Saudi Arabia's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Oil Discovery and Early Emissions
The discovery of oil in Dammam in 1938 marked a pivotal moment for Saudi Arabia, transforming it into a major oil producer. This event set the stage for a significant rise in fossil fuel-related emissions, as the country expanded its oil extraction and combustion activities. The subsequent decades saw a steady increase in emissions, particularly from the energy sector, as Saudi Arabia became one of the world's largest oil exporters.
Industrialization and Emission Growth
The nationalization of Saudi Aramco in 1980 further accelerated the country's industrial growth, leading to increased production capabilities and a corresponding rise in emissions. The 1980s and 1990s witnessed substantial growth in emissions from the industry and energy sectors, reflecting the expansion of oil extraction and exportation. The Gulf War oil fires in 1990-1991 also contributed to regional environmental impacts, highlighting the environmental risks associated with oil production.
Recent Initiatives and Future Outlook
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has taken steps to address its emissions through initiatives like Vision 2030 and the Saudi Green Initiative. These programs aim to diversify the economy and increase the share of renewable energy, potentially reducing emissions over time. However, the initial phases of these plans involved significant infrastructure development, which may have temporarily increased emissions. The long-term impact is expected to be a reduction in emissions as renewable energy projects come online, aligning with global efforts to combat climate change.
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.