Uzbekistan's Sources of N2O Emissions
Key Insights
Agricultural Dominance in Emissions
Uzbekistan's N2O emissions have been predominantly driven by agriculture, particularly during the late 20th century. The expansion of cotton irrigation in the 1980s significantly contributed to this trend, as the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers increased N2O emissions. This sector has consistently been the largest source of N2O emissions, accounting for a substantial portion of the country's total emissions over the decades.
Economic Transition and Emission Shifts
The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked a pivotal shift in Uzbekistan's economic and industrial landscape. This transition led to changes in energy production and consumption patterns, impacting greenhouse gas emissions. The restructuring of the economy and increased reliance on natural gas and oil contributed to fluctuations in emissions, with notable decreases in agricultural emissions during the early 1990s.
Recent Developments and Future Outlook
In recent years, Uzbekistan has taken steps to diversify its energy sources and reduce emissions. The launch of a renewable energy development plan in 2018 aimed to increase solar and wind energy capacity, signaling a shift towards more sustainable energy practices. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 temporarily reduced emissions due to decreased industrial activity and transportation. These efforts indicate a potential for long-term reductions in emissions as the country continues to implement renewable energy projects and improve energy efficiency.
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.