Kerstin Martens
Institute of Farm Economics
Bundesallee 63
38116 Braunschweig
Phone: +49 531 596 5102
Fax: +49 531 596 5199
bw@thuenen.de
International comparative analysis of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Potential in Arable Farming
On a global scale, agriculture is estimated to contribute 18 % of human-made greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Arable cropping systems account for over one-third of the sector’s GHG emissions, with the largest share originating from the application of nitrogen-based fertilizers. Given this large share, the sector should play an active role in the global challenge of climate protection, which will require an enormous effort to limit global warming to 2°C. In this context, effective climate protection research is essential to identify the most efficient ways to mitigate GHG emissions. Therefore, the aim of the project is to calculate GHG reduction strategies in arable farming in key producing regions around the world and analyze how these compare in terms of costs, potentials, and practicability.
Research on GHG mitigation in arable farming has focused on either the reduction potentials of specific practices or on modeling the possible impacts of reduction strategies on a sectoral level. Increasing the efficiency of nitrogen applications is a common target for these studies due to the power of nitrous oxide as a GHG compared to carbon dioxide. However, these studies rarely consider the economic and organizational requirements at the farm-level, aspects which are crucial to determining the feasibility of the strategy. Furthermore, there is little clarity regarding the determinants of the transactions costs entailed in implementing, enforcing and controlling these strategies. In need of an efficient and effective policy to reduce GHG emissions from crop production, this project aims to reveal the underlying determinants of the mitigation costs and its associated requirements.
Statistical information and scientific literature will be used to describe the current production system and possible mitigation strategies for each location. Farm-level data will be collected following the „Typical Farm” approach from agri benchmark Cash Crop. This data will be used to calculate the GHG emissions of the current system and to analyze alternatives to reduce emissions.
On the base of case studies, the project aims to answer the following research questions:
9.2017 - 9.2021
Projekt type:
Project status:
ongoing