Technical opportunities to reduce global anthropogenic emissions of nitrous oxide

Abstract

We describe a consistent framework developed to quantify current and future anthropogenic emissions of nitrous oxide and the available technical abatement options by source sector for 172 regions globally. About 65% of the current emissions derive from agricultural soils, 8% from waste, and 4% from the chemical industry. Low-cost abatement options are available in industry, wastewater, and agriculture, where they are limited to large industrial farms. We estimate that by 2030, emissions can be reduced by about 6% ±2% applying abatement options at a cost lower than 10 e/t CO 2 -eq. The largest abatement potential at higher marginal costs is available from agricultural soils, employing precision fertilizer application technology as well as chemical treatment of fertilizers to suppress conversion processes in soil (nitrification inhibitors). At marginal costs of up to 100 e/t CO 2 -eq, about 18% ±6% of baseline emissions can be removed and when considering all available options, the global abatement potential increases to about 26% ±9%. Due to expected future increase in activities driving nitrous oxide emissions, the limited technical abatement potential available means that even at full implementation of reduction measures by 2030, global emissions can be at most stabilized at the pre-2010 level. In order to achieve deeper reductions in emissions, considerable technological development will be required as well as non-technical options like adjusting human diets towards moderate animal protein consumption.

Weakened growth of cropland‐N2O emissions in China associated with nationwide policy interventions

“…The detailed methodology and parameter calibration of the process‐based models and the inversion model can be found in previous studies (Saikawa et al, ; Tian et al, ). In addition, the national estimates of cropland‐N 2 O emissions were compared with the state‐of‐the‐art emission inventories, including the Food and Agriculture Organization Emission Database (FAOSTAT; FAO, ), the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR version 4.3.2; Janssens‐Maenhout et al, ), and the Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS; Winiwarter et al, ), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) report (USEPA, ), and three China's National Communication Reports (CNCR; National Development and Reform Commission, ) submitted to the UNFCCC for years 1994, 2005, and 2012. Note that EDGAR, FAOSTAT, and GAINS estimates were derived using the methodology of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC, ) and national fertilizer data from the FAO.…”

“…China is currently the largest emitters of anthropogenic N 2 O emissions globally (Zhou et al, ). Over the past decades, this source in China increased with N‐fertilizer use, accounting for over 20% of global cropland‐N 2 O emissions from IPCC Tier 1 inventories (FAO, ; Janssens‐Maenhout et al, ; Winiwarter, Höglund‐Isaksson, Klimont, Schöpp, & Amann, ). China is a large country with contrasting crop production systems, climate, and soil types, where the patterns of N 2 O emissions are poorly understood compared to some developed countries (Yue et al, ; Zhou et al, ; Zou, Lu, & Huang, ).…”

“…China is currently the largest emitters of anthropogenic N 2 O emissions globally (Zhou et al, 2014). Over the past decades, this source in China increased with N-fertilizer use, accounting for over 20% of global cropland-N 2 O emissions from IPCC Tier 1 inventories (FAO, 2018;Janssens-Maenhout et al, 2019;Winiwarter, Höglund-Isaksson, Klimont, Schöpp, & Amann, 2018).…”

Greenhouse gas implications of mobilizing agricultural biomass for energy: a reassessment of global potentials in 2050 under different food-system pathways

“…We estimate theoretical potentials (all manure excreted by livestock) as well as technical potentials, assuming two different limiting factors: first, we assume that only manure from indoor housing is available for anaerobic digestion, and second, we assume that this is only the case for manure from intensive livestock systems. The respective world region specific shares are adopted from the data basis of the GAINS model (Amann et al 2011, Winiwarter et al 2018) and Robinson et al (2011) and Lowder et al (2016), respectively, and are provided in the SI.…”

Optimizing Nitrogen and Residue Management to Reduce GHG Emissions while Maintaining Crop Yield: A Case Study in a Mono-Cropping System of Northeast China

“…Agricultural production has a significant impact on global climate change. About 65% of global nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions derive from agricultural soils, mainly attributed to nitrogen (N) fertilizer application [1]. China is the largest N 2 O emitter, accounting for 31% of global emissions [2].…”