Mauritius' Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Expansion and Emissions Growth
The history of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in Mauritius is closely tied to its agricultural practices. The expansion of sugarcane plantations in the 19th century marked the beginning of significant land-use changes, contributing to increased emissions. By the mid-20th century, agriculture became the dominant source of N2O emissions, peaking in the 1950s. Despite fluctuations, agriculture has consistently remained the largest contributor to N2O emissions in Mauritius.
Energy and Industrial Developments
Mauritius's journey towards industrialization and energy diversification has also influenced its N2O emissions profile. The introduction of natural gas in the 1980s and subsequent renewable energy projects in the 2010s aimed to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. While these efforts primarily targeted CO₂ emissions, they also indirectly impacted N2O emissions from energy sources, which saw a gradual increase over the decades.
Recent Trends and Pandemic Impact
In recent years, Mauritius has seen a stabilization in its overall N2O emissions, with a slight decrease in the 2020s. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 played a role in this trend, as reduced economic activity led to a temporary dip in emissions. The pandemic's impact highlights the potential for significant emission reductions through changes in economic and transportation activities. Despite these fluctuations, agriculture remains the primary source of N2O emissions, underscoring the need for sustainable agricultural practices in Mauritius's future environmental strategies.
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.