As a farmer, your connection to the earth is more meaningful than most, and your ability to make changes that will significantly benefit the climate is greater than most.
Fertilizer use is a major contributor to your farm’s greenhouse gas emissions. Switching to nitrate-based solutions is one of the simplest ways to reduce your farm’s impact on climate change.
Yara’s plant nutrition expertise has been developed for over one hundred years. We are matching that knowledge with extensive R&D and developing precision farming solutions so that by using our products, you can minimize your farm’s carbon footprint.
Measuring your farm’s carbon footprint
To understand the overall impact of fertilizers on the environment, we need to conduct a life-cycle analysis, which measures emission and absorption rates of greenhouse gasses at every stage of a fertilizer’s ‘life’. This will help determine the carbon footprint and show how it can be minimized.
In production, transportation and use, fertilizer products generate greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O).
4 ways that you can minimize carbon emissions
- Select ammonium nitrate produced by a manufacturer utilizing the cleanest and most efficient production technologies available
- Take action to ensure balanced nutrition by using precision tools for optimum N rate application
- Optimize fertilization as this can increase C02 uptake and crop growth
- Reduce the need for new land cultivation by increasing yield with highly efficient nitrogen fertilizers
Yara is working to reduce its carbon footprint
- Yara has reduced the carbon footprint of its nitrate fertilizer production by up to 40%. Enhancing N efficiency during fertilizer use could reduce this even further
- Yara has developed advanced technologies which are used during fertilizer production to reduce N20 emissions by up to 90%. We have shared this technology with the rest of the industry, and it is now part of the ‘Best Available Techniques’ (BAT) for fertilizer production as defined by the European Union
- Average emissions from the application of AN fertilizer are 5.1 kg CO2-eqv per kg applied N [7]. This is due to N2O losses caused by denitrification and volatilization in the soil. Since N2O has a strong impact on the environment, N2O losses are an important consideration.
90% less N2O from productionThe use of catalyst technology developed by Yara for use in fertilizer production can reduce N2O emissions by as much as 90%. This technology has since been shared with the rest of the industry. Today, the technology forms part of the 'Best Available Techniques' (BAT) for fertilizer production as defined by the European Union. |
Yara´s commitment to reduce climate changeCan you responsibly feed the world and reduce CO2 emissions? Without mineral fertilizer, the world could only feed 40% of its population. But to make mineral fertilizer you need to rely on fossil fuels to generate the required production energy, resulting in CO2 emissions. That’s why Yara is working on alternatives like Green Ammonia. A breakthrough that will provide the level of fertilizer production required to responsibly feed the world, while at the same time reduce CO2 emissions. With growing investments in wind, solar and hydrogen, Yara is currently running production pilots using renewable CO2-free energy sources to produce Green Ammonia. Yara is targeting to make Green Ammonia a proven production method within the next few years. Another advantage of Green Ammonia is that it can also be used to store and transport carbon-free energy for power plants, industrial furnaces and as fuel for mobility, thus providing a more sustainable resource for use by manufacturing, energy and transportation industries. Green Ammonia provides us with the prospect of a cleaner future for energy-intensive production and storage methods. Effectively reducing our dependence on fossil fuels while moving towards a low-carbon society. |
