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A researcher in Costa Rica collects greenhouse gas (GHG) samples on site. Isotopes and related technologies help measure greenhouse gases from agriculture and reduce and sequester carbon. (Photo: M.Zaman/IAEA).
Climate change is a global challenge. The use of isotopes and related technologies to measure agricultural greenhouse gases (GHG) and new technologies for mitigation and sequestration of carbon (C) are concrete results of the recently concluded IAEA research project on climate change. Direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and land use changes, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, account for about 25% of global man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
Warming has caused several changes in our climate, including extreme weather events such as frequent droughts, floods, uneven rainfall distribution, wildfires and heat waves, leading to crop failures, land degradation and soil fertility depletion. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and validate climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices to deal with the impact of climate change on agriculture, to ensure food security, enhance soil resilience, and reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
The IAEA Coordinated Research Project (CRP) minimizes the impact of agriculture on climate change by enhancing carbon and nitrogen capture and storage in agricultural ecosystems, with a focus on measuring greenhouse gas emissions for better management using isotopes and related technologies Agricultural system. By evaluating different CSA management options, CRP has a better understanding of how to increase crop productivity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase carbon storage capacity and soil resilience. Experts from ten countries participated in this CRP: Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Estonia, Ethiopia, Germany, Iran, Pakistan and Spain.
The specific goal of CRP is to quantify N2O emissions in order to determine the emission factors of each participating country. Compared with poor farming practices, it can improve crop productivity with a lower environmental footprint, sequester carbon, and strengthen the ability of participating countries to use 15N isotope technology. Have a good understanding of microbial N2O production and nitrogen management.
The project, in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through the FAO/IAEA Joint Center for Nuclear Technology in Food and Agriculture, has generated new knowledge and technology for greenhouse gas measurement and achieved tangible results in greenhouse gas. Mitigation, adaptation and carbon sequestration using isotopes and related technologies. In addition, the researchers identified two new microbial processes for N2O production, opening the way for further reduction of agricultural N2O emissions. This is especially important because N2O is approximately 300 times more effective in heating the atmosphere than CO2. In addition, a new method for monitoring agricultural ammonia (NH3) emissions has been developed to help the global effort to reduce harmful air pollution and protect nitrogen. The method is based on a simple device and costs less than $1. The CRP also helps to define CSA practices that increase crop yields by strengthening the capacity of countries to use 15N technology.
The project greatly promoted the participating countries to better understand climate change adaptation and mitigation. Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Iran and Pakistan reported their agricultural greenhouse gas emission factors for the first time. The climate-smart agricultural practices evaluated in this CRP have significantly increased crop yields and reduced greenhouse gases by 50%. Six masters and four doctoral students from Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Germany completed their studies during the CRP. Part of this work is published here. A total of 34 papers were published, 10 of which were published in a special issue of Pedosphere Journal. In addition, a special book entitled "Using Nuclear and Related Technologies to Measure Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Develop Mitigation Plans" published by Springer in February 2021 provides protocols, methods and standard operating procedures, and mitigation plans.
Nuclear technology plays an important role in evaluating management options used in CSA. Basic scientific methods related to the use of nuclear technology can quantify the impact of management options on the dynamics of nitrogen and carbon in agricultural systems, and the elements that connect plants, soil, and the atmosphere. Nuclear technology is the only accurate measurement option for evaluating CSA practices, whether it is the impact on carbon storage in the soil or the release of greenhouse gases.
The results of this coordinated research project on reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions were discussed at the 2018 IAEA Science Forum and were highlighted in the 2018 IAEA Bulletin “Climate Nuclear Technologies: Mitigation, Monitoring and Adaptation”.
From 2014 to 2019, the coordinated research project has developed a number of IAEA technical cooperation projects, including RAS5083, COS5033, COS5035, PAK5051 and CHI0019.
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