🇹🇬 Togo's Sources of N₂O Emissions

Togo's Sources of N2O Emissions

Key Insights

2024 N2O Emissions Profile

In 2024, Togo's anthropogenic N2O emissions totalled around 2.4 megatonnes CO2e. Agriculture dominated, at around 2.0 megatonnes CO2e and 84.9% of emissions, rising by about 0.075 megatonnes CO2e per year over the ten years to 2024. Other sources contributed 0.15 megatonnes CO2e (6.4%), energy 0.11 (4.6%), and waste 0.10 (4.0%); all increased over that period.

Historic Agriculture Emissions

Agricultural emissions began at around 0.02 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and remained small through the early twentieth century, reaching about 0.1 by 1921. They then rose to roughly 0.5 in the early 1980s and 1.1 in 2010, before accelerating to a peak of around 2.0 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.

Historic Energy Emissions

Energy emissions started near zero, at around 0.001 megatonnes CO2e in 1851, and remained very small into the mid-twentieth century. They increased gradually from about 0.006 in the mid-1930s to 0.04 in the mid-1990s, then continued upward to their peak of around 0.11 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.

Historic Waste Emissions

Waste emissions were around 0.001 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and stayed minimal through the first half of the twentieth century. They rose gradually to roughly 0.02 by the late 1970s and 0.05 in 2004, before increasing further to a peak of around 0.10 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.

Historic Other Emissions

Other emissions began at around 0.003 megatonnes CO2e in 1851 and remained low until the late 1960s. They then climbed to about 0.14 by 2009, peaking at roughly 0.17 in 2011. Emissions subsequently fell to around 0.12 in 2014, recovered, and ended at approximately 0.15 megatonnes CO2e in 2024.

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 oxide
IPCC: 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: Megatonne
Wikipedia: Global warming potential

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About the Data

National N2O emissions data through 2024 is from the PRIMAP-hist dataset, which combines several published sources into a historical emissions time series.

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 (1750-2024)
Update cycle: Every few monthsDelay: Less than 1 yearCredits: Gütschow, J.; Busch, D.; Pflüger, M. (2025): The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series v2.7 (1750-2024). zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.17090760

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