South Africa's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Emissions Dominate
Throughout the decades, South Africa's N2O emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture. This sector has consistently contributed the largest share of emissions, with significant increases observed during the mid-20th century. The post-World War II era saw a notable rise in agricultural emissions, likely due to intensified farming practices and increased use of nitrogen-based fertilizers. This trend continued into the late 20th century, with agriculture remaining a key contributor to the country's overall N2O emissions.
Industrial and Energy Shifts
The industrial sector experienced a dramatic increase in N2O emissions in the early 1990s, coinciding with the end of apartheid and the subsequent economic growth. This period marked a shift towards greater industrial activity, which was reflected in the emissions data. Meanwhile, the energy sector has shown a steady increase in emissions over the decades, driven by South Africa's reliance on coal for energy production. The discovery of diamonds and the gold rush in the late 19th century initially spurred this reliance, which has persisted into the modern era.
Recent Efforts and Challenges
In recent years, South Africa has made strides towards reducing emissions through policy initiatives such as the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme and the implementation of a carbon tax. These efforts aim to curb emissions by promoting renewable energy and incentivizing lower carbon footprints. However, the data indicates that while there have been some reductions, challenges remain in significantly decreasing N2O emissions, particularly in the agricultural and energy sectors. The Just Energy Transition Partnership announced in 2021 represents a promising step towards a more sustainable 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.