scholarly journals Preliminary Assessment of Nitrous Oxide Offsets in a Cap and Trade Program

2011 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 266-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Ribaudo ◽  
Jorge Delgado ◽  
Michael Livingston

Nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas that is emitted from cropland treated with nitrogen fertilizer. Reducing such emissions through nutrient management might be able to produce offsets for sale in a cap and trade program aimed at reducing greenhouse gases. We use the Nitrate Leaching and Economic Analysis Program (NLEAP) model and data from the Agricultural and Resource Management Survey to examine what changes in rate, timing, or method of application a farmer would take to produce offsets. We find that reducing the application rate is the most favored approach for producing offsets. We also find that some management choices may increase nitrate losses to water.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Zhao ◽  
Xuyong Li ◽  
Yan Jiang

Excessive nitrogen fertilizer application in greenhouse vegetable production (GVP) is of scientific and public concern because of its significance to international environmental sustainability. We conducted a meta-analysis using 1174 paired observations from 69 publications on the effects of nitrogen fertilizer application and reducing nitrogen fertilizer application on the nitrogen losses on a broad scale. We found that the increase in nitrogen loss is much higher than that in production gain caused by excessive application of nitrogen fertilizer: nitrate leaching (+187.5%), ammonium leaching (+28.1%), total nitrogen leaching (+217.0%), nitrous oxide emission (+202.0%), ammonia emission (+176.4%), nitric oxide emission (+543.3%), yield (+35.7%) and nitrogen uptake (+24.5%). Environmental variables respond nonlinearly to nitrogen fertilizer application, with severe nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emission when the application rate exceeds 570 kg N/ha and 733 kg/N, respectively. The effect of nitrogen fertilizer on yield growth decreases when the application rate exceeds 302 kg N/ha. Appropriate reduction in nitrogen fertilizer application rate substantially mitigates the environmental cost, for example, decreasing nitrate leaching (−32.4%), ammonium leaching (−6.5%), total nitrogen leaching (−37.3%), ammonia emission (−28.4%), nitrous oxide emission (−38.6%) and nitric oxide emission (−8.0%), while it has no significant effect on the nitrogen uptake and yield.


2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 711-719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javed Iqbal ◽  
David C. Mitchell ◽  
Daniel W. Barker ◽  
Fernando Miguez ◽  
John E. Sawyer ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Wile ◽  
David L. Burton ◽  
Mehdi Sharifi ◽  
Derek Lynch ◽  
Michael Main ◽  
...  

Wile, A., Burton, D. L., Sharifi, M., Lynch, D., Main, M. and Papadopoulos, Y. A. 2014. Effect of nitrogen fertilizer application rate on yield, methane and nitrous oxide emissions from switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.). Can. J. Soil Sci. 94: 129–137. This 2-yr (2008–2009) study conducted in Truro, Nova Scotia, measured plant biomass production (yield and ash content) and greenhouse gas emissions (methane and nitrous oxide), from the bioenergy crops switchgrass (SG; Panicum virgatum L.) and reed canarygrass (RCG; Phalaris arundinacea L.) receiving spring application of nitrogen fertilizer at 0, 40 and 120 kg N ha−1. In both years, crop yields were unresponsive to N fertilizer. In 2008, SG average yields were greater than RCG producing 7.0 vs. 4.6 Mg ha−1, respectively, while ash content was significantly greater for RCG in both years. Cumulative seasonal (May–November) N2O emissions were<1 kg N2O-N ha−1 in 2008 and<0.2 kg N2O-N ha−1 in 2009 with crop (SG>RCG) and N fertilizer (N120>N40=N0) effects found in 2008 only. Nitrate exposure was greater for SG in 2008 only, but responded to N fertilization in both years (N120>N0). These crops were net sinks for methane and the magnitude of the sink was not influenced by crop type, N fertilization or year. Despite lower yields, the greenhouse gas intensity calculated for RCG (−2 to 20 kg CO2e t−1 biomass) was lower than for SG (8 – 60 kg CO2e t−1 biomass) as a result of lower N2O emissions.


1998 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. H. MISSELBROOK ◽  
D. R. CHADWICK ◽  
B. F. PAIN ◽  
D. M. HEADON

Slurry was collected from two groups of finishing pigs fed either a standard commercial diet (containing 205 g/kg crude protein (CP)) or a specially formulated lower CP content diet (140 g/kg CP). The slurries were surface applied to grass/clover plots on a freely draining soil in SW England in mid-March 1995 at three application rates: 25, 50 and 70 m3/ha. Measurements were made from the 50 m3/ha plots of ammonia volatilization, denitrification, nitrous oxide and methane emissions and nitrate leaching. Measurements of herbage yield and apparent N recovery (ANR) were made from all plots. Decreasing the CP content of the pigs' diet reduced N excretion by the pigs and also changed other characteristics of the slurry. Slurry from pigs fed the lower CP diet (the slurry referred to hereafter as LS) had a higher dry matter (DM) content, lower pH, lower total ammoniacal N (TAN), total N and VFA content with a similar total C content compared with slurry from pigs fed the standard commercial diet (the slurry hereafter referred to as CS). From the 50 m3/ha treated plots, losses by ammonia volatilization represented 38 and 58% of the applied TAN and net losses through denitrification represented 5·3 and 12% of the applied TAN for LS and CS respectively. Nitrous oxide emission was similar from the two slurries, with net emissions of c. 0·5% of the applied TAN. Methane emission was significantly less from LS. No nitrate leaching was detected either in spring or in the following autumn. Yield and ANR increased with increasing slurry application rate up to 50 m3/ha. The best% N recovery was from the 50 m3/ha application rate with 58 and 47% of the applied TAN being recovered from LS- and CS-treated plots respectively. Changes in the slurry characteristics due to the lower CP diet resulted in lower losses to the environment and an improved utilization of the slurry N by the herbage.


2008 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
C F Drury ◽  
X M Yang ◽  
W D Reynolds ◽  
N B McLaughlin

It is well established that nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from agricultural land are influenced by the type of crop grown, the form and amount of nitrogen (N) applied, and the soil and climatic conditions under which the crop is grown. Crop rotation adds another dimension that is often overlooked, however, as the crop residue being decomposed and supplying soluble carbon to soil biota is usually from a different crop than the crop that is currently growing. Hence, the objective of this study was to compare the influence of both the crop grown and the residues from the preceding crop on N2O and CO2 emissions from soil. In particular, N2O and CO2 emissions from monoculture cropping of corn, soybean and winter wheat were compared with 2 -yr and 3-yr crop rotations (corn-soybean or corn-soybean-winter wheat). Each phase of the rotation was measured each year. Averaged over three growing seasons (from April to October), annual N2O emissions were about 3.1 to 5.1 times greater in monoculture corn (2.62 kg N ha-1) compared with either monoculture soybean (0.84 kg N ha-1) or monoculture winter wheat (0.51 kg N ha-1). This was due in part to the higher inorganic N levels in the soil resulting from the higher N application rate with corn (170 kg N ha-1) than winter wheat (83 kg N ha-1) or soybean (no N applied). Further, the previous crop also influenced the extent of N2O emissions in the current crop year. When corn followed corn, the average N2O emissions (2.62 kg N ha-1) were about twice as high as when corn followed soybean (1.34 kg N ha-1) and about 60% greater than when corn followed winter wheat (1.64 kg N ha-1). Monoculture winter wheat had about 45% greater CO2 emissions than monoculture corn or 51% greater emissions than monoculture soybean. In the corn phase, CO2 emissions were greater when the previous crop was winter wheat (5.03 t C ha-1) than when it was soybean (4.20 t C ha-1) or corn (3.91 t C ha-1). Hence, N2O and CO2 emissions from agricultural fields are influenced by both the current crop and the previous crop, and this should be accounted for in both estimates and forecasts of the emissions of these important greenhouse gases. Key words: Denitrification, soil respiration, rotation, crop residue


2019 ◽  
Vol 657 ◽  
pp. 96-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingcheng Wang ◽  
Hao Ying ◽  
Yulong Yin ◽  
Huifang Zheng ◽  
Zhenling Cui

2005 ◽  
Vol 73 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 213-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Thomas ◽  
Stewart F. Ledgard ◽  
Glyn S. Francis

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