United Republic of Tanzania's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agriculture Dominates The Profile
Tanzania's nitrous oxide picture is overwhelmingly agricultural, contributing well over 90% of annual emissions and just over 1,000 megatonnes cumulatively. Levels were low and steady into the early 20th century, jumped during the 1940s, then settled into a long stretch around the high single digits to roughly 10. Since the late 1980s, agriculture has climbed steadily to around 20 megatonnes today, driving most of the country's N2O climate impact.
Smaller Sectors, Modest Growth
Energy, waste, industry, and other sources remain minor by comparison. Energy and waste have edged upward since the late 1980s and early 2000s, each reaching around 1 megatonne recently. "Other" hovered near 1 through the 2010s and has been broadly stable. Industry has risen gradually but stays well below 1. Even together, these non-agricultural sources are far smaller than agriculture alone.
Distinct Historical Turning Points
Three transitions stand out: a post-war surge from very low baselines; relative stability from the late 1940s to mid-1980s, fluctuating between high single digits and the low teens; and a sustained rise since the late 1980s that has set today's higher levels. The recent decades mark the clearest and most persistent upswing.
Outlook And Priorities
The dominant source-agriculture-is still on a rising trajectory. Bending national N2O emissions will depend on reversing that growth in agriculture; gains in smaller sectors help, but the overall pathway hinges on the largest source.
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.