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N
Food for thought: Nitrogen too much of a vital resource?
Jan Willem Erisman
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LouisBolkInstitute:for sustainableagriculture,nutrition and health
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Outline of my presentation
• Why Nitrogen• Sources of reactive nitrogen• Efficiency of Nitrogen use• Effects of Nitrogen• Nitrogen and Diets• Your personal Nitrogen Footprint• What can be done to solve the N issue?
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§ Nitrogen is necessary for life
§ 78% of N on Earth is N2 and unusable by organisms
§ To sustain human life, we convert N2 to reactive forms
§ The Green Revolution is largely due to synthetic N fertilizers
§ N2 is converted into Nr for production of fertilizer, food, feed, fibre, fuel, plastics, explosives, etc.
§ Humans depend on internal combustion for transportation and energy
§ Yet, Planetary boundaries for N have been exceeded: N has direct and indirect impacts on the climate system, biodiversity loss, air and water quality, stratospheric ozone destruction, etc.
Whycareaboutnitrogen?
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5
Anthropogenicandnaturalprocessescreatereactivenitrogen
• OnlyalimitedamountofNr iscreatedinnature:99.97%residesintheatmosphereinarelativelyinertform
• Ecosystems(biodiversity)arebasedonlowavailability
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Erisman et al. (2015)
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Globaltrendsinhumanpopulation,Nr,CO2andgrainandmeatproduction
48%oftheglobalpopulationeatbecauseoffertilizersErismanetal.2008
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Uneven distribution• More than 2 billion people in the world suffer from
(micro) nutrient deficiency, especially in developing countries. Most critical are protein-nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, zinc, iron, iodine
• An increasing number of people is obese• Probably 20% of the population ‘eats’ 80% of the
fertilizer
United States, The Revis family$341.98/week
Chad The Aboubakar family$1.23
Photo’s: Peter Menzel, Faith D'Aluisio
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Increase inoverweight and obesity withkcalconsumption and fertilizer application
Erisman et al. (2017)
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Nitrogenstimulatesallgrowth
David,MichelangeloBuonarroti (1475- 1564)
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ENVIRONMENT
Food Production: NUE = 10 – 50%
N
Energy Production: NUE = 0%
N
Nitrogenuseefficiency
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ChangesinanimalproductionsystemsincreasingNleakage
From a system once closely linked to local feed inputs and nutrient cycles
to one in which the production process are separated from feed production and manure application
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Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences
2011 NH3 distributionVan Damme et al. 2014
Ammonia satellite observations
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ThefivekeythreatsofexcessN
DisturbanceoftheglobalNcycleisfargreaterinmagnitudethanourmodificationoftheCcycle
ENA, 2011
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VisibleimpactsofterrestrialNpollution:biodiversitylosses
N-poor natural ecosystems
LossofbiodiverseunderstoreyLossofsensitivelichenspeciesBiodiversitylossinfarmedmeadows
BiodiversewoodlandunderstoreyLichenssensitivetoairpollutionWildflowerbiodiversityinmeadowsN-enriched ecosystems
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Visibleimpactsofcoastalnutrientpollution:implicationsforcoastalcommunities
Caulerpa,FloridaGreentides,BrittanyFishkills,GulfofMexicoShell-fisheryclosure
UnderthemicroscopeMicrocystis bloom,BalticNoctiluca tides,NewZld.Phaeocystis foam,NL
Jones, 2015
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Data fromLe Quéré (2010)
Global carbon cycle, 2000-2008
+ denotes flux to atmosphere- denotes flux from atmosphere1 Pg = 1015 g = 1 Gt (Giga ton)
Fossil fuel combustion +7.7 Pg C yr-1
Land use +1.4 Pg C yr-1
Ocean uptake -2.3 Pg C yr-1
(25%)
Land uptake -3.0 Pg C yr-1
(33%)
Atmospheric growth +4.1 Pg C yr-1
(45%)
Residual +0.3 Pg C yr-1
(3%)
Nitrogenandthecarboncycle
N deposition increased carbon storage by:~0.3 Pg C yr-1 in terrestrial systems~0.3 Pg C yr-1 in marine areas (Blue Carbon)Limitations of P, other nutrients ..?
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Galloway et al. 2003
Toomuchnitrogen:inacascade
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TheunintendedcostsofNitrogentosociety
40% agriculture70% air pollution60% human health≈0% global warming
ENA, 2011
• WillingnessToPay:topreventNdamage70-320bln €(EU,2000)
• Addedvaluefortheprimarysector(agriculture)similartoexternalcost
• Globalextrapolation:200– 2000bln US$
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Chicken Breast
Grocery store cost: 3 EuroHealth/environment cost: 1.1 EuroTotal cost = 4.1 Euro
Steak
Grocery store cost: 7 EuroHealth/environment cost: 1.9 EuroTotal cost = 8.9 Euro
EconomicNfootprintoffoods:www.n-print.org
Broccoli
Grocery store cost: 1.5 EuroHealth/environment cost: 0.2 EuroTotal cost = 1.7 Euro
Milk
Grocery store cost: 1 EuroHealth/environment cost: 0.4 EuroTotal cost = 1.4 Euro
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Challenge:
Optimizing the use of nitrogen, while minimizing the negative impacts
Benefits:
• Necessary for life• Nitrogen fertilizer
supports food supply
Drawbacks:
• Excess reactive nitrogen negatively affects environmental and human health
The Nitrogen Dilemma
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Personal N footprint
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Anitrogenfootprintistheamountofreactivenitrogenreleasedtotheenvironmentasaresultofanentity’sresourceconsumption
Whatisanitrogenfootprint?
Whatmajorsectorsarecommonlyincludedinanitrogenfootprint?
Food*
*Foodconsumptionandproduction
Utilities Transport
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FoodNfootprint:Definitions
Foodconsumption=Nthatentershumanmouth
VirtualN=FoodproductionN=Nlosttotheenvironmentduringthefoodproductionprocess
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Farm
NInputs
ConsumedN
Leaching,runoff,volatilization,denitrification
Supplychain
Consumers
Foodwaste
Foodwaste
VirtualNFactor =∑NLossesConsumedN
NLosses:
Nefficiencyoverthefoodchain
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3 oz steak15 g protein
TheimpactofFOODCHOICESonaNfootprint
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENT
½ cup beans15 g
protein
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Calculate your nitrogen footprint at:
www.N-Print.org
Personal N footprints
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0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14N
foot
prin
t (kg
N/c
apita
/yea
r)
PersonalNfootprintintheUS
Energy useFood consumption
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0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14N
foot
prin
t (kg
N/c
apita
/yea
r)
PersonalNfootprintintheUS
Energy useFood productionFood consumption
Total: 39 kg N/yrFood: 28 kg N/yr
Consumption: 5 kg N/yrProduction: 23 kg N/yr
Energy: 11 kg N/yr
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Whattheworldeats:PersonalNfootprintsaroundtheworld
USA Japan Germany Chad
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05
10152025303540
N fo
otpr
int (
kg N
/cap
ita/y
ear)
*Preliminary
Goods & Services
Transport
Housing
Food production
Food consumption
PersonalNfootprintbycountry
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05
10152025303540
N fo
otpr
int (
kg N
/cap
ita/y
ear)
Goods & Services
Transport
Housing
Food production
Food consumption
Food makes up more than 75% of a personal nitrogen footprint
*Preliminary
PersonalNfootprintbycountry
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CalculateyourNfootprint:www.N-PRINT.org
OptionsforreducingYOURfootprint
Energy:• Reduceutility
usage• Publictransit• Reduce,
reuse,recycle!
Food:• Recommendedamountof
protein• Lessanimalprotein• LessN-intensivemeat• Foodfromsustainable
farms• Reducefoodwaste
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0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Nfo
otprint(kgN/cap
/yr)
Current N consumption: 5.3 kg N/cap/yrRecommended N consumption: 3.0 kg N/cap/yr
Food production
Food consumption
Scenarios: US personal N footprint
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0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Nfo
otprint(kgN/cap
/yr)
Food production
Food consumption
-11% -14% -14% -16%
Current N consumption: 5.3 kg N/cap/yrRecommended N consumption: 3.0 kg N/cap/yr
Scenarios: US personal N footprint
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0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Nfo
otprint(kgN/cap
/yr) -11% -14% -14%
-43%
-16%
Current N consumption: 5.3 kg N/cap/yrRecommended N consumption: 3.0 kg N/cap/yr
Food production
Food consumption
Scenarios: US personal N footprint
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0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Nfo
otprint(kgN/cap
/yr)
-66%
-11% -14% -14%
-43%
-16%
Current N consumption: 5.3 kg N/cap/yrRecommended N consumption: 3.0 kg N/cap/yr
Food production
Food consumption
Scenarios: US personal N footprint
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FacultyofEarthandLifeSciences(2006 cover of The Economist)
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PastandfutureNdeposition
Lamarque et al. 2013
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Inordertomeettheplanetaryboundariessystemchangesareneeded
Rockström et al. 2009 Nature
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Aresilientfoodsystemrequiresasystemapproach
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ProductNfootprint(gN/kgfood)fordifferentfooditemsinAustriaxx Pierer et al
2014