Environmental impacts

The research in this theme focuses on the environmental impacts of agricultural production as well as strategies and technologies that can reduce them.

Strategies to reduce environmental impacts include cropping strategies that use alternative crops, catch crops and intercropping as well as fertilization planning according to nutrient release from fertilizers and crop residues. Technologies to reduce environmental impacts include e.g. slurry acidification to reduce ammonia volatilization, specially designed bio-based fertilizers, nitrification inhibitors to reduce nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide formation, and crop residue management to increase soil carbon sequestration.

Our experimental approaches include field and lab-based chamber-techniques for measurement of greenhouse gases coupled with isotope techniques and sensors that assess soil conditions to understand the underlying processes resulting in the formation and consumption of the gases.

Advanced environmental modelling is used for simulating the effect of the strategies and technologies on nutrient turnover, emissions of CO₂ and N₂O, nitrate leaching and phosphorus losses. The soil, plant atmosphere model Daisy plays a central role in the environmental modelling and is the foundation of a number of on-going research projects.

The results of the environmental modelling are integrated in life cycle assessments of potential impacts in a wide range of different environmental impact categories. This allows assessments of the strategies and technologies by considering impacts from the entire life cycle including production and use