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Greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizers: The necessity of case-specific emissions data for environmental assessments of agricultural systems
Authors: Eric Walling, C?line Vaneeckhaute
Identifier: CSBE21222
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Published in: CSBE-SCGAB Technical Conferences » 5th CIGR and AGM Quebec City 2021 » Regular Sessions
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Description: Agriculture is an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for 12% of global emissions. An important contributor to this balance is the use of fertilizing materials, such as synthetic fertilizers, composts, manures and digestates, that stimulate the emission of potent GHGs such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Despite the widespread use of fertilizers and their importance in modern agriculture, knowledge of their impact on global warming is surprisingly limited. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has provided general emission factors that have been commonly used to estimate GHG emissions from fertilizers, such as a value of 1% of applied nitrogen being emitted as N2O. However, the accuracy of these recommendations remains doubtful given the wide variability in the physical and chemical properties of these different amendments. In the aim of determining whether the general emission factors provided by the IPCC are accurate, we undertook a review and an empirical study of emissions data from the literature for organic and inorganic fertilizers, including their production, storage, transportation and post-application emissions. This work highlights the massive variability in emissions data throughout the literature, casting doubt on the validity of general emission factors (in any case, not just IPCC). For example, post-application emissions vary between 0 and 14% of applied N, pointing to potentially significant misrepresentations of emissions (compared to the generally used 1%) associated to fertilizer and agricultural production. This emphasizes the need for environmental assessments to be based on case-specific data rather than general emission factors.
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Date: 2021-06-11
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Conference name: 5th CIGR International Conference and CSBE-SCGAB AGM 2021, Quebec City,QC, 11-14 May 2021.
Session name: GHG Emissions, Climate Change & Adaptation 2
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Type: Text.Abstract
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Publication type: Presentation
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Language 1: en
Language 2:
Rights: Canadian Society for Bioengineering
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DOI:
Description: Agriculture is an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for 12% of global emissions. An important contributor to this balance is the use of fertilizing materials, such as synthetic fertilizers, composts, manures and digestates, that stimulate the emission of potent GHGs such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Despite the widespread use of fertilizers and their importance in modern agriculture, knowledge of their impact on global warming is surprisingly limited. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has provided general emission factors that have been commonly used to estimate GHG emissions from fertilizers, such as a value of 1% of applied nitrogen being emitted as N2O. However, the accuracy of these recommendations remains doubtful given the wide variability in the physical and chemical properties of these different amendments. In the aim of determining whether the general emission factors provided by the IPCC are accurate, we undertook a review and an empirical study of emissions data from the literature for organic and inorganic fertilizers, including their production, storage, transportation and post-application emissions. This work highlights the massive variability in emissions data throughout the literature, casting doubt on the validity of general emission factors (in any case, not just IPCC). For example, post-application emissions vary between 0 and 14% of applied N, pointing to potentially significant misrepresentations of emissions (compared to the generally used 1%) associated to fertilizer and agricultural production. This emphasizes the need for environmental assessments to be based on case-specific data rather than general emission factors.
Keywords:
Résumé:
Mots-clés:
Citation:
Volume:
Issue:
Pages -
Contributor:
Date: 2021-06-11
Technical field:
Conference name: 5th CIGR International Conference and CSBE-SCGAB AGM 2021, Quebec City,QC, 11-14 May 2021.
Session name: GHG Emissions, Climate Change & Adaptation 2
Other information:
Type: Text.Abstract
Format:
Publication type: Presentation
Source:
Relation:
Coverage:
Language 1: en
Language 2:
Rights: Canadian Society for Bioengineering
Notes:
Other files:
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