24 June 2016
24.06.2016 - Within the framework of the regional meeting on the Assessment of GHG emissions from the agricultural sector, held in Zagreb, Croatia (21 and 22 June) under the ECRAN Program (Environment and Climate Regional Accession Network), the situation of emissions from this sector in Kosovo was also presented.
The Agriculture sector accounts for about 7% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in Kosovo, or around 700 Gg (Gigagram) CO2 equivalent (eq.), respectively 700 thousand tons of CO2 equivalent. This sector belongs to the third category according to IPCC 2006 and consists of two other sub-sectors (categories). The first sub-sector includes emissions from livestock, which mainly comprise methane emissions from enteric fermentation (the digestive process of animals) and nitrous oxide and methane emissions from the management of animal manure. This sub-sector produces about 550 Gg CO2 eq. per year. The second sector deals with emissions from soil fertilization and biomass burning. The most important categories of this sub-sector are indirect nitrous oxide emissions related to manure management and grain fertilization. In total, this sub-sector emits about 150 Gg CO2 eq. per year.
Annual emissions from the Agriculture sector in Kosovo are around 690 Gg CO2 eq. Enteric fermentation (the digestive process of animals) accounts for 70% of emissions or 470 Gg CO2 eq., followed by direct N2O emissions from land (soil) management at 11% (77 Gg eq.), and emissions from livestock manure management at 9% (57 Gg eq.). Methane (CH4), contributing 77% of the total, is the main gas emitted by this sector, followed by Nitrous Oxide (N2O) at 20% and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) at 3%. During the meeting, methodologies used for estimating greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector, the data needed for emissions assessment, inter-institutional cooperation, and other institutional and technical aspects for the GHG emissions inventory from the agriculture sector were also discussed.
The Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency is the compiler of the GHG inventory in Kosovo. In addition to representatives from the Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, officials from the Kosovo Statistics Agency and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Rural Development also participated in the meeting. For more, visit the ECRAN website.