Emissions from Managed Agricultural Soils in Context of Consumption of Inorganic Nitrogen Fertilisers in Selected EU Countries

Abstract

In addition to industry, transport, and waste management, the agricultural sector is also a major emitter of CO2 emissions. This article focuses on CO2 equivalent emissions from soil in the context of mineral nitrogen fertiliser management. The methodology itself consists of several successive phases, the first of which is to determine basic statistical characteristics for all EU countries, primarily in terms of mineral nitrogen fertiliser consumption, but also in terms of the area of crops grown. EU countries with similar cropping patterns were selected for comparison so that the results could be compared. The results show that there are quite significant differences in CO2 equivalent emissions between countries under similar conditions. At the same time, the values of the marginal increment of CO2 emissions as a function of mineral nitrogen fertiliser consumption were calculated. On the basis of the results of the selected countries, an upper limit in terms of CO2 emissions per hectare of arable land was also determined, and recommendations were made from a national perspective. The emissions themselves can be seen as a negative production externality that is not accounted for in the market mechanism and can thus also distort the price of agricultural production. The methodology used in this paper can be used to set an upper limit on CO2 emissions from soil due to the use of mineral nitrogen fertilisers and can then be used as an indicator for regulating and defining future agricultural policy instruments within the EU, where the objective is to reduce the level of CO2 emissions.