italy's overall nitrous oxide emissions are edging lower; keeping momentum-especially by sustaining progress in agriculture and continuing reductions in industry and energy-will deliver the largest gains in 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.