Türkiye's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Emissions Dominate
Throughout the decades, Türkiye's N₂O emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture. The establishment of Turkish Sugar Factories in 1933 marked a significant shift, leading to increased sugar beet cultivation and the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers. This expansion contributed to a steady rise in N₂O emissions from agriculture, which remained the largest source of emissions. Despite fluctuations, agricultural emissions have consistently accounted for a substantial portion of the total N₂O emissions.
Energy and Industry on the Rise
The discovery of oil in Batman in 1955 and the expansion of coal mining in the 1970s marked the beginning of significant contributions from the energy sector. These developments led to increased N₂O emissions from energy production, which continued to grow over the decades. The introduction of natural gas in 1991 further shifted energy consumption patterns, contributing to the rise in emissions. Meanwhile, industrial emissions saw a notable increase, particularly in the 1990s, as Türkiye's industrial activities expanded.
Recent Trends and Challenges
In recent years, Türkiye has faced challenges in managing its N₂O emissions. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 temporarily reduced industrial activity and transportation, leading to a decrease in emissions. However, the overall trend shows a continued rise in emissions, particularly from agriculture and energy. The ratification of the Paris Agreement in 2015 reflects Türkiye's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but the path to achieving significant reductions remains complex and requires sustained efforts across multiple sectors.
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.