Greenhouse gas emissions and projections

Environmentally, there are two key benefits to using urease inhibited (or ‘stabilised’) fertiliser products:

1. the reduction of emissions of ammonia, an important air pollutant, when compared to the use of ‘straight’ urea;
2. when used as a replacement for Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN), a reduction in nitrous oxide emissions, a potent greenhouse gas.

As outlined in the international guidelines for national inventories and projections (FAQ: How are national inventories updated with the latest science?), research should be conducted at field scale, covering a range of soil types and environmental conditions so that efficacy of any particular product is demonstrated at field level under the conditions in which it will be used.

The following fertiliser products have met the criteria for inclusion as urease inhibitor products within the national greenhouse gas and air pollutant Inventories and Projections 1990-2022:

• N-(n-butyl)-thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT)
• N-(n-propyl)-thiophosphoric triamide (NPPT)
• N-(n-butyl)-thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT) + N-(n-propyl)-thiophosphoric triamide (NPPT)
• N-(2-nitrophenyl) phosphoric triamide (2NPT)

The most relevant national research demonstrating efficacy at field level (Forrestal et al. 2016 [1]; Harty et al., 2016 [2]; Roche et al., 2016 [3]) provide the evidence base for the inclusion of these products. 2NPT’s mode of action is similar to that of NBPT, however, to date it’s use in Ireland has been minor.

If/when information is provided on new products that meet the criteria specified these products will be added to the list above. The emission or abatement factor is applied from the time the product was placed on the Irish market and retrospectively across the time series in instances where a product has been on the market prior to provision of supporting evidence. In the absence of robust scientific evidence then the emission factor for straight urea is applied.

[1] https://doi.org/10.1111/sum.12232

[2] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.04.120

[3] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.08.031

Land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF), also referred to as forestry and other land use (FOLU), is defined by the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat as a "greenhouse gas inventory sector that covers emissions and removals of greenhouse gases resulting from direct human-induced land use such as settlements and commercial uses, land-use change, and forestry activities." It covers the following categories forest land, cropland, grassland, wetlands, settlements, other land and harvested wood products.

Reporting of the LULUCF sector

The UNFCCC reporting guidelines on annual inventories for Parties included in Annex I to the Convention (Decision 24/CP.19)provide guidance on the estimation and reporting of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol caused by activities relating to land use, land use change and forestry. The guidance stipulates that reporting under the UNFCCC covers all anthropogenic emissions and removals from the lands included in the LULUCF sector (land-based approach). In principle, this approach applies a wall-to-wall comprehensive inventory of anthropogenic sources and sinks of greenhouse gases over the land units subject to activities relating to land use, land use change and forestry.

Greenhouse gases other than CO₂ (i.e. methane, nitrous oxide and F-gases) may be converted to CO₂ equivalent using their global warming potentials (GWPs). The GWP of a gas is a measure of the cumulative warming over a specified time period usually 100 years, by a unit mass of this gas. This is expressed relative to carbon dioxide (CO₂) which has a GWP of 1. The mass emission of any gas multiplied by its GWP gives the equivalent emission of the gas as carbon dioxide. This is known as CO₂ equivalent. This makes it possible to sum up the emissions and contribution of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) to climate change and determine options to address climate change.

Decarbonisation means reduction of carbon. What is meant is the conversion to an economic system that sustainably reduces and compensates the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂). The long-term goal is to create a CO₂-free global economy.

A low-carbon economy, low-fossil-fuel economy, or decarbonised economy is an economy based on low-carbon power sources that therefore has a minimal output of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, specifically carbon dioxide. A low-carbon economy is simply an economy that causes low levels of GHG emissions compared with today's carbon-intensive economy. 'Carbon' refers to carbon dioxide, the GHG, which contributes the most to climate change. The low-carbon economy can be seen as a step in the process towards a zero-carbon economy.

Participants were asked a number of baseline questions including gender, age, ethnicity etc. Participants were also asked to respond to a number of climate related questions and statements, which formulated the findings of the CCIM report. For an in depth explanation of the survey wording & questions asked, please visit the following link: Survey Question Wording

Sensitive variables that comprised < 2% of the sample size were adjusted in order to protect participants. These variables included gender identity, religion, ethnicity etc. This was done by removing direct identifiers and aggregating categories