Environmental Benefits of Ammonia Reduction in an Agriculture-Dominated Area in South Korea

Abstract

Agricultural activity greatly contributes to the secondary PM2.5 concentrations by releasing relatively large amounts of ammonia emissions. Nonetheless, studies and air quality policies have traditionally focused on industrial emissions such as NOx and SOx. To compare them, this study used a three-dimensional modeling system (e.g., WRF/CMAQ) to estimate the effects of emission control policies of agricultural and industrial emissions on PM2.5 pollution in Chungcheong, an agriculturally active region in Korea. Scenario 1 (S1) was designed to estimate the effect of a 30% reduction in NH3 emissions from the agro-livestock sector on air pollution. Scenario 2 (S2) was designed to show the air quality under a mitigation policy on NOx, SOx, VOCs, and primary PM2.5 from industrial sources, such as power plants and factories. The results revealed that monthly mean PM2.5 in Chungcheong could decrease by 3.6% (1.1 µg/m3) under S1 with agricultural emission control, whereas S2 with industrial emission control may result in only a 0.7~1.1% improvement. These results indicate the importance of identifying trends of multiple precursor emissions and the chemical environment in the target area to enable more efficient air quality management.

Studies on Air Pollution and Air Quality in Rural and Agricultural Environments: A Systematic Review

“…Furthermore, as is well known, PM 2.5 is formed through different processes and interactions between primary particles, various precursors (e.g., NO x , SO x , VOCs, and NH 3 ), photochemical reactions, and meteorological processes. For these reasons, the composition of PM 2.5 may vary and may include diverse types of chemicals, both from primary and secondary origins (e.g., ionic species such as chloride, nitrates, sulphates, and ammonium; EC/OC-elemental and organic carbon), as well as elemental species [55]. In detail, some studies have suggested that ammonia plays a critical role in the PM2.5 formation, as a precursor of secondary inorganic aerosols, including ammonium sulphate ((NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ) and ammonium nitrate (NH 4 NO 3 ).…”

“…In detail, some studies have suggested that ammonia plays a critical role in the PM2.5 formation, as a precursor of secondary inorganic aerosols, including ammonium sulphate ((NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ) and ammonium nitrate (NH 4 NO 3 ). This may play a key role in agricultural settings, due to the high amount of ammonia released from agricultural sources (e.g., animal husbandry, fertilizer use, and crop residue combustion) [55]. Furthermore, the production of NO x from soils is controlled by microbial processes, including nitrification (i.e., oxidizing process in which aerobic bacteria oxidize ammonium to nitrite and nitrate) and denitrification (i.e., a series of processes that reduce nitrite or nitrate to nitric oxide (NO), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), and dinitrogen (N 2 ) in anaerobic conditions).…”

Benefits of air quality for human health resulting from climate change mitigation through dietary change and food loss prevention policy

“…The food sector alone contributes to 10-12% of total global emissions (Bauer et al 2016;Smith et al 2014;Tai et al 2014). Recent studies highlight ammonia emissions, especially from the agricultural sector, notably livestock production, as a significant contributor to PM 2.5 in ambient air (Bist et al 2023;Choi and Sunwoo 2022;Liu et al 2021b;Mazzeo et al 2022;Ti et al 2022;Wang et al 2023). However, policies targeting NH 3 emissions from agricultural sources are yet to be implemented in numerous countries, particularly in developing nations where agricultural activities play a pivotal role in the economy (Ma et al 2021).…”

Particulate Matter and Ammonia Pollution in the Animal Agricultural-Producing Regions of North Carolina: Integrated Ground-Based Measurements and Satellite Analysis

“…Moreover, a thorough review of the scientific literature did not provide any studies offering predictions of PM 2.5 in rural regions based on our processbased approach (i.e., coupling of satellite and ground-based measurements). However, a complex numerical air quality model such as the Weather Research and Forecasting-Community Multiscale Air Quality (WRF-CMAQ) or WRF-Chem Modeling System may also be utilized to predict PM 2.5 and NH 3 emission from agricultural land using these air quality models across various regions of the world [42][43][44][45].…”