Correction: Powering sustainable development within planetary boundaries (Energy and Environmental Science (2019) 12 (1890-1900) DOI: 10.1039/C8EE03423K)

Abstract

We followed Ryberg et al.1 in the original manuscript and characterized the nitrogen (N) flow by considering both intended and unintended N fixation, while the planetary boundary for N flow, as based on the works by Steffen et al.2 and De Vries et al.,3 only includes intended biological and chemical N fixation. Therefore, to be fully consistent with the original works by Steffen et al.2 and De Vries et al.,3 unintended N fixation caused by other sectors, e.g., NOx from the power sector, should not be included. Consequently, we here adjusted the N flow calculations by considering only the intended chemical N fixation by fertilizers from the agriculture sector only embodied in the life cycle of the generation of 1 kW h of electricity. As the life cycle inventory database Ecoinvent,4 used in the calculations, does not provide explicitly 'intended biological N fixation,' this component needs to be excluded from our N flow calculations accordingly. Since the planetary boundary on N flow, i.e., 62 Tg N per annum, considers both intended biological and chemical fixation, we here adjusted the N flow planetary boundary by taking the portion relevant to intended chemical fixation only. According to Steffen et al.,2 the current value of N flow is 150 Tg N per annum, out of which 96 Tg N per annum (64%) is attributed to chemical fixation by fertilizers.5 Therefore, we reduced the N flow planetary boundary from 62 to 39.7 Tg N per annum to consider industrial fixation only, assuming such share would remain constant. (Figure Presented). The Royal Society of Chemistry apologises for these errors and any consequent inconvenience to authors and readers..