Lebanon's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Emissions Dominate
Throughout the decades, Lebanon's N2O emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture. This sector has consistently contributed the largest share of emissions, reflecting the country's reliance on agricultural activities. The data shows a steady increase in agricultural emissions, with notable spikes in certain years. For instance, the early 1970s saw a significant rise, likely due to increased agricultural productivity and expansion. However, the Lebanese Civil War starting in 1975 caused a temporary decline in emissions as agricultural activities were disrupted.
Industrial Growth and Energy Use
The industrial sector in Lebanon began to significantly contribute to N2O emissions around the mid-20th century. Post-independence economic growth and urbanization led to increased industrial activities, which in turn raised emissions. The end of the Civil War in 1990 marked a period of reconstruction and industrial resurgence, further boosting emissions. Energy-related emissions also saw a rise during this period, reflecting increased energy consumption for rebuilding efforts.
Recent Challenges and Emission Trends
In recent years, Lebanon has faced several challenges impacting emissions. The Syrian Civil War spillover in 2011 and the subsequent refugee influx increased energy demand, contributing to higher emissions. The 2015 waste management crisis likely exacerbated emissions from waste, while the economic crisis beginning in 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 temporarily reduced industrial and transportation emissions. Despite these fluctuations, the overall trend indicates a complex interplay of socio-economic factors influencing Lebanon's N2O emissions trajectory.
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.