Malta's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Emissions Dominate
Throughout the decades, Malta's N2O emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture. This sector consistently contributed the largest share of emissions, peaking in the late 20th century. The data indicates a gradual increase in agricultural emissions until the 1990s, followed by a slight decline in the 2000s. This trend aligns with global agricultural practices and technological advancements that may have improved efficiency and reduced emissions.
Energy Sector's Steady Rise
The energy sector in Malta has shown a steady increase in N2O emissions, particularly noticeable from the 1970s onwards. This rise coincides with Malta's industrialization post-independence in 1964 and the subsequent economic development. The introduction of natural gas in 1987 marked a pivotal shift, aiming to reduce emissions by transitioning from oil. However, the full impact of this transition on N2O emissions is not explicitly detailed in the data.
Impact of EU Membership and Infrastructure Changes
Malta's accession to the European Union in 2004 and the conversion of the Delimara Power Station in 2013 are significant events that likely influenced emissions. EU membership brought regulatory changes and development projects, potentially increasing emissions. However, the conversion of the power station to natural gas and the 2017 interconnector with Sicily likely contributed to a reduction in emissions by decreasing reliance on fossil fuels. These infrastructural changes reflect Malta's ongoing efforts to manage and reduce its carbon footprint.
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.