Tracking Carbon and Ammonia Emission Flows of China’s Nitrogen Fertilizer System: Implications for Domestic and International Trade
Lining Luo, Kun Wang, Shuhan Liu, Hongrui Liu, Tong Li, Lingyi He, Kaiyun Liu
Abstract
China is the world’s largest producer, consumer, and exporter of synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizer. To assess the impact of domestic demand and international exports, we quantified the life-cycle CO 2 eq and ammonia (NH 3 ) emissions by tracking carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) flows from coal/gas mining through ammonia production to N fertilizer production, application, and export. In 2020, China’s N fertilizer system emitted 496.04 Tg of CO 2 eq and 3.74 Tg of NH 3, with ammonia production and N fertilizer application processes contributing 36 and 85% of the life-cycle CO 2 eq and NH 3 emissions, respectively. As the largest importers of N fertilizer, India, Myanmar, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines collectively shifted 112.41 Tg of CO 2 eq. For every ton of N fertilizer produced and used in China, 16 t of CO 2 eq and 0.18 t of NH 3 were emitted, compared to 9.7 t of CO 2 eq and 0.13 t of NH 3 in Europe. By adopting currently available technologies, improving N fertilizer utilization efficiency and employing nitrification inhibitors could synergistically reduce CO 2 eq emissions by 20% and NH 3 emissions by 75%, while energy transformation efforts would primarily reduce CO 2 eq emissions by 59%. The production of ammonia using green electricity or green hydrogen could significantly enhance the decarbonization of China’s N fertilizer system.