Sudan's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Expansion Drives Emissions
Sudan's anthropogenic N2O emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture, which has consistently been the largest contributor over the decades. The decadal data reveals a significant increase in emissions from agriculture, particularly from the 1970s onwards. This trend aligns with Sudan's national development projects post-independence in 1956, which focused on expanding agriculture. The discovery of oil in 1978 and subsequent economic activities further fueled agricultural expansion, contributing to the rise in emissions.
Oil Industry's Impact on Emissions
The oil industry has played a crucial role in shaping Sudan's emission profile. The first oil export in 1999 marked a turning point, leading to increased emissions due to the expansion of oil extraction and export infrastructure. However, the secession of South Sudan in 2011 resulted in a significant loss of oil revenue for Sudan, leading to a decrease in emissions from oil-related activities. This economic shift prompted Sudan to diversify its economy, potentially increasing emissions from other sectors.
Recent Trends and Future Outlook
In recent years, Sudan has experienced fluctuations in emissions, with notable increases in agricultural emissions in 2012 and 2020. The Sudanese Revolution in 2019 and subsequent economic reforms may influence future emission trends as the country focuses on industrial activities and infrastructure development. The gold rush around 2013 also contributed to increased emissions, highlighting the impact of mining activities on Sudan's emission profile. As Sudan navigates its economic and environmental challenges, its emission trends will likely continue to evolve.
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.