Our colleague Davide Lucherini recently attended an expert workshop in Matera, Italy, that shed light on the challenges in climate-smart agriculture: nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions. 💡 Hear it from Davide on some of the key insights: 🌎 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗼𝗶𝗹 𝗡𝗶𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗚𝗛𝗚 𝗘𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗖𝗔 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 ➡️ N₂O is far more impactful than CO₂, yet its soil emissions are highly variable and challenging to measure in agricultural operations. ➡️ Most Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) still use Tier 1 emission factors (largely modelled data with little or no local activity data available), offering limited accuracy and not reflecting mitigation practices or local conditions ➡️ There's growing momentum around process-based models for more accurate nitrogen emission estimates, though these require extensive data and are still being validated. ➡️ Collaboration with soil scientists as key partners—their expertise can improve LCA accuracy through guidance on model selection, parameterization, and the development of region-specific emission factors. ➡️ The emphasis could shift toward Tier 2 and 3 approaches in the future, coupled with uncertainty analysis, to determine the true added value of complex modeling. The workshop in Matera laid an important foundation for collaboration, with outcomes expected to support initiatives like 𝗖𝗥𝗖𝗙 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴. Thank you Valeria De Laurentiis , Daniele De Rosa, Laura García Herrero and JRC, for organizing this workshop!
