Abstract
Increase in CO2 emissions induced by agricultural inputs in China since its socialist market economic reforms may hinder its sustainable economic development. More attention has been paid to changes in agricultural land use and overall land use benefit; however, relatively less attention has been paid to changes in CO2 emissions induced by agricultural inputs in China since the reforms. The carbon footprint (CF) variation for total agricultural production, the effects of different inputs on the total CF, and the changes in carbon intensity of the agricultural production system were analyzed using national level agrochemical and energy inputs data for the period 1991 to 2014. The total CF had a fluctuating upward trend, which was mainly affected by increases in nitrogen fertilizer input and energy consumption. The carbon intensity in production decreased, which indicated that the agricultural output value per unit of carbon cost gradually increased according to the market demands. However, the increase in agricultural output value per unit of carbon cost cannot outweigh the potential environmental risks induced by the increase in total carbon footprint per unit area of agricultural land. The improvements promoted by the related agricultural policies in China should aim to strike a balance between agricultural economy development and low carbon intensity in area.
Highlights
Human influence on the climate system is clear, and recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the highest in history [1]
In order to reduce CO2 emissions caused by production and consumption and develop a low carbon economy, carbon footprint (CF) assessment has been gradually approved and used by many industrial enterprises and areas [5,6,7]
The increase in the total carbon footprint for agricultural production over the study period was due to the influence of the initialization of socialist market economic reforms since the early 1990s and a series of ecological and supporting agricultural policies since 1999
Summary
Human influence on the climate system is clear, and recent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the highest in history [1]. Modern agriculture is more reliant on non-renewable resources, such as agrochemicals and fossil fuels. This has meant that global agriculture is regarded as one of the largest emitters of GHGs in the world [10]. Attempts to identify the potential risks associated with high carbon agriculture and ways of developing low carbon agricultural production systems have relied on quantifying the CF. Previous studies have investigated sustainable agricultural production, ways of reducing agricultural carbon emissions, and potential improvements to the environment by using CF assessments to develop new agricultural input plans, technologies, and management strategies [9,10,11,12]
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