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Title: The social costs of nitrogen

Journal Article · · Science Advances
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [4]
  1. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States). Inst. on the Environment
  2. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States). Inst. on the Environment. Dept. of Applied Economics. Dept. of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
  3. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States). Dept. of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
  4. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  5. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States). Dept. of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
+ Show Author Affiliations

Despite growing recognition of the negative externalities associated with reactive nitrogen (N), the damage costs of N to air, water, and climate remain largely unquantified. We propose a comprehensive approach for estimating the social cost of nitrogen (SCN), defined as the present value of the monetary damages caused by an incremental increase in N. This framework advances N accounting by considering how each form of N causes damages at specific locations as it cascades through the environment. We apply the approach to an empirical example that estimates the SCN for N applied as fertilizer. We track impacts of N through its transformation into atmospheric and aquatic pools and estimate the distribution of associated costs to affected populations. Our results confirm that there is no uniform SCN. Instead, changes in N management will result in different N-related costs depending on where N moves and the location, vulnerability, and preferences of populations affected by N. For example, we found that the SCN per kilogram of N fertilizer applied in Minnesota ranges over several orders of magnitude, from less than $0.001/kg N to greater than 10/kg N, illustrating the importance of considering the site, the form of N, and end points of interest rather than assuming a uniform cost for damages. Our approach for estimating the SCN demonstrates the potential of integrated biophysical and economic models to illuminate the costs and benefits of N and inform more strategic and efficient N management.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO); United States Dept. of Agriculture (USDA); Univ. of Minnesota (United States); Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF) (United States)
Grant/Contract Number:
EE0004397; 2011-68005-30411
OSTI ID:
1473918
Journal Information:
Science Advances, Vol. 2, Issue 10; ISSN 2375-2548
Publisher:
AAASCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 91 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (8)

Assessing ecosystem service provision under climate change to support conservation and development planning in Myanmar text January 2017
Assessing ecosystem service provision under climate change to support conservation and development planning in Myanmar journal September 2017
Linking the influence and dependence of people on biodiversity across scales journal June 2017
Dynamic model-based N management reduces surplus nitrogen and improves the environmental performance of corn production journal April 2018
On the functional relationship between biodiversity and economic value journal January 2020
Benefits of increasing plant diversity in sustainable agroecosystems journal June 2017
The distribution of functional N-cycle related genes and nitrogen in soil profiles fertilized with mineral and organic N fertilizer journal January 2020
Simultaneous gains in grain yield and nitrogen efficiency over 70 years of maize genetic improvement journal June 2019

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
nitrogen
ecosystem services
nonmarket valuation
damage costs
social cost of carbon
water quality
agriculture