Are Offsets Enough?

A better understanding of the additional costs and potential benefits to producers is needed to meet Canada’s fertilizer-based emission reduction target through policies that incentivize on-farm EENF adoption. 

This research conducts a partial cost-benefit analysis for dryland wheat production in Alberta and EENF use. The research uses a modified version of Canada's National Inventory Report Methodology to estimate direct fertilizer based N2O emissions. Monte Carlo simulation is used to estimate field-level emissions using a combination of township-level weather and risk zone-level production data. 

The costs and benefits of EENF adoption to producers were evaluated by estimating potential changes in net revenue, under a business-as-usual scenario and when carbon offsets are provided at a value of $50 and $170 per tonne of CO2eq.

By Nataliia Arman, Joshua Bourassa, Elena Vinco, Nicole Morrison, Guillaume Lhermie

Keywords: Enhanced Efficiency Nitrogen Fertilizer, Carbon Offsets, Cost Benefit Analysis, Monte Carlo Simulation