Kenya's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Emissions Dominate
Kenya's N₂O emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture, which has consistently accounted for the majority of the country's emissions. Over the decades, the agricultural sector's contribution to N₂O emissions has increased significantly, reflecting the country's reliance on agriculture for economic growth. The introduction of hybrid maize in 1973 likely intensified agricultural practices, contributing to increased emissions due to higher fertilizer use. This trend continued into the 21st century, with notable spikes in emissions in 2007 and 2020, possibly linked to changes in agricultural policies or practices.
Energy and Waste Contributions
While agriculture remains the primary source of N₂O emissions, the energy and waste sectors have also shown gradual increases. The energy sector's emissions have risen steadily, reflecting Kenya's growing energy demands. The expansion of geothermal energy in 2022 is a positive step towards reducing reliance on fossil fuels, potentially curbing future emissions. Waste-related emissions have also seen a gradual increase, though initiatives like the 2019 ban on single-use plastics indicate efforts to manage waste more sustainably.
Impact of Historical Events
Historical events have played a role in shaping Kenya's emissions profile. The completion of the Uganda Railway in 1901 and the Mau Mau Uprising in 1952 likely influenced land-use changes, contributing to emissions. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 temporarily reduced emissions due to decreased industrial activity. However, the long-term impact remains uncertain as the country balances economic recovery with sustainable development goals.
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.