Economic Evaluation of Sectoral Emission Reduction Objectives for Climate Change Economic Evaluation of Emission Re- ductions of Nitrous Oxides and Methane in Agriculture in the EU Bottom-up Analysis

Preface On its way to its current form this report has received significant input from a considerable number of experts. In particular, a panel of experts in Brussels discussed a draft version of the report on November 24, 1999 (see Appendix C for a list of names), and made a number of specific and more general comments and suggestions. The author would like to thank these people for their valuable inputs into this study. For this " Final Report " it was attempted to consider their suggestions wherever possible. This is a revised version of the final report that was posted to the EU website in December 2000. The revisions are to reflect updated 1990 and 1995 emissions figures from the UNFCCC. The emissions for 1990 and 1995 have been changed and there is a resulting small change in the projections. The results presented in this report are consistent with the Summary report on the project. Methane (CH 4) emissions from agriculture were 194 Mt of CO 2 equivalent in 1990 while nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions were 206 Mt of CO 2 equivalent in the European Union (EU). These correspond and 41% of CH 4 emissions to 51% of N 2 O in 1990. In addition, carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions were 17 Mt of CO 2. Overall, agricultural greenhouse gas emissions were about 11% of all greenhouse gas emissions of the EU in 1990. As agricultural CO 2 emissions are rather small, the focus of this report is on methane and nitrous oxides. Between 1990 and 1995 (the latest year for which emissions data was available at the time of writing), agricultural emissions of both gases fell by about 6%, due principally to changes in agricultural practices and production following the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). There are three main sources of emissions of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture: • N 2 O emissions from soils; • CH 4 emissions from enteric fermentation; • CH 4 and N 2 O emissions from manure management. The 1992 CAP reforms have already had an impact on a number of parameters that affect these emissions. On the livestock side there have been changes in types and number of livestock, and an enhancement of the trend towards improved livestock productivity. On the arable side, the shift from production based support mechanisms to direct area based payments, has led to …