Ammonia emmissions: Industry comment

Scottish Government “Scotland is the first country in Europe to pass legislation based on World Health Organisation guidelines for fine particulate matter, and our Cleaner Air for Scotland strategy sets out an ambitious programme of action.”

“As set out in the Programme for Government, in the coming year we will introduce a new climate change bill that will set even more ambitious targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

“We recognise that farming and agriculture has a crucial role to play in our environmental and climate-change ambitions.

“Since 2015, £99m has been committed to rural business through the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme, aimed at promoting low carbon farming and protecting the environment.”

Scottish Environmental Protection Agency

“NH3 [ammonia] can have a range of impacts on the environment and human health, including the acidification of soils and the nitrogen enrichment of semi-natural areas leading to a decrease in species diversity.

“The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Gothenburg Protocol includes commitments to reduce emissions of ammonia from agriculture.

“One of its requirements is that each signatory country ‘shall establish, publish and disseminate an advisory code of good agricultural practice to control ammonia emissions’.

“In comparison to other air pollutants, the UK Government has not prioritised emissions of NH3 within the current air-quality strategy.

“Linked to this, the directive on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants sets national emission ceilings and reduction targets for the main causal factors of acidification, eutrophication and ground-level ozone, including NH3.

“It could be argued that the current reductions set for NH3 are not as ambitious as those set for other pollutants (for instance, an 8% reduction compared with 2005 levels for any year from 2020 to 2029).“