Nitrogen pollution in the European Union – an economy-environment confrontation

The production and import of fertilizer have previously been identified as the major source of three separate European environmental problems related to nitrogen compounds. In order to obtain a picture of the changes in the anthropogenic nitrogen flows needed for a solution, the effectiveness of several more radical interventions is estimated using Substance Flow Analysis (SFA). A selection of rigorous technical measures is expected to reduce the atmospheric deposition of N compounds to a level that seems acceptable for the EU as a whole, and will reduce the anthropogenic input of N compounds into the North Sea well below the agreed level of 50% of the present load. The third problem, the pollution of groundwater with nitrates, would remain unsolved. Resolution of this last problem requires radical changes in the agricultural sector, reducing agricultural output substantially. Two directions are explored by assessing the impacts of the extremes: termination of industrial fertilizer use to combat the problems at the source, and abolition of the entire stock-breeding sector to increase agricultural efficiency radically. These changes do contribute to a solution of the groundwater problem, but imply either greater dependence on imported food, or a major change in food consumption patterns, from animal towards vegetable products. The current EU population and diet are incompatible with the absence of environmental problems. The question then arises, how does acceptance of the draconian measures required to solve such an environmental problem weigh up against acceptance of the fact of having to cope with contaminated groundwater?