Oman's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Emissions on the Rise
Oman's agricultural sector has seen a notable increase in N₂O emissions over the decades. From the mid-20th century onwards, emissions from agriculture have steadily risen, reflecting the sector's growing contribution to the country's overall greenhouse gas emissions. This trend aligns with the modernization and expansion of agricultural practices, which have intensified the use of fertilizers and other inputs that contribute to N₂O emissions.
Energy Sector Fluctuations
The energy sector in Oman has experienced fluctuations in N₂O emissions, particularly during the late 20th century. The discovery of oil in 1967 and subsequent energy developments led to increased emissions. However, the expansion of the natural gas industry in the 1980s provided a cleaner alternative, resulting in some periods of reduced emissions. Despite these fluctuations, the energy sector remains a significant source of N₂O emissions in Oman.
Industrial Growth and Emissions
The development of industrial zones in Oman, particularly from 2010 onwards, has contributed to a rise in N₂O emissions from the industrial sector. The establishment of these zones has attracted various industries, leading to increased energy consumption and emissions. This industrial growth is reflected in the data, showing a steady increase in emissions from industrial activities over recent decades.
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 had a temporary impact on Oman's emissions, leading to a short-term decrease due to reduced economic activities. Lockdowns and travel restrictions resulted in lower fossil fuel consumption, which temporarily curbed emissions. However, this decrease was short-lived, with emissions expected to rebound as economic activities resumed post-pandemic.
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.