Reduction of Greenhouse Gases from Peat Soils in Dutch Agriculture

Abstract

Summary Peat soils that are drained to enable productive agriculture result in land subsidence and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These have negative effects on the environment, in particular climate change, and rural infrastructure. This article reviews the EU and Dutch regulatory requirements for reducing GHG emissions and discusses options to reduce the negative effects of peat soils. An optimisation farm model based on Dutch farm data provides estimates of farm income losses for three different changes in water levels in peat soils associated with changes in production methods for three options of NH3 emission reductions and three options for nature conservation areas. Model results suggest that carbon credits are an excellent method of financing the costs that farmers face when adapting to legal requirements for lower emissions, ideally raising water levels to –20 cm below field level. The comparison of scenario results also outlines the need to take account of different policy objectives simultaneously in policy evaluation, as do farmers when they adapt their farm practices to the policy environment. Opportunities to add value from markets could also help reduce the income loss from the adoption of more environmentally‐friendly practices.

Climate Change Mitigation in Agriculture beyond 2030: Options for Carbon Pricing and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms

“…A recent study by Poppe et al (2021) concludes that carbon credits might be a cost-effective solution to the problem of peat soils in agricultural use in the Netherlands. Stepanyan et al (2023) show that 100€/t CO 2 eq carbon tax on EU agriculture can reduce the GHG emissions in 2030 by about 93 million tonnes of CO 2 eq, therefore, reducing the gap between the total projected and targeted 2030 emissions in the EU by 14 per cent.…”

“…A recent study by Poppe et al . (2021) concludes that carbon credits might be a cost‐effective solution to the problem of peat soils in agricultural use in the Netherlands. Stepanyan et al .…”

Selected Farm level models and tools forex-ante analysis of impacts of policiesrelated to circular agriculture : Deliverable D2: Progress report project KB-1-2A-4 : models across scale

“…For the Netherlands, Farmdyn was used to analyse impacts of reduction of GHGs from peat soil in Dutch agriculture. Here the focus was on dairy farm management impacts of rewetting peat soils, including impacts on emission of ammonia (Poppe et al, 2021;de Koeijer et al, 2020).…”

Model Collaboration between Farm Level Models with Application on Dutch Dairy and Arable Farms Regarding Circular Agricultural Policy

“…Farmdyn was also used to analyse impacts of reduction of GHG from peat soils in Dutch agriculture. Here, the focus was on dairy farm management impacts of rewetting peat soils, including impacts on emission of NH 3 [19,20]. Daatselaar et al [21] used Farmdyn to analyse integrated effects of a switch to more permanent grassland on dairy farms with silage maize.…”