Climate Action - Assisting business towards carbon neutrality

A response to climate change is needed fast, and the political and commercial sectors must work together as a catalyst for change. Yara International intends to be part of the solution to the complex task of providing enough food and energy for the world, while addressing the global climate challenge. As a knowledge leader within plant nutrition and environmental applications for industry, we have started the process by committing to a five million tonnes reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions before 2009. Our aim must be to play a defining role in making the planet a safe and healthy place to live.

FOOD, ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Yara International intends to lead the quest for a solution to the complex task of providing enough food and energy for the world, while addressing the global climate challenge. As a knowledge leader within plant nutrition and environmental applications for industry, we are committed to reducing our total greenhouse gas emissions by five million tonnes of CO2 equivalents before 2009.

But we need to push further. We must set standards and support the fertiliser industry, our agricultural customers and partners so they can meet their environmental obligations. A response to climate change is needed fast and the political and commercial sectors must work together as a catalyst for change. Our aim must be to play a defining role in making the planet a safe and healthy place to live.

AGRICULTURE – A BALANCED VIEW

Until the 19th century, area expansion was largely responsible for increases in food production. With the advent of modern high yield farming practices in the 20th century, growers were able to produce more food per acre each year. This trend towards harvesting more from every acre is perhaps the greatest development within food security and environmental protection during the past 50 years. Without high yield farming, massive additional land areas would have to be tilled for agriculture to avoid widespread starvation.

Fertilisers play an important role because they energise biomass. Nearly all life depends on a plant’s ability to provide energy in the food we eat and capture oxygen in the air we breathe. Plants need energy to grow and any energy that is surplus to growth, they store. The optimal  use of fertiliser significantly enhances this process. Life cycle analysis studies show that the energy yield from optimally fertilised crops is 10 to 15 times higher than the total energy consumed in fertiliser manufacture, transport and application.

Agriculture today faces the global challenge of increasing biomass production while reducing its environmental footprint. The production of food has to keep pace with a world population that expands every year at a rate equal to the combined populations of France and Belgium and all the while the average consumption per person is also increasing. At the same time, rising energy prices are pushing demand for bioenergy and creating a growing market for agricultural products, and this puts added pressure on scarce agricultural resources.

Moreover, only a fraction of the planet’s non-developed land can be utilised for agricultural expansion. The remainder is needed to preserve forest cover or support infrastructure development, or is inaccessible. In addition, the pool of unused suitable cropland is very unevenly distributed. Sub Saharan Africa, the CIS countries, and Latin America are the last frontiers.  Unless we are willing to level entire forests, and this is clearly not environmentally sustainable, no other sizeable tracts of potentially arable land are available.

All these factors explain the need to increase the intensity of agricultural production.

INTENSIVE SUSTAINABLE FOOD PRODUCTION

Yara works with a broad coalition of partners, from farmers and agricultural advisors to the UN Millennium Project and local NGOs, to support sustainable high yield agriculture. Fertilisers used correctly can be environmentally benign and consist of naturally occurring plant nutrients necessary for maintaining soil fertility and adequate food production.

The main environmental concern is the irresponsible use of fertilisers. Excessive application is a waste of money and can result in nutrient leaching into groundwater/rivers and soil acidification, while inadequate fertiliser application leads to suboptimal yield and can cause erosion and loss of fertile soil.  

Yara promotes crop-specific nutrition plans and supplies fertiliser management tools that allow farmers to apply optimal types and amounts of fertiliser – taking into account crop and soil type, weather conditions and tillage/irrigation practices. This service is provided via dedicated teams of agronomists who issue recommendations, via published guidelines and expert systems for farmers such as the N-Tester, N-Sensor and Yara Plan. Traditionally, our efforts have been aimed at maximising yield and minimising ecological impact, but now we also advise growers on how to mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrate-based fertilisers such as ammonium nitrate, calcium ammonium nitrate and complex fertilisers lose very little nitrogen in this manner, while nitrate fertilisers like calcium nitrate have no ammonia emissions.

GHG EMISSIONS

Yara is among the most efficient and environmentally friendly fertiliser producers. However, the production of nitrogen fertiliser is extremely energy intensive and Yara still emits considerable amounts of greenhouse gases. Even though fertilisers contribute positively to society from the value chain perspective, Yara recognises that it has an environmental responsibility to reduce emissions. Yara has therefore implemented measures that will reduce GHG emissions by 25 per cent over a four year period. This corresponds to a total reduction of five million tonnes of greenhouse gases before 2009.

Yara’s greenhouse gas emissions emanate from two main sources: CO₂ from ammonia plants and N₂O from nitric acid plants. Per unit of weight, N₂O produces approximately 300 times more global warming than CO₂.

If we convert N₂O emissions to CO₂ equivalents, Yara emits an equal amount of these two greenhouse gases.

In the production of ammonia, CO₂ emissions are kept to a minimum by operating at the highest efficiency levels. Yara’s ammonia plants are among the most energy efficient. On average, Yara’s plants in Europe are 10 to 20 per cent more efficient than competing facilities. Ongoing revamps of Yara facilities in Europe and overseas will result in further improvements.

MEET THE CATALYST

In 2005, after 10 years of research and development, Yara introduced a new catalyst technology for the reduction of N₂O from nitric acid plants. This technology, which has already been installed at several of our own facilities as well as at external plants, has demonstrated a 70 to 90 per cent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from nitric acid plants. Competitive technologies exist but Yara’s is the most effective and can be implemented in existing plants. Yara’s catalyst technology is now used in 50 per cent of all the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects worldwide, including projects in emission hotspots, such as Russia and China. The potential is truly huge. If Yara’s catalyst technology were adopted throughout Europe it would result in a 30 million tonnes reduction of GHG emissions annually. If adopted globally, the outcome would be a cut of 75 million tonnes. This would be a significant reduction of GHG emissions at a relatively low cost. But the industry is slow to implement best available technology without proper regulatory incentives.

Yara favours regulatory initiatives to stimulate emission reductions. Such initiatives should naturally be fair, cost effective and encourage early compliance. They should be composed in such a way that national or regional initiatives do not prompt the transfer of production capacity to countries with poor emission standards, which would only lead to increased global emissions. The EU is moving to introduce a permit system, but experience shows that industry is slow to adopt new technologies that increase costs and may result in a competitive disadvantage. Yara has therefore proposed that the EU includes nitrous oxide in its emissions trading framework. This would be a substantial and effective incentive to reduce global emissions from the agricultural value chain.

Organisation

Yara International ASA is a leading chemical company that converts energy and nitrogen from the air into essential products for farmers and industrial customers. As the number one global supplier of mineral fertilisers and agronomic solutions, we help provide food for a growing world population. Our industrial product portfolio includes environmental protection agents that safeguard air and water purity and preserve food quality. Yara’s global workforce of 7,000 employees represents great diversity and talent enabling Yara to remain a leading performer in its industry.

Enquiries

Yara International ASA, Bygdøy allé 2
PO Box 2464, Solli, N-0202 Oslo
Norway
Tel: +47 24 15 70 00
Fax: +47 24 15 70 01
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