Rothamsted Fertiliser Emissions Scenarios Tool (R-FEST)

A simple and interactive tool developed for the quantification of emissions associated with the applications of different chemical nitrogen fertiliser products, at water management catchment (WMC) scale for England.

Fertiliser application in agricultural fields is an integral part of modern intensive farming to help provide food security but also contributes significantly to damaging changing climate and excess energy use at both national and global scales. To meet these challenges, fertiliser production technologies and on-farm and in-field management and applications are going through progressive changes across the world. Increased spatial variabilities are expected in the emissions associated with fertiliser production with the potential deployment of distributed production systems; e.g., modularized green ammonia production units. More spatially explicit evidence on the emissions associated with fertiliser use are in demand for supporting spatial targeting, scenario development and strategic planning. A simple and interactive tool has therefore been developed for the quantification of emissions associated with the applications of different chemical nitrogen fertiliser products, at water management catchment (WMC) scale for England. For a Business-As-Usual (BAU) scenario, the tool was populated with recent spatially disaggregated data on land use and cropping, current survey data on crop and farm type-specific fertiliser practices, and existing knowledge about in-field emissions. Customized fertiliser production technologies, application practices (types, rates, coverage) and management impacts can be specified to generate different scenarios and their emissions can be evaluated at WMC and national scales, including both emissions to air - nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon dioxide (CO2) and ammonia (NH3), plus emissions to water - nitrate (NO3).