Nicaragua's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Expansion and Emissions
Nicaragua's N₂O emissions have been significantly influenced by agricultural activities, particularly since the late 19th century. The Coffee Export Boom in the 1890s marked the beginning of increased agricultural emissions, as land was cleared for coffee plantations. This trend continued with the Cotton Industry Expansion in the 1960s, which further contributed to N₂O emissions due to fertilizer use. The 1980s Agrarian Reform also played a role, as intensified agricultural practices led to higher emissions. By the 2000s, agriculture accounted for the majority of Nicaragua's N₂O emissions, reflecting the sector's dominant role in the country's emission profile.
Energy and Industrial Contributions
While agriculture remains the primary source of N₂O emissions, the energy sector has also contributed to the overall emissions profile. The expansion of energy production, particularly in the late 20th century, led to a gradual increase in emissions from this sector. However, the impact of industrial activities on N₂O emissions has been negligible, as indicated by the absence of significant emissions from this sector throughout the recorded history.
Recent Trends and Initiatives
In recent years, Nicaragua has made efforts to address its emissions through renewable energy initiatives. The 2013 launch of wind and solar projects aimed to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, potentially curbing CO₂ emissions. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 temporarily reduced economic activities, leading to a short-term decrease in emissions. Despite these efforts, the agricultural sector continues to be the primary driver of N₂O emissions, underscoring the need for sustainable agricultural practices to mitigate future emissions.
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.