Agriculture: methane and nitrous oxide

Abstract

This sectoral report determines the abatement potential of non-CO2 greenhouse gases from the agricultural sector across Europe. During 1990 to 2005, emissions from this sector in the EU27 fell by approximately 15% and in 2005 represented approximately 10% to the overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the EU27. Within the sector, agricultural soils, enteric fermentation and manure management are the main emissions sources. Projections show European agricultural emissions declining through to 2015, after which they remain relatively stable out to 2030. Against projected baseline emissions, it is demonstrated that the maximum technically available potential in 2020 is 160 Mt CO2-eq/year, which would represent a 35% reduction against European agricultural sector emissions in 2005. For the year 2020, 47 Mt CO2-eq/year of emissions reductions was identified at zero or negative cost compared to baseline emissions, which amounts to a reduction of 10% against 2005 levels which is consistent with the EU target for emission reduction across the non-traded sector of the European economy. The set of most cost-effective measures is presented and includes: precision farming (reducing N2O from soils); centralized anaerobic digestion of manure (reducing N2O and CH4 emission that would otherwise occur from manure storage or application); improvement of lifetime and efficiency of livestock (long term management and use of genetic resources that reduces enteric CH4 emissions); and addition of nitrification inhibitors to soils (reducing N2O emissions from soils). It is pointed out that the abatement identified in this study is technical abatement and in order to deliver the maximum proportion of this potential, a strong policy and regulatory framework should be established.