Nitrogen Management for Carbon Credit.

Carbon markets are an existing mechanism to help reduce agricultural emissions of nitrous oxide (N₂O). Offset credits generated by reducing these emissions through management actions on farms can be attractive to regulatory bodies looking at ‘off-site’ mitigation as an effective way to compensate for environmental damage.

Nitrous oxide is the major GHG emitted by US agriculture accounting for nearly 80% of total US anthropogenic N₂O emissions. With a GWP of ~300 it can be seen as a low hanging fruit for offset project development.

Through more precise management of nitrogen (N), farmers can reduce their agricultural footprint of this potent GHG, decrease levels of other reactive N species in the environment, and play a role in delivering carbon credits to regulated industries, while receiving financial compensation for doing so.

Here, we present a brief overview of active protocols in the voluntary carbon market that were developed from empirical data collected on commercial corn fields in Michigan, and that use reductions in N fertilizer rate as a robust predictor of N₂O mitigation. Information on U.S., and Mexico based projects associated with these protocols will also be presented.