Lithuania's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agriculture Dominates Long-Term Picture
Agriculture accounts for roughly three-quarters of Lithuania's nitrous oxide emissions and has shaped the national trend. After a slow build-up before the mid‑20th century, emissions rose rapidly through the post‑war era, peaking around the late 1970s at roughly 4.5 megatonnes. Since then they have edged down, fluctuating mostly between about 3.5 and 4, reaching the low 3s in recent years. Cumulatively, agriculture has contributed well over 350 megatonnes to the historical total.
Industrial Swings Shape The Rest
Industry shows pronounced cycles: strong growth from the 1950s to the mid‑1970s, a retreat into the early 1990s, and a renewed, moderate rise thereafter. Today it sits around 1 to 1.5 megatonnes, well below the agricultural level but still the second‑largest source, adding around 100 megatonnes over time. Energy, waste, and other sources are comparatively small; energy has generally eased since the mid‑1970s, waste has crept up in the last decade, while other has trended down since around 1980, each remaining a fraction of a megatonne.
Current Trajectory And Focus
The dominant pattern is a gentle decline in agriculture alongside a mild upward drift in industry. Sustaining and accelerating the agricultural downturn, while reversing the industrial uptick, would deliver the largest gains in reducing national N2O emissions. The smaller sectors can support progress, but momentum hinges on the two major sources.
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.