JRC-AL – Expert Meeting on Cat.4D reporting – 21/22.10.2004 EXPERT MEETING ON IMPROVING THE QUALITY FO GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION INVENTORIES FOR CATEGORY

JRC-AL – Expert Meeting on Cat.4D reporting – 21/22.10.2004

EXPERT MEETING ON IMPROVING THE QUALITY FO GREENHOUSE GAS

EMISSION INVENTORIES FOR CATEGORY 4D

21 to 22 October 2004

Joint Research Centre

– BACKGROUND –


THE START:

27 to 28 February 2003, EEA, Copenhagen

Workshop on “Inventorie

s

and Projections o

f

Greenhouse Gas a

nd

Ammonia Emissions f

rom

Agricultu

re”


Working Groups I and II of the EU GHG Monitoring Mechanism Committee

27 to 28 February 2003, EEA, Copenhagen

→ learn about the methods used for inventories and projections in the

different Member States

→ strengthen links between assessment of air pollution and greenhouse

gas emissions by including also ammonia emissions

→ make recommendations to improve transparency and completeness of

reporting

→ address uncertainty

→ CO2 emissions or removals (“carbon sinks”) from agriculture not

included


RECOMMENDATIONS

of the W

orkshop


THE WORKSHOP RECOMMENDS …

1: That there should be further exchange of experiences

between countries on the methods used for agricultural

GHG emission inventory estimation. This should also be

linked with the EAGER group under the UNECE-CLRTAP in

relation to the N mass balance approach to increase

consistency with ammonia emission inventories.



2: Statistical institutes should be strongly encouraged to adapt

their agricultural survey systems to collect additional data

specifically for preparing agricultural GHG and ammonia

inventories.

Gap analysis of the Activity Data for the calculation of European Greenhouse Gas Emissions from

Agriculture

It will be difficult to insert new characteristics into existing

surveys



3: The EU input to the revision of the IPCC GHG inventory

guidelines to start end of 2003 should be co-ordinated.



4: Research programmes should be made aware of the need of

emission inventory compilers so that they can request

research projects to ensure that their results are accessible

and useful for improvements in the inventory.


THIS MEETIN

G FOCUSSES ON

NITROUS OXIDE EMISSIO

NS FROM

AGRICULTURAL SOILS …


biogenic emissions of CH4 and N2O (agriculture)

GH

G inventories - level

mitigation

modeling

measurements

econ

omy

& p

olic

y

Uncertainty for Emission Factors (Winiwarter & Rypdal, 2001)

Error Random Systematic

CH4 agric. soils 100% -105-205%

N2O agric. soils 32-143% 32-1034%

N2O nat. soils 50-200% 50-836%

Uncertainty for Emission Factors (Winiwarter & Rypdal, 2001)

Error Random Systematic

CH4 agric. soils 100% -105-205%

N2O agric. soils 32-143% 32-1034%

N2O nat. soils 50-200% 50-836%

Mo

du

lati

on

De

co

up

ling

Cro

ss-c

om

plia

nce

Mo

du

lati

on

De

co

up

ling

Cro

ss-c

om

plia

nce

Common Agricultural Policy

Contribution of gases to reported anthropo-genic GHG emissions in agriculture, 2002

GHG inven

tories -

uncertaintyContribution of gases to total reported

anthropogenic GHG emissions, 2001

NH3 NH4+ NO3

-NH3 NH4+ NO3

-

U U

CROP LAND

The

“ho

le-i

n-th

e-pi

pe”

mod

el

LL

V VV

N2O N2NH3

V

NO

M

org.

M

org.

M

org.org.

N

N2O

A

D N2NNN

N2O

A

D N2

N2O

A

D N2

A

DD N2

M: Mineralization/Assim.

N: NitrificationD: DenitrificationA: AmmonificationV: VolatilizationU: UptakeL: LeachingM: Mineralization/Assim.

N: NitrificationD: DenitrificationA: AmmonificationV: VolatilizationU: UptakeL: Leaching

GRASS LAND


Uncertainty of national GHG inventories(UNCERTAINTIES EXPRESSED IN % OF TOTAL NATIONAL GHG EMISSIONS)

TOTAL GHG(%)

TOTAL CAT4.D

(%)

DIRECT(%)

INDIRECT(%)

Denmark (T1) 2002 46.2 45.5

Finland (T1) 2002 6.5 1.9 2.5

Finland (T2) 2002 1.9 2.4

France (T1) 2002 22.1 20.9

Greece (T1) 2002 19.1 16.8 1.2

Ireland (T1) 2001 11.4 10.8

Italy (T1) 2001 2.5 0.5 0.7

Spain (T1) 2001 17.5 8.7 12.6

Sweden (T1) 2002 7.2 6.1

The Netherlands (T1) 2002 3.6 1.5 1.4

United Kingdom (T1) 2002 17.9 17.6

Information source: NIRs 2003 and 2004


Questionnaire

on

reporting in

category

4D


Questionnaire: good response

→ AT atmospheric emissions (generally), UNECE

expert

group for ammonia abatement,

agricultural experts

→ BE

→ DK Agronomist

→ ES

→ FI GHG inventory,

soil emissions

→ FR Agriculture

→ IE GHG Inventories

→ NL Various experts

→ SE Agriculture/

Air pollution/Inventory

→ UK N cycling in grassland

systems, models of

N2O emissions, Inventory

Ques-tions

Table

4.D

Org.

Fert

Appl

Crop

Types

efma ADDIT.

INFO

AT X X

AT X X X X

BE X

DK X X X X X X

ES X X X

FI X X X X

FR X X X

IE X X

NL X

SE X X X

UK X X X X X

Lacking information on crop- and soil specific EFs

Farm Practices Surveys

but also lack of statistical information

Do you have inform ation on different N2O em ission factors for different fertilizer types ?

YES

NO

I don't know

Does not applyn = 11Can you distinguish betw een

the different m anure application system s?

YES

NO

I don't know

Does not applyn = 9

Can you dis tinguish organic fertilizer application by crop

type?

YES

NO

I don't know

Does not applyn = 11


Differences in the methodology applied

Do you correct for NH3 and NOx volatilization before calculating

N2O em issions

YES

NO

I don't know


Do you caclulate changes of carbon stocks in soils?

YES

NO

I don't know



Expert’s opinion

Land use change ?

Agricultural land converted into another land use

Proposed methods

• N in roots * 0,0125 (by croptype)• 0,5 kg N20-N/ha yr• Modelling

Proposed methods

• N in roots * 0,0125 (by croptype)• 0,5 kg N20-N/ha yr• Modelling

Are you in favour of considering background em issions from

m ineral soils?

YES

NO

I don't know


Including background em issions that continue to be effective for

a certain period

YES

NO

I don't know

Does not applyn = 8


Setting priorities …

CLIMATE:

“Yes, but we would suggest to use smooth (not discrete) functions …0

“Yes, provided that the input data … are accessible.”

“It is difficult to draw out the effect of climate in published results since there is so much variation in other controlling variables. It would be expected, however, that very broad distinctions could be made.”

“This is not useful as nitrous oxide emissions from soils are governed more by actual weather and fertilizer management than climate …”

Do you consider it useful to distinguish between more

climate regimes

YES

NO

I don't know


Do you conis ider m echanistic m odels as a w ay to generate

national em ission estim ates in the future?

YES

NO

I don't know

Does not applyn = 9


Do you think it has m ajor draw backs?

YES

NO

I don't know

Does not applyn = 4

Satisfaction with IPCC guidelines

→ impact of climate, water, carbon

→ N balance

→ background

emissions, …

It is easy to criticise such a methodology for its generalised approach but given the restrictions on data availability etc. (especially in some countries) I believe it is a good starting point.

IPCC is an elegant, universal applicable, transparant simple methodology.

Agriculture is the main source of uncertainty in GHG inventories altogether

Do you think that the IPCC m ethodology is com prehensive

?

YES

NO

I don't know



Expert Meetin

g on Cat.

4D reporti

ng …


OBJECTIVE OF THE MEETING

→ To assess the current state of reporting of emissions from

agricultural soils;

→ To highlight gaps in the availability of data;

→ To report on national activities for the generation of national

emission factors and other parameters;

→ To discuss the link between different source categories in

agriculture and with the inventory for ammonia emissions;

→ To discuss the use of Tier 3 approaches (process-based

models);

→ To make recommendations to improve comparability,

transparency and completeness of reporting of N2O emissions

from agricultural soils.


STRUCTURE OF THE MEETING

→ Focus on critical issues • Emission factors• Organic soils• Nitrogen balance• Crop residues, Nitrogen fixation• …

→ Structure by topics• General issues• Direct emissions• Indirect emissions• Advanced methodologies


Participation

→ Attendance from • 14 countries incl. 2 New Member States• 6 organizations/projects

→ Apologies …• Hartmut Behrend (Climate Change Committee, DG ENV)• Keith Smith (Chair N2O group 2006 Guidelines)• Lorna Brown (IGER, UK, co-organizer)• Rocio Lichte (UNFCCC secretariat)


Change in agenda:

→ Session 2.1. Uncertainty.

Comparison of methodologies used for GHG inventories

in agriculture in Mediterranean countries (L. Valli)

→ Session 2.5 Other.

Carbon sequestration in agriculture (G. Seufert)


Organiza

tional …


→ LUNCH AT 12:30 (10 min walk)

→ BUS departure at 18:00 to ANGERA

→ WORKSHOP DINNER AT 19:30

AT VECCHIA ANGERA

(2 min walk from Hotel dei Tigli)

→ BUS departure tomorow morning:

8:30 at Hotel dei Tigli via Hotel Belvedere

people in Hotel Belvedere will be picked up at ca.

19:15. Return 23:00

people in Hotel Belvedere will be picked up at ca.

19:15. Return 23:00


THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION !

Documents

JRC-AL – Expert Meeting on Cat.4D reporting – 21/22.10.2004 EXPERT MEETING ON IMPROVING THE QUALITY FO GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION INVENTORIES FOR CATEGORY