Mali's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Dominance in Emissions
Mali's N2O emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture, which has consistently been the largest contributor over the decades. The introduction of structured agricultural practices during the French colonial period laid the groundwork for this trend. The expansion of agriculture, particularly after Mali's independence in 1960, further solidified its role as the primary source of emissions. Notably, the 1980s saw significant increases in agricultural emissions, coinciding with the introduction of large-scale irrigation projects aimed at boosting productivity.
Impact of Environmental and Political Events
The Sahel drought in the early 1970s temporarily altered agricultural practices, but recovery efforts likely led to increased emissions as communities adapted to new conditions. Similarly, the political instability in 2012 disrupted agricultural activities, potentially causing temporary reductions in emissions. However, the subsequent changes in land management may have offset these reductions. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 also led to temporary decreases in emissions due to reduced economic activities, although the overall impact was minimal.
Emerging Energy Initiatives
While agriculture remains the dominant source of emissions, Mali has made strides in diversifying its energy sources. The renewable energy initiatives launched in 2015 marked a shift towards more sustainable practices, aiming to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Although the initial impact on emissions was small, these efforts represent a significant step towards reducing future emissions and promoting environmental sustainability in the country.
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.