Journal article
Societal benefits of halving agricultural ammonia emissions in China far exceed the abatement costs
Xiuming Zhang, Baojing Gu, Hans van Grinsven, Shu Kee Lam, Xia Liang, Mei Bai, Deli Chen
Nature Communications | Nature Research | Published : 2020
Abstract
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. 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..
View full abstractGrants
Awarded by National Key Research and Development Project of China
Awarded by National Natural Science Foundation of China
Awarded by Discovery Early Career Researcher Award of the Australian Research Council
Awarded by Australia-China Joint Research Centre of Healthy Soils for Sustainable Food Production and Environmental Quality
Awarded by Linkage Projects of the Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Project of China (2018YFC0213300 and 2016YFC0207906), National Natural Science Foundation of China (41822701 and 41773068), Discovery Early Career Researcher Award of the Australian Research Council (DE170100423), the Melbourne Research Scholarship, Australia-China Joint Research Centre of Healthy Soils for Sustainable Food Production and Environmental Quality (ACSRF48165) and Linkage Projects of the Australian Research Council (LP160101417). We would like to thank Professor Wilfried Winiwarter, Arvin Mosier and Ian Willett in particular for their helpful comments on an earlier draft.