• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ For Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use June 26, 2022
BREAKING: UN Nature Summit, the ‘Paris Conference for Biodiversity’, Moves to Montreal in December June 19, 2022
‘LET’S SUE BIG OIL’: Legal Team Launches Class Action Campaign for B.C. Municipalities June 17, 2022
‘It Could Have Been Any of Us’, Colleague Says, After Brazil Confirms Murders of Bruno Pereira, Dom Phillips June 17, 2022
Infrastructure Gap a ‘Life and Death’ Matter as Northern Canada Warms June 17, 2022
Next
Prev
Home Climate Impacts & Adaptation Food Security

Fertilizer Price Crunch Lead to Emission Cuts in Agriculture

April 24, 2022
Reading time: 3 minutes

eutrophication&hypoxia/flickr

eutrophication&hypoxia/flickr

 

The fertilizer price crunch now plaguing farmers is reminiscent of the 1970s oil shock that led to greater energy efficiency in several industries, and could produce a similar shift in today’s agriculture sector—but that transition will have to be managed carefully to avoid further disrupting the global food supply.

“The Arab oil embargo brought the U.S. economy to its knees, but it also kick-started an energy conservation drive that reshaped the American auto and building industries,” recalls Bloomberg Green. “More efficient use of fertilizers could likewise yield big benefits for the planet.”

Costs for fertilizers like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium were already higher than usual leading into 2022 because of high demand for natural gas, storms that prompted plant closures in key fertilizer production regions, and disruptions in supplies from Belarus and China.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated the problems as sanctions on Russia—a major fertilizer-producing country—further reduces global fertilizer supply. Sanctions, in tandem with western banks and traders eschewing Russian supplies and shipping firms avoiding the Black Sea region, have pushed fertilizer prices to more than double what they were last year.

A similar crisis played out in the 1970s when the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed an oil embargo on western countries, which led to a massive spike in energy prices, Bloomberg notes. While the embargo had severe consequences for western economies, it was also a catalyst for several major sectors—including the auto and building industries—to prioritize energy efficiency in their production.

As a result, “Detroit’s Big Three introduced more compact, fuel-efficient cars,” and “advances in lighting, insulation, and appliances reduced home energy use,” the news agency writes. Overall, the global economy is now much less dependent on oil than it otherwise would have been.

The agriculture sector has drawn attention in recent years for its contributions to—and potential to reduce—the global greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change. Because a large share of those emissions is generated by fertilizer production, a shift towards efficient fertilizer management practices could have important implications for global climate action.

But because other food system shocks from extreme weather and drought already threaten food security, farmers will be seriously challenged to both reduce fertilizer use and produce more food. The spike in fertilizer prices is already threatening to cause a hunger crisis in Peru, where farmers have taken to blocking roads in protest.

“By using techniques such as rigorous soil testing and so-called precision agriculture, food producers can figure out just how much nutrition their land needs in a given growing season—and apply not a teaspoon more,” Bloomberg writes.

Research shows that more precise fertilizer applications could maintain yields with fewer inputs, and in turn also have beneficial environmental outcomes, though Bloomberg cautions that such a broad scale change will need to be done carefully to avoid negative outcomes.

Taking on such a massive change too quickly could lead to outcomes like those in Sri Lanka where, after the government abruptly imposed a ban on synthetic fertilizers in 2021, the country suffered a massive drop in crop yields that caused mass inflation and protests.



in Ending Emissions, Energy / Carbon Pricing & Economics, Food Security, International Security & War, Oil & Gas, Soil & Natural Sequestration, Uncategorized

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

David/flickr
United States

U.S. Supreme Court Expected to Gut Emission Controls as Climate Scientists Petition for Plan B

June 26, 2022
580
Graco/Facebook
Food Security

Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ For Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use

June 27, 2022
116
stockvault
Health & Safety

Animal Agriculture Could Reduce Future Pandemic Risk, UK Researchers Say

June 26, 2022
73

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

David/flickr

U.S. Supreme Court Expected to Gut Emission Controls as Climate Scientists Petition for Plan B

June 26, 2022
580
Graco/Facebook

Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ For Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use

June 27, 2022
116
Konrad Summers/Kern West Oil Museum via Wikimedia Commons

Imperial Oil Backs Lithium Recovery Project in Alberta’s Leduc Oilfield

June 26, 2022
97
pxhere

Environmental Racism Bill Passes Second Reading in House of Commons

June 26, 2022
138
stockvault

Animal Agriculture Could Reduce Future Pandemic Risk, UK Researchers Say

June 26, 2022
73
Gustavo Petro Urrego/flickr

Colombia’s President-Elect Has ‘Ambitious’ Plans to Halt Amazon Deforestation

June 26, 2022
67

Recent Posts

Adam E. Moreira/wikimedia commons

Suspend Transit Fares, Not Gas Tax, Climate Advocates Urge Biden

June 26, 2022
55
moerschy / Pixabay

Pandemic Drives Up Support for Climate Action, Pessimism About Elected Leaders

June 26, 2022
27
hellomike/flickr

No Public Input as Canada Finalizes Climate Plan for Airlines

June 27, 2022
37
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Southeast Asia/wikimedia commons

Japan, Korea Sell Vietnam on Gas Amid Crackdown on Climate Activists

June 26, 2022
22
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_picture_candidates/Barrow_Offshore_Wind_Farm

Global Offshore Wind Pipeline Doubles to 846 Gigawatts

June 26, 2022
38
TAFE SA TONSLEY/Flickr

U.S. Renewables Industries Scramble to Reuse, Recycle Before Waste Volumes Skyrocket

June 26, 2022
63
Next Post
Jan Arne Wold/Equinor

Ottawa, Newfoundland Squabble Over Bay du Nord Royalties as Guilbeault Declares Future Projects Unlikely

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}