Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-t27h7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-17T14:44:21.614Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The nitrogen footprint of food products in the European Union

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2013

A. LEIP ,
F. WEISS ,
J. P. LESSCHEN  and
H. WESTHOEK
A. LEIP*
Affiliation:
European Commission – Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027, Ispra, Italy
F. WEISS
Affiliation:
European Commission – Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027, Ispra, Italy
J. P. LESSCHEN
Affiliation:
Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands
H. WESTHOEK
Affiliation:
PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, P.O. Box 303, 3720 AH, Bilthoven, The Netherlands
*
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Nitrogen (N) is an essential element for plants and animals. Due to large inputs of mineral fertilizer, crop yields and livestock production in Europe have increased markedly over the last century, but as a consequence losses of reactive N to air, soil and water have intensified as well. Two different models (CAPRI and MITERRA) were used to quantify the N flows in agriculture in the European Union (EU27), at country-level and for EU27 agriculture as a whole, differentiated into 12 main food categories. The results showed that the N footprint, defined as the total N losses to the environment per unit of product, varies widely between different food categories, with substantially higher values for livestock products and the highest values for beef (c. 500 g N/kg beef), as compared to vegetable products. The lowest N footprint of c. 2 g N/kg product was calculated for sugar beet, fruits and vegetables, and potatoes. The losses of reactive N were dominated by N leaching and run-off, and ammonia volatilization, with 0·83 and 0·88 due to consumption of livestock products. The N investment factors, defined as the quantity of new reactive N required to produce one unit of N in the product varied between 1·2 kg N/kg N in product for pulses to 15–20 kg N for beef.

Type
Nitrogen Workshop Special Issue Papers
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 152 , Supplement S1: Special Issue from the 17th International Nitrogen Workshop , December 2014 , pp. 20 - 33
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Batjes, N. H. (2006). ISRIC-WISE Derived Soil Properties on a 5 by 5 Arc-minutes Global Grid (version 1.0). Wageningen, The Netherlands: World Soil Information. Available from: http://www.isric.org/data/isric-wise-derived-soil-properties-5-5-arc-minutes-global-grid-version-12 (verified 22 August 2013).Google Scholar
Bellarby, J., Tirado, R., Leip, A., Weiss, F., Lesschen, J. P. & Smith, P. (2013). Livestock greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation potential in Europe. Global Change Biology 19, 3–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Britz, W. & Witzke, P. (2012). CAPRI Model Documentation 2012. Bonn: University Bonn.Google Scholar
Chatzimpiros, P. & Barles, S. (2013). Nitrogen food-print : N use related to meat and dairy consumption in France. Biogeosciences 10, 471–481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Vries, W., Leip, A., Reinds, G. J., Kros, J., Lesschen, J. P. & Bouwman, A. F. (2011). Comparison of land nitrogen budgets for European agriculture by various modeling approaches. Environmental Pollution 159, 3254–3268.Google Scholar
ENVIFOOD (2012). ENVIFOOD Protocol. Environmental Assessment of Food and Drink Protocol. Draft Version 0.1 for Pilot Testing, November 2012. Brussels: European Food Sustainable Consumption & Production Round Table Secretariat.Google Scholar
Erisman, J. W., Sutton, M. A., Galloway, J., Klimont, Z. & Winiwarter, W. (2008). How a century of ammonia synthesis changed the world. Nature Geoscience 1, 636–639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
European Commission (2010 a). International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) Handbook - General Guide for Life Cycle Assessment – Detailed Guidance. European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.Google Scholar
European Commission (2010 b). Preparatory Study on Food Waste across EU27. Technical Report 2010–054. Brussels: European Commission. Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/reports.htm (verified 22 August 2013).Google Scholar
European Commission (2012). Life Cycle Indicators Framework: Development of Life Cycle Based Macro-level Monitoring Indicators for Resources, Products and Waste for the EU-27. European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.Google Scholar
European Council (2007). Council Directive 92/43EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. Consolidated version 01.01.2007. Official Journal 1992L0043-EN-01.01.2007- 005·001, 1–66.Google Scholar
Eurostat (2013). Nutrient Budgets, EU-27, NO, CH. Methodology and Handbook. Version 1.02. Luxembourg: Eurostat and OECD.Google Scholar
Galli, A., Wiedmann, T., Ercin, E., Knoblauch, D., Ewing, B. & Giljum, S. (2012). Integrating ecological, carbon and water footprint into a ‘Footprint Family’ of indicators: definition and role in tracking human pressure on the planet. Ecological Indicators 16, 100–112.Google Scholar
Hijmans, R. J., Cameron, S. E., Parra, J. L., Jones, P. G. & Jarvis, A. (2005). Very high resolution interpolated climate surfaces for global land areas. International Journal of Climatology 25, 1965–1978.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoekstra, A. Y. & Mekonnen, M. M. (2012). The water footprint of humanity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109, 3232–3237.Google Scholar
IPCC (2006). 2006 IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories. Prepared by the National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme (Eds Eggleston, H. S., Buendia, L., Miwa, K., Ngara, T. & Tanabe, K.). Japan: IGES Google Scholar
Klimont, Z. & Brink, C. (2004). Modelling of Emissions of Air Pollutants and Greenhouse Gases from Agricultural Sources in Europe. Laxenburg, Austria: IIASA.Google Scholar
Leach, A. M., Galloway, J. N., Bleeker, A., Erisman, J. W., Kohn, R. & Kitzes, J. (2012). A nitrogen footprint model to help consumers understand their role in nitrogen losses to the environment. Environmental Development 1, 40–66.Google Scholar
Leip, A., Weiss, F., Wassenaar, T., Perez-Dominguez, I., Fellmann, T., Loudjani, P., Tubiello, F., Grandgirard, D., Monni, S. & Biala, K. (2010). Evaluation of the Livestock Sector's Contribution to the EU Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GGELS) – Final Report. Brussels: European Commission, Joint Research Centre.Google Scholar
Leip, A., Achermann, B., Billen, G., Bleeker, A., Bouwman, A. F., de Vries, W., Dragosits, U., Döring, U., Fernall, D., Geupel, M., Herolstab, J., Johnes, P., Le Gall, A. C., Monni, S., Nevečeřal, R., Orlandini, L., Prud'homme, M., Reuter, H. I., Simpson, D., Seufert, G., Spranger, T., Sutton, M. A., van Aardenne, J., Voß, M. & Winiwarter, W. (2011 a). Integrating nitrogen fluxes at the European scale. In The European Nitrogen Assessment (Eds Sutton, M. A., Howard, C. M., Erisman, J. W., Billen, G., Bleeker, A., Grennfelt, P., van Grinsven, H. & Grizzetti, B.), pp. 345–376. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Leip, A., Britz, W., Weiss, F. & de Vries, W. (2011 b). Farm, land, and soil nitrogen budgets for agriculture in Europe calculated with CAPRI. Environmental Pollution 159, 3243–3253.Google Scholar
Leip, A., Weiss, F. & Britz, W. (2011 c). Agri-Environmental Nitrogen Indicators for EU27. In Bio-Economic Models Applied to Agricultural Systems (Ed. Flichman, G.), pp. 109–123. Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar
Lesschen, J. P., van den Berg, M., Westhoek, H. J., Witzke, H. P. & Oenema, O. (2011). Greenhouse gas emission profiles of European livestock sectors. Animal Feed Science and Technology 166–167, 16–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maes, J., Paracchini, M. L., Zulian, G., Dunbar, M. B. & Alkemade, R. (2012). Synergies and trade-offs between ecosystem service supply, biodiversity, and habitat conservation status in Europe. Biological Conservation 155, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McIntyre, B. D., Herren, H. R., Wakhungu, J. & Watsn, R. T. (2009). Agriculture at a Crossroads. Synthesis Report: a Synthesis of the Global and Sub-Global IAASTD Reports. Washington, DC: International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD).Google Scholar
Mekonnen, M. M. & Hoekstra, A. Y. (2011). The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops and derived crop products. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 15, 1577–1600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nguyen, T. L. T., Hermansen, J. E. & Mogensen, L. (2010). Environmental consequences of different beef production systems in the EU. Journal of Cleaner Production 18, 756–766.Google Scholar
Pelletier, N. & Leip, A. (2013). Quantifying anthropogenic mobilization, flows (in product systems) and emissions of fixed nitrogen in process-based environmental life cycle assessment: rationale, methods and application to a life cycle inventory. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. doi: 10.1007/s11367–013-0622-0 Google Scholar
Simpson, D., Fagerli, H., Jonson, J. E., Tsyro, S., Wind, P., Tuovinen, J.-P. (2003). Transboundary Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground Level Ozone in Europe. PART I Unified EMEP Model Description. EMEP Report 1/2003. Oslo: Norwegian Meteorological Institute.Google Scholar
Simpson, D., Aas, W., Bartnicki, J., Berge, H., Bleeker, A., Cuvelier, K., Dentener, F., Dore, T., Erisman, J. W., Fagerli, H., Flechard, C., Hertel, O., van Jaarsveld, H., Jenkin, M., Schaap, M., Shamsudheen Semeena, V., Thunis, P., Vautard, R., Vieno, M. (2011). Atmospheric transport and deposition of reactive nitrogen in Europe. In European Nitrogen Assessment (Eds Sutton, M. A., Howard, C. M., Erisman, J. W., Billen, G., Bleeker, A., van Grinsven, H., Grennfelt, P. & Grizzetti, B.), pp. 298–316. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Skiba, U., Fowler, D. & Smith, K. A. (1997). Nitric oxide emissions from agricultural soils in temperate and tropical climates: sources, controls and mitigation options. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 48, 139–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smaling, E. M. A., Roscoe, R., Lesschen, J. P., Bouwman, A. F. & Comunello, E. (2008). From forest to waste: Assessment of the Brazilian soybean chain, using nitrogen as a marker. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 128, 185–197.Google Scholar
Soussana, J.-F., Tallec, T. & Blanfort, V. (2010). Mitigating the greenhouse gas balance of ruminant production systems through carbon sequestration in grasslands. Animal 4, 334–350.Google Scholar
Sutton, M. A., Oenema, O., Erisman, J. W., Leip, A., van Grinsven, H. & Winiwarter, W. (2011 a). Too much of a good thing. Nature 472, 159–161.Google Scholar
Sutton, M. A., Billen, G., Bleeker, A., Erisman, J. W., Grennfelt, P., Van Grinsven, H., Grizzetti, B., Howard, C. M. & Leip, A. (2011 b). European Nitrogen Assessment – technical summary. In The European Nitrogen Assessment (Eds Sutton, M. A., Howard, C. M., Erisman, J. W., Billen, G., Bleeker, A., Grennfelt, P., van Grinsven, H. & Grizzetti, B.), pp. xxxv–lii. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
UNECE (2013). Guidance document on national nitrogen budgets. Economic and Social Council Economic Commission for Europe Executive Body for the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. Available at: http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/documents/2013/air/eb/ECE_EB.AIR_119_ENG.pdf.Google Scholar
Vanham, D. & Bidoglio, G. (2013). A review on the indicator water footprint for the EU28. Ecological Indicators 26, 61–75.Google Scholar
Velthof, G. L., Oudendag, D., Witzke, H. P., Asman, W. A. H., Klimont, Z. & Oenema, O. (2009). Integrated assessment of nitrogen losses from agriculture in EU-27 using MITERRA-EUROPE. Journal of Environmental Quality 38, 402–417.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weiss, F. & Leip, A. (2012). Greenhouse gas emissions from the EU livestock sector: A life cycle assessment carried out with the CAPRI model. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 149, 124–134.Google Scholar
Westhoek, H., Rood, T., van den Berg, M., Janse, J., Nijdam, D., Reudink, M. & Stehfest, E. (2011). The Protein Puzzle. The Consumption and Production of Meat, Dairy and Fish in the European Union. The Hague: PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.Google Scholar
Wiedmann, T. & Minx, J. (2007). A definition of ‘carbon footprint’. In Ecological Economics Research Trends (Ed. Pertsova, C. C.), pp. 1–11. Happauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.Google Scholar