Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 March 2022
842. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the additional abatement impact expected through replacing 65% of straight CAN with protected urea or other protected nitrogen products by 2030; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15902/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Deputy raises an important greenhouse gas abatement measure for the agricultural sector. Protected urea is a urea-based chemical nitrogen fertiliser coated with a urease inhibitor. This inhibitor reduces emissions of ammonia when applied to land. Urea based fertilisers have significantly less nitrous oxide emissions (a greenhouse gas (GHG)) associated with them compared to Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN).
Under the Climate Action Plan, the plan is to replace 65% of CAN fertiliser with protected urea (or other protected nitrogen products) by 2030. Assuming a total chemical nitrogen usage of 325,000 tonnes in 2030, as per the Climate Action Plan, this replacement rate will lead to a reduction in nitrous oxide emissions of approximately 0.8 million tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (MT CO2 eq).
In summary, reducing total chemical nitrogen use on farms as well as changing the type of chemical nitrogen applied are two of the most important measures for reducing overall GHG emissions from agriculture. In view of this, I have put in place additional supports to drive the adoption of multispecies and clover swards. These measures, when adopted on farms, will significantly reduce chemical nitrogen demand over the course of the decade.
