Societal benefits of halving agricultural ammonia emissions in China far exceed the abatement costs

Mitigating agricultural ammonia (NH3) emissions in China is urgently needed to avoid further damage to human and ecosystem health. Effective and feasible mitigation strategies hinge on integrated knowledge of the mitigation potential of NH3 emissions and the associated economic costs and societal benefits. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of marginal abatement costs and societal benefits for NH3 mitigation in China. 

Abatement costs lower than estimated societal benefits

The technical mitigation potential of agricultural NH3 emissions is 38–67% (4.0–7.1 Tg N) with implementation costs estimated at US$ 6–11 billion. These costs are much lower than estimates of the overall societal benefits at US$ 18–42 billion. Avoiding unnecessary fertilizer use and protein-rich animal feed could provide 30% of this mitigation potential without additional abatement costs or decreases in agricultural productivity. Optimizing human diets with less animal derived products offers further potential for NH3 reduction of 12% by 2050.

Pig feeding

Authors

PBL Authors
Hans van Grinsven
Other authors
Xiuming Zhang
Baojing Gu
Shu Kee Lam
Xia Liang
Mei Bai
Deli Chen

Specifications

Publication title
Societal benefits of halving agricultural ammonia emissions in China far exceed the abatement costs
Publication date
22 September 2020
Publication type
Article
Page count
10
Publication language
English
Issue
Nature Communications (2020):11:4357
Product number
4279