Rwanda's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Emissions Dominate
Rwanda's N2O emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture, with significant increases observed over the decades. The decadal data reveals a consistent rise in emissions from agricultural activities, particularly noticeable from the mid-20th century onwards. This trend aligns with historical events such as the introduction of cash crops during colonial rule and post-independence agricultural expansion. The Vision 2020 Development Plan further intensified agricultural activities, contributing to the upward trajectory of emissions. Despite efforts to implement sustainable practices, agriculture remains the largest source of N2O emissions in Rwanda.
Energy and Waste Contributions
While agriculture is the primary contributor, emissions from energy and waste sectors have also shown notable trends. The energy sector experienced a gradual increase in emissions, reflecting Rwanda's efforts to modernize and expand its energy infrastructure. The waste sector, although smaller in scale, has seen a steady rise in emissions, likely due to urbanization and increased waste generation. These sectors highlight the challenges Rwanda faces in balancing development with environmental sustainability.
Efforts Towards Sustainability
In recent years, Rwanda has made significant strides towards reducing emissions through policies like the Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy and commitments to the Paris Agreement. These initiatives aim to promote renewable energy and improve land management, reflecting Rwanda's dedication to sustainable development. The updated Nationally Determined Contributions further emphasize the country's commitment to mitigating climate change impacts, showcasing a proactive approach to reducing emissions and fostering a greener future.
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.