China Explores Opportunities to Address Nitrous Oxide Emissions
On 10 September 2024, China’s National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation (NCSC) under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) held a workshop on controlling emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O). The workshop is an initial step, for N2O, in implementing the goal of “researching the development of non-CO2 greenhouse gas emission control action plans” in China’s Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting the Construction of a Beautiful China [关于全面推进美丽中国建设的意见] (2023).
Attendees at the workshop included officials from MEE’s Department of Climate Change and representatives from the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, China Nitrogen Fertilizer Industry Association, China Academy of Environmental Sciences, China Academy of Agricultural Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, China Automotive Technology and Research Center, and the Beijing Drainage Group. The workshop participants identified vital follow-up issues, including establishing an N2O Research Alliance to facilitate exchanges on N2O emissions control among relevant stakeholders, including industry associations, research institutes, and enterprises and to support the government’s non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions work by sharing relevant research outcomes.
According to the Chinese government’s official data, China’s N2O emissions were 0.52 GtCO2e (1.9 Mt N2O) in 2018, with the agricultural sector contributing the most emissions (49.2%), followed by industrial processes accounting for 23% of emissions. Agricultural emissions in China began slowing in 2016 as a result of policies such as the Action Plan for Reaching Zero Growth in Fertilizer Use by 2020, which aimed to optimize the use of nitrogen fertilizers. China also established a goal of improving the efficiency of chemical fertilizers and pesticides from 40% in 2020 to 43% by 2025. Additionally, keeping in mind that N2O can be produced from the combined nitrification-denitrification process that occurs on nitrogen in manure, China set a target for comprehensive reutilization of livestock and poultry manure to increase from 78% in 2023 to over 80% nationwide by 2025, and over 85% by 2030.
Contrastingly, N2O emissions from industry and energy have increased rapidly since 2005 (Liang et al., 2024). China is the largest source of N2O emissions from adipic acid manufacturing, with 11 plants responsible for about 93% of global sectoral emissions (Davidson & Winiwarter, 2023). It is estimated that China can achieve 61% of its industrial N2O abatement potential at break-even prices below US$10/tCO2e (U.S. EPA, 2019).
This presents an important climate mitigation opportunity for China to develop and implement an N2O emission control action plan. Such policy action would also fulfill China’s commitment to “study and formulate nitrous oxide reduction plans for key industries” in its Nationally Determined Contributions submitted pursuant to the Paris Agreement. It is also noteworthy that the U.S. and China indicated they “intend to cooperate on respective measures to manage N2O emissions” in the Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis (2023). At the September 2024 meeting of the U.S.-China Working Group on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s, the U.S. and China reaffirmed their intention to jointly host a Methane and Other Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases Summit at COP29 under the Presidency of Azerbaijan. At the White House Super Pollutants Summit in 2024, U.S. industry announced action to reduce industrial N2O emissions by over 50% by 2025. China’s revived voluntary greenhouse gas emission trading mechanism may also be deployed to incentivize industry action on N2O emission mitigation by helping finance the installation of industrial N2O abatement technologies.
Additional IGSD resources and China policy briefings:
- IGSD, U.S.-China Sunnylands Statement shows renewed U.S.-China climate commitment ahead of COP 28 (14 November 2023).
- IGSD & Precision Development, Reducing Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Smallholder Farmer Agriculture through Site-Specific Nutrient Management (June 2023).
- Xiaopu Sun, Pu Wang, Tad Ferris, Hui Lin, Gabrielle Dreyfus, Baihe Gu, Durwood Zaelke, & Yi Wang, Fast Action on Short-Lived Climate Pollutants and Nature-Based Solutions to Help Countries Meet Carbon Neutrality Goals (Advances in Climate Change Research) (August 2022).
- IGSD, China submits update to NDC and Mid-Century Development Strategy ahead of COP 26 (28 October 2021).
