Saint Kitts and Nevis' Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Emissions Dominate
Throughout the decades, Saint Kitts and Nevis has seen its anthropogenic N2O emissions primarily driven by agriculture. The data indicates that agricultural activities have consistently been the largest contributor to N2O emissions, particularly during the mid-20th century. This trend aligns with historical events such as the expansion of sugar plantations in the late 19th century, which likely led to increased emissions due to land-use changes and deforestation. However, the closure of the sugar industry in 2005 marked a significant shift, resulting in a notable decrease in agricultural emissions.
Energy and Waste Contributions
In recent decades, emissions from energy and waste sectors have become more prominent. The introduction of diesel engines in the 1950s and the expansion of the tourism sector in the 2010s have contributed to a gradual increase in emissions from these sources. The energy sector, although a smaller contributor compared to agriculture, has shown a steady presence in the emissions profile of the country. The waste sector, similarly, has maintained a consistent, albeit minor, contribution to the overall emissions.
Impact of Economic and Environmental Events
Significant events such as the independence of Saint Kitts and Nevis in 1983 and the impact of Hurricane Irma in 2017 have influenced emissions trends. Independence led to increased infrastructure development, while Hurricane Irma's reconstruction efforts temporarily spiked emissions. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, however, resulted in a temporary reduction in emissions due to decreased economic activity and tourism, highlighting the sensitivity of emissions to global and local events.
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.