Suriname's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agriculture Dominates The Profile
Suriname's nitrous oxide picture is led by agriculture, which accounts for about two-thirds of the national total. Emissions were low for much of the early record, then climbed through the post‑war era and into the 1990s. Since the mid‑2010s, agricultural emissions have largely leveled off at an elevated plateau around 0.15 megatonnes, with year‑to‑year variation staying within a relatively narrow band.
Energy And Other Shift
Non‑agricultural sources together remain below agriculture, but their history is varied. Energy stayed modest until the 1990s and has risen steadily since, reaching roughly 0.05-0.06 megatonnes. The "other" category expanded through the 1970s-1990s to about 0.1 megatonnes, then dropped sharply in the early 2000s and has since inched up to between about 0.02 and 0.03 megatonnes. Waste has crept upward from near zero but remains small, while industry is negligible.
Current Trajectory And Priorities
Today's picture shows agriculture stabilizing at a high level, energy continuing to rise, and other edging upward from a much lower base. To reduce overall warming impact, the priority is to hold or bend down the agricultural plateau while reversing the upward trend in energy and checking the gradual increase in other. Focusing on these three sectors, which together make up the vast majority of emissions, will shape Suriname's near‑term progress.
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 created using a large language model (LLM) in combination with our data, historic events, and a structured approach for best accuracy by 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.