Peru's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Emissions Dominate
Peru's nitrous oxide emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture, which has consistently been the largest contributor over the decades. The expansion of agricultural activities, particularly during the 20th century, has led to a significant increase in emissions. The Agrarian Reform of 1968 and the expansion of sugar plantations in the early 20th century likely contributed to this trend. Despite fluctuations, agriculture remains a key sector influencing Peru's overall emissions profile.
Energy and Industry Contributions
While agriculture leads, the energy and industry sectors have also played roles in Peru's emissions landscape. The discovery of the Camisea gas field in the 1970s and the subsequent launch of the Camisea Gas Project in 2004 marked significant developments in the energy sector, contributing to increased emissions. The expansion of the mining industry in the early 2000s further amplified energy-related emissions. However, these sectors have not matched the scale of agricultural emissions.
Environmental and Policy Shifts
Environmental events and policy changes have also impacted emissions. The El Niño events of 1982-1983 and 1997-1998 caused disruptions in agriculture, affecting emissions patterns. In 2016, Peru's ratification of the Paris Agreement signaled a commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including nitrous oxide. This commitment has led to the implementation of policies aimed at sustainable agriculture and energy practices, marking a shift towards more environmentally conscious development.
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.