South Sudan's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Emissions Dominate
Throughout the decades, South Sudan's N2O emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture. The data reveals a consistent increase in emissions from this sector, particularly noticeable from the mid-20th century onwards. This trend aligns with historical events such as the end of the Mahdist War in 1899 and Sudan's independence in 1956, which introduced new agricultural practices and land-use changes. The discovery of oil in 1978 and subsequent economic developments further contributed to this upward trajectory.
Impact of Conflict and Peace
The Second Sudanese Civil War, beginning in 1983, temporarily disrupted agricultural activities, leading to a reduction in emissions. However, the conflict also caused deforestation, as displaced populations relied on wood for fuel. The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 and South Sudan's independence in 2011 marked periods of increased stability and economic development, resulting in a resurgence of emissions due to expanded agriculture and oil production.
Recent Trends and Future Outlook
In recent years, the Revitalized Peace Agreement of 2018 has aimed to stabilize the region, potentially leading to increased emissions as economic activities resume. The data indicates a slight decrease in agricultural emissions in the 2020s, possibly reflecting ongoing efforts to manage land use more sustainably. As South Sudan continues to develop, balancing economic growth with environmental sustainability will be crucial in managing future emissions.
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.