Japan's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Industrialization and Early Growth
Japan's journey of industrialization began with the Meiji Restoration in 1868, marking a significant shift from a feudal society to an industrial powerhouse. This transformation led to increased emissions, particularly from energy and industry sectors, as the country modernized its infrastructure. The establishment of railways, factories, and shipyards during this period contributed to a steady rise in emissions, setting the stage for future growth.
Post-War Economic Boom
The post-war era, especially around the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, saw a massive infrastructure boom. This period was characterized by rapid industrial growth and urbanization, leading to a significant increase in emissions from energy and industry. The construction of highways, stadiums, and the Shinkansen highlighted Japan's economic recovery, but also contributed to a rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
Energy Shifts and Challenges
The 1973 oil crisis forced Japan to diversify its energy sources, increasing reliance on coal and natural gas. This shift resulted in a rise in emissions, as the country sought to reduce its dependency on imported oil. The 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster further exacerbated this trend, as the shutdown of nuclear plants led to increased fossil fuel use, significantly impacting emissions.
Commitment to Reduction
In recent years, Japan's commitment to the Paris Agreement in 2015 marked a pivotal moment in its environmental policy. The pledge to reduce emissions by 26% from 2013 levels by 2030 has spurred efforts towards energy efficiency and renewable energy adoption. While the immediate impact on emissions was not drastic, this commitment represents a significant step towards a sustainable future.
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.