Calculations of gaseous and particulate emissions from German agriculture 1990 - 2011. Report on methods and data (RMD) submission 2013

In Europe, gaseous and particulate emissions from agriculture have been subject to both national and international regulations, as they adversely affect the energy dynamics of the atmosphere (physical climate), the formation of tropospheric and the destruction of stratospheric ozone, the amount of formation of secondary aerosols, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems due to atmospheric inputs of acidity and nutrients (acidification and eutrophication), human health and welfare and reduce atmospheric visibility. These internation regulations (protocols etc.) are the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC5), the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP6), and within the European Union the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants (NEC Directive7). The forementioned conventions require annual calculations of the emissions of the respective gases and air pollutants. The results have to be documented in an emission inventory and to be reported to the organisations in charge. The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) is responsible for the entire German emission reporting. However, the sector “Agriculture” is dealt with under the aegis of the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV). BMELV has charged the Institute for Climate-Smart Agriculture (AK) (the former Insitute of Agricultural Climate Research) of the Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut (TI) with the establishment of the annual agricultural emission inventory where only emissions from agricultural animal husbandry and from managed agricultural soils are regarded as agricultural emissions.