Options to Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions (Final Report)
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RESTRICTED - COMMERCIAL AEAT-4180: Issue 3 Options to Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions (Final Report) A report produced for DGXI November1998 RESTRICTED - COMMERCIAL AEAT-4180: Issue 3 Options to Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions (Final Report) A report produced for DGXI November 1998 RESTRICTED COMMERCIAL Options To Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions - Final Report: November 1998 Options to Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. N2O as a Greenhouse Gas 2 2.1 GLOBAL SOURCES AND SINKS 2 2.2 LIFETIME AND GLOBAL WARMING POTENTIAL 3 3. Sources of N2O in the EU 4 3.1 EMISSIONS OF N2O4 3.2 CHANGES IN EMISSIONS 1990 TO 1994 8 3.3 COMPARISON OF INVENTORY DATA 9 3.4 EMISSION SOURCES BY SECTOR 11 3.4.1 Emissions from Agriculture 11 3.4.2 Emissions from Industrial Processes 11 3.4.3 Emissions from Combustion of Fossil Fuels 12 3.4.4 Emissions from Transport 13 3.4.5 Emissions from Waste Treatment and Disposal 13 3.4.6 Miscellaneous Sources 13 3.4.7 Natural Emissions 13 4. Existing and Planned Policies and Measures 14 4.1 NATIONAL STRATEGIES TO REDUCE EMISSIONS 14 4.2 EU INITIATIVES 18 4.3 SUMMARY OF PROPOSED POLICIES BY SECTOR 19 5. Options for Reducing Emissions from Agriculture 20 5.1 APPROACH TAKEN 20 5.2 EMISSION MECHANISMS 20 5.3 INFLUENCES ON EMISSIONS 21 5.4 OPTIONS TO REDUCE EMISSIONS 22 5.4.1 Potential options 22 5.4.2 Feasibility of Options 23 5.4.3 Options not Considered Further in this Study 24 5.5 A PACKAGE OF OPTIONS TO REDUCE EMISSIONS 26 5.5.1 Methodology 26 5.5.2 Description of Options 27 5.5.3 Impact of Measures 29 5.5.4 Implications for Methane Emissions 29 5.6 POTENTIAL OF INDIVIDUAL MEASURES 30 Page iv RESTRICTED COMMERCIAL AEA Technology Environment RESTRICTED COMMERCIAL Options To Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions - Final Report: November 1998 5.6.1 Ensuring Application of Fertiliser Nitrogen (N) at Recommended Economic Optimum Levels. 31 5.6.2 Sub-optimal Fertiliser-N Applications 34 5.6.3 Changing to Spring Cultivars 36 5.6.4 Alternative Fertiliser-N formulation 37 6. Options to Reduce Emissions from the Chemicals Sector 38 6.1 ADIPIC ACID MANUFACTURE 38 6.1.1 End-of-pipe technologies 38 6.1.2 Alternative production processes 40 6.2 NITRIC ACID PRODUCTION 40 6.2.1 Optimising the production process 41 6.2.2 End of pipe technologies 41 6.2.3 Status and Effectiveness of Options 42 7. Options to Reduce Emissions from Combustion 44 7.1 OPTIONS TO REDUCE EMISSIONS FROM FLUIDISED BED COMBUSTION 45 7.1.1 Optimise FBC Operating Conditions and Use SCR to Reduce NOx45 7.1.2 Use of Gas Afterburner 45 7.1.3 Catalytic decomposition of N2O46 7.1.4 Reversed Air Staging 46 7.1.5 Pressurised FBC 46 7.1.6 Use of Conventional Coal Technologies or IGCC 46 7.2 OPTIONS TO REDUCE EMISSIONS ASSOCIATED WITH SNCR 47 7.3 OPTIONS TO REDUCE EMISSIONS ASSOCIATED WITH STATIONARY FOSSIL FUEL COMBUSTION 47 7.4 OPTIONS TO REDUCE EMISSIONS FROM TRANSPORT 50 7.4.1 Reducing Transport Demand and Increasing Transport Efficiency50 7.4.2 Improving Catalyst Performance 53 8. Cost Effectiveness of Measures 54 8.1 INTRODUCTION 54 8.2 CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 54 8.2.1 Cost Assumptions 54 8.2.2 Cost-effectiveness 55 8.3 THE POWER SECTOR 56 8.3.1 Cost Assumptions 56 8.3.2 Cost-effectiveness 57 8.4 VARIATIONS IN COSTS ACROSS EUROPE 58 8.5 THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR 59 8.5.1 Costs Associated with Individual Measures 59 8.5.2 Summary of Cost-Effectiveness and Reductions 64 8.5.3 Costs Associated with ‘Package of Options’ 65 Page v RESTRICTED COMMERCIAL AEA Technology Environment RESTRICTED COMMERCIAL Options To Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions - Final Report: November 1998 9. Projections of Future Emissions 73 9.1 ‘BUSINESS AS USUAL’ SCENARIO 73 9.1.1 Agriculture 73 9.1.2 Adipic and Nitric Acid Manufacture. 75 9.1.3 Transport 76 9.1.4 Other energy related emissions 77 9.1.5 Emissions from other sectors 77 9.1.6 Total Emissions 77 9.2 COST-EFFECTIVENESS AND APPLICABILITY OF MEASURES 79 9.3 EMISSIONS UNDER ‘WITH MEASURES’ SCENARIOS 82 10. Summary 88 10.1 BACKGROUND 88 10.2 CURRENT EMISSIONS 88 10.3 BUSINESS-AS-USUAL PROJECTIONS 89 10.4 MEASURES TO REDUCE EMISSIONS 91 10.4.1 Agricultural Sector 91 10.4.2 Production Processes 93 10.4.3 Energy Sector 93 10.5 EMISSIONS UNDER A ‘WITH MEASURES’ SCENARIO 94 10.6 COMPARISON WITH OTHER N2O REDUCTION STUDIES 96 10.7 CONCLUSIONS 96 References Appendix 1 Costing Methodology Appendix 2 CORINAIR Data Appendix 3 Options to Reduce N2O Emissions from Agriculture in the EU Appendix 4 Costing of Options to Reduce N2O Emissions from Agriculture Appendix 5 Implications of CO2 Reduction Measures on Emissions of Other Greenhouse Gases Appendix 6 Transport Emissions Model Appendix 7 Comparison of N2O Reduction Studies Page vi RESTRICTED COMMERCIAL AEA Technology Environment RESTRICTED COMMERCIAL Options To Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions - Final Report: November 1998 1. Introduction This report is one of the final reports under a study completed by AEA Technology Environment for DGXI on the control and reduction of greenhouse gases and ozone precursors. Four gases were included in the study, the two direct greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide, and the ozone precursors, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and non-methane volatile organic compounds. In the initial phase of the study, inventories of these gases for all Member States were reviewed and updated. In the second phase of the study, measures to control and reduce emissions of these gases were identified, their technical feasibility examined, and wherever sufficient cost and performance data was available, the cost-effectiveness of the measures (in terms of ECU (1995) per tonne of pollutant) was also estimated. This report assesses anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and strategies to control them. Section 2 discusses the properties of N2O, sources and sinks for the gas, and a global budget for emissions. Section 3 considers emissions within the EU, and sets these into context against global N2O emissions and emissions of the two other direct greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide and methane). It also identifies the important emission sources within the EU. Section 4 summarises actions which are already proposed by Member States to reduce emissions. Sections 5 and 6 of the report consider in detail options for the reduction of emissions from the agricultural and chemical sectors, while Section 7 considers the options to reduce emissions from combustion processes. The cost-effectiveness of the different measures is then evaluated in Section 8. For the non-agricultural sectors, costs have been calculated using an annualised cost methodology. All costs are expressed in 1995 ECUs and have been calculated using an 8% discount rate to annualise costs to ensure consistency with previous work on the cost of carbon dioxide reduction options. Full details of the costing methodology, exchange rates, deflators and other factors used are given in Appendix 1. Section 9 contains projections of N2O emissions up to 2020 under a ‘business as usual’ scenario and under a ‘with measures’ scenario, and Section 10 contains a summary of the report. Page 1 RESTRICTED COMMERCIAL AEA Technology Environment RESTRICTED COMMERCIAL Options To Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions - Final Report: November 1998 2. N2O as a Greenhouse Gas Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important long-lived greenhouse gas that is emitted predominantly by biological sources in soil and water. It is also the primary source in the stratosphere of the oxides of nitrogen, which play a critical role in controlling the abundance and distribution of stratospheric ozone. Estimates from ice core measurements suggest that the pre-industrial atmospheric concentration of N2O was about 275 ppbv (with a range of 260 to 285 ppbv). By 1994 this had increased by about 15% to a level of 312 ppbv (IPCC, 1995). 2.1 GLOBAL SOURCES AND SINKS An estimate of the global sources and sinks of N2O made by the IPCC in 1994 is given in Table 2.1. Overall, the sources and sinks of N2O are not well quantified and many uncertainties remain. Natural sources are probably twice as large as anthropogenic ones. Table 2.1 Estimated Sources and Sinks of Nitrous Oxide (Tg N per year) Range Likely Observed atmospheric increase 3.1 - 4.7 3.9 Sinks Photolysis in the stratosphere 9 - 16 12.3 Removal by soils ? Total sinks 9 - 16 12.3 Implied total sources (atmospheric increase + total sinks) 13 - 20 16.2 Identified Sources Natural Oceans 1 - 5 3 Tropical soils Wet forests 2.2 - 3.7 3 Dry savannahs 0.5 - 2.0 1 Temperate soils Forests 0.1 - 2.0 1 Grasslands 0.5 - 2.0 1 Total identified natural sources 6 - 12 9 Anthropogenic Cultivated soils 1.8 - 5.3 3.5 Biomass burning 0.2 - 1.0 0.5 Industrial sources 0.7 - 1.8 1.3 Cattle and feed lots 0.2 - 0.5 0.4 Total identified anthropogenic sources 3.7 - 7.7 5.7 TOTAL IDENTIFIED SOURCES 10 - 17 14.7 Source: (IPCC, 1995) Page 2 RESTRICTED COMMERCIAL AEA Technology Environment RESTRICTED COMMERCIAL Options To Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions - Final Report: November 1998 The main anthropogenic sources globally are agriculture (from the use of fertilisers and from the development of pasture in tropical regions), biomass burning, and a number of industrial processes such as adipic acid and nitric acid production. These sources and their relevance in the EU are discussed further in Section 3.