A review of the current application of N 2O emission reduction in CDM projects

Abstract

The number of clean development mechanism (CDM) projects aimed at reducing N 2O emissions has increased in recent years. While N 2O reduction projects account for only 2.6% of all CDM projects, these N 2O reduction projects account for 13% of the total reduction of all greenhouse gases measured on a CO 2 equivalent basis under the CDM. China is the host nation for half of all N 2O CDM reduction projects while approximately 78% of the N 2O reduction technologies for these CDM projects come from Japan, the UK, and Switzerland. This paper consists of an investigation of the present status of and prospects for CDM projects to reduce N 2O emissions based on the data of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). N 2O reduction in CDM projects has been applied to production plants for such chemicals as nitric acid, adipic acid, and caprolactam. The technologies for N 2O reduction used in these CDM projects were thermal or catalytic decomposition and selective catalytic reduction with the selection of a specific reduction strategy dependent upon the underlying production process. This paper presents case studies which examine the application of specific N 2O reduction technologies that have been implemented under the CDM. The CDM market for N 2O reductions from the industrial sector is nearing saturation and therefore further growth will likely be dependent upon technological progress and the ability to deploy N 2O reduction technologies with combustion based stationary sources and mobile sources. A particular focus of technological development efforts should be cost effectiveness and development of technologies that can simultaneously reduce N 2O and NOx emissions.