Ukraine's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Industrialization and Early Emissions
The industrialization of the Donbas region in the 1860s marked the beginning of significant anthropogenic N₂O emissions in Ukraine. This period saw a rise in emissions due to increased coal mining and metallurgy activities. By the early 20th century, the region had become a major coal producer, contributing to a steady increase in emissions from energy and industry sectors.
Soviet Era and Fluctuations
During the Soviet era, Ukraine experienced fluctuations in N₂O emissions. The Holodomor famine in the 1930s and World War II led to temporary reductions in agricultural and industrial activities, respectively, causing decreases in emissions. However, post-war industrial recovery and the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, which increased reliance on coal, led to spikes in emissions, particularly from the energy sector.
Post-Soviet Decline
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in a significant decline in industrial activity, leading to a marked reduction in N₂O emissions. This period saw a decrease in emissions from all sectors, with the most notable reductions in industry and energy. The economic disruptions and policy changes during this time contributed to a sustained decrease in emissions throughout the 1990s.
Recent Conflicts and Emission Reductions
The 2014 conflict in Eastern Ukraine and the 2022 Russian invasion caused widespread destruction of infrastructure, leading to further reductions in N₂O emissions. These events disrupted industrial and agricultural activities, resulting in significant decreases in emissions from these sectors. The ongoing geopolitical tensions continue to impact Ukraine's emission trends, highlighting the complex interplay between conflict and environmental outcomes.
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.