Eutrophication nitrogen oxide emissions

In accordance with the production plans (Odisharia et al 1994), the increase of emission rate for nitrogen oxides (NO ) in the area of Bovanenkovo gas exploration in Yamal peninsula will be during 2000-2015 (Figure 7). Emission of sulfur oxide will be practically permanent and will amount to about 470,000 tons per year. These data indicate also the growth of deposition rate for acid forming and eutrophication compounds in comparison with the present period (Table 1). 

The European Commission has adopted a Proposal for a Directive on national emissions ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants and a Proposal for a Directive relating to ozone in ambient air. The national emissions ceilings Directive will set individual limits for each Member State s total emissions in 2010 of the four pollutants responsible for acidification, eutrophication and ozone formation in the lower atmosphere sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, VOCs and ammonia. The EU Solvents Directive has been formally adopted by the Commission. 

Figure 15.9 Historical linkages in the expansion of world fertilizer consumption, emission of nitrogen oxides (via fossil fuel combustion), and coastal eutrophication, between 1900 and 2000. (Modified from Boesch, 2002.)...

Most LCAs are performed only xmtil Step 2, since impact assessment and interpretation involve many more qualitative assumptions. In this case, LCA are called life cycle inventories (LCIs). This latter is a tool required to estimate the direct and indirect inputs of each step of a biofuel pathway. The results are the use of resources (eg, energy consumption) and the environmental emissions (eg, CO2, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides). LCIs permit the assessment of impact categories, such as climate change, photooxidant formation, acidification, eutrophication, ecotoxicity and human toxicity, and the depletion of biotic and abiotic resources. These factors of the LCI will be converted into environmental damages. Various indicators can be derived from these mechanisms at intermediate levels (midpoints) or damage levels (endpoints) after normalization, often weighting approaches. 

Often, the rates of fertilization in intensively managed agriculture are intended to satiate the needs of crop plants for these chemicals, so their productivity will not be limited by nutrient availability. However, excessive rates of fertilization have important environmental costs. These include the contamination of ground water with nitrate eutrophication of surface waters caused by nutrient inputs (especially phosphate) acidification of soil because of the nitrification of ammonium to nitrate large emissions of nitrous oxide and other nitrogen gases to the atmosphere, with implications for acid rain and Earth s greenhouse effect and the need to use herbicides to control the weeds that flourish under artificially nutrient-rich conditions. 

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