Switzerland's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Emissions Dominate
Switzerland's N2O emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture, particularly from the mid-20th century onwards. The post-World War II economic boom saw a significant rise in emissions, with agriculture contributing the largest share. This trend continued into the 1960s, coinciding with the expansion of livestock farming, which further increased emissions from enteric fermentation and manure management. Despite fluctuations, agriculture has consistently remained the largest source of N2O emissions, accounting for over two-thirds of the total in recent decades.
Industrial and Energy Shifts
The industrial sector in Switzerland saw a notable increase in N2O emissions during the mid-20th century, peaking around the 1970s. This rise was linked to the post-war industrial expansion and increased energy consumption. However, the introduction of environmental regulations in the 1990s led to a decline in industrial emissions. Similarly, energy-related N2O emissions grew until the late 20th century but have since decreased, reflecting shifts towards cleaner energy sources and improved efficiency.
Waste and Other Sources
Emissions from waste and other sources have shown a gradual increase over the decades, though they remain a smaller fraction of the total. The waste sector's contribution has grown steadily, reflecting changes in waste management practices. Meanwhile, emissions from other sources have decreased, particularly since the 1990s, as Switzerland implemented policies to curb greenhouse gas emissions across various sectors. These efforts align with international commitments, such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, aimed at reducing overall 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.