Societal benefits of halving agricultural ammonia emissions in China far exceed the abatement costs

Abstract

Mitigating agricultural ammonia (NH₃) emissions in China is urgently needed to avoid further damage to human and ecosystem health. Effective and feasible mitigation strategies hinge on integrated knowledge of the mitigation potential of NH₃ emissions and the associated economic costs and societal benefits. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of marginal abatement costs and societal benefits for NH₃ mitigation in China. The technical mitigation potential of agricultural NH₃ emissions is 38-67% (4.0-7.1 Tg N) with implementation costs estimated at US$ 6-11 billion. These costs are much lower than estimates of the overall societal benefits at US$ 18-42 billion. Avoiding unnecessary fertilizer use and protein-rich animal feed could provide 30% of this mitigation potential without additional abatement costs or decreases in agricultural productivity. Optimizing human diets with less animal-derived products offers further potential for NH₃ reduction of 12% by 2050.