TFRN activities

Launch of the N on the Table Report, in European Parliament

A report ‘N on the Table: The influence of food choices on nitrogen emissions and the European environment’ has been launched at the European Parliament today (12-1-16), in an event hosted by MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen. Mark Sutton of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and Henk Westhoek of the Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency, PBL attended the launch, and a response was given by Janez Potočnik, Co-Chair UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP).  The report is attached here and has been prepared by the Expert Panel on Nitrogen and Food of the Task Force. A link to the CEH press briefing can be found here. Presentations made at the launch can be downloaded as follows, Sutton, Westhoek, Potočnik.

Methane and Ammonia Air Pollution

During a recent meeting at the European Parliament on revision of the National Emissions Ceilings Directive, MEPs asked what is the relationship between mitigation of methane and ammonia emissions.  The attached Policy Brief on Methane and Ammonia Air Pollution has been prepared by the Task Force in response. Overall, measures to reduce these gases go hand-in-hand through links to sector activity. While some measures offer synergistic benefits, there is an ongoing need to optimize practices in order to minimize trade-offs between the two gases. These interactions highlight the opportunity to further develop synergies when including both ammonia and methane the revised NECD.

TFRN-10 Lisbon

The tenth meeting of TFRN was held in Lisbon, 29th and 30th April, please visit this link for further details. 

Options for Ammonia Abatement: Guidance from the UNECE Task Force on Reactive Nitrogen -  Russian Language Version Now Available

The Task Force (in collaboration with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) has recently printed a Russian language version of the updated Guidance Document on Control Techniques for Preventing and Abating Emissions of Ammonia which was adopted by the Executive Body in 2012. Copies were distributed at the 33rd Session of the Executive Body of the Convention in December and 300 copies have also been sent to Russia for further regional distribution. An electronic version can be downloaded here, if you would like a hardcopy, then please contact tfrn@ceh.ac.uk for further information.

TFRN Special Workshop: The Revised UNECE Framework Code on Ammonia Emissions  - 12th-13th Novembver, Edinburgh

A workshop on the revised UNECE Framework Code on Ammonia Emissions is being held in Edinburgh next month. The workshop is being supported by the European Commission and will provide a chance to discuss the current version of the draft code, before it is presented to the Executive Body of the Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution for hopeful adoption in December. A draft agenda can be downloaded here. The workshop is being administered for the Commission by the company 'Pracsis', there is no cost to attend the meeting, and there are limited funds for travel reimbursement from specific countries, i.e. EECCA and SEE. Please follow this link to registration.

Links to articles on Nitrogen issues or on the work of TFRN can be found at our new 'N in the News' page.

New report from Expert Panel on Nitrogen and Food

A new report from the Expert Panel on Nitrogen and Food, of the Task Force on Reactive Nitrogen, quantifies for the first time how much our food choices affect pollutant nitrogen emissions, climate change and land-use across Europe. 

The executive summary of the European Nitrogen Assessment Special Report on Nitrogen and Food, 'Nitrogen on the Table', was released on Friday 25 April 2014. The Special report provides an assessment of what would happen if Europe were to decrease its consumption of meat and dairy products.  It shows how much cutting down on meat and dairy in our diets would reduce nitrogen air and water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions, while freeing up large areas of farmland for other purposes such as food export or bioenergy.  It also considers the health benefits of reduced meat consumption. The full report is published next month.

Henk Westhoek and colleagues have already prepared a scientific paper giving some details of the analysis being published in the full report in May. Paper reference: Westhoek, H., et al., Food choices, health and environment: Effects of cutting Europe’s meat and dairy intake. Global Environ. Change (2014). The paper (and supplementary material) can be accessed here, or a copy can be obtained from Barnaby Smith (Media Relations Officer at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, bpgs@ceh.ac.uk).

Further links:

Leip A, Weiss F, Lesschen J P and Westhoek H 2013 The nitrogen footprint of food products in the European Union J. Agric. Sci. 1–14 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0021859613000786

Press release from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

Options for Ammonia Abatement: Guidance from the UNECE Task Force on Reactive Nitrogen

The Task Force (in collaboration with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) has recently printed a version of the updated Guidance Document on Control Techniques for Preventing and Abating Emissions of Ammonia which was adopted by the Executive Body in 2012. The volume has been titled 'Options for Ammonia Abatement: Guidance from the UNECE Task Force on Reactive Nitrogen'. An electronic version can be downloaded here, if you would like a hardcopy, then please contact tfrn@ceh.ac.uk for further information.

TFRN-9 Madrid: 25th-26th March

The TFRN-9 meeting and associated meetings was held in Madrid, Spain (24th-27th March). Please visit the TFRN-9 page for further information, including agendas, background documents and minutes.

International Agroenvironmental Forum, 21-23 May, 2013, in St-Petersburg, the Russian Federation

This event took place on the premises of North-West Research Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Electrification (SZNIIMESH) of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The forum is designed as un umbrella for three events: 8th International Scientific and Practical Conference “Ecology and Farming technologies: agro-engineering approaches”, 3-rd International conference of Nordic countries “Field Research for Sustainable Development of Rural Areas” and Round Table Discussion “Mitigation of Adverse Environmental Effect of Reactive Nitrogen in Farming” . 

8th meeting of the Task Force on Reactive Nitrogen (TFRN-8) 25th-26th April, Copenhagen

TFRN-8 was held jointly with a meeting of the Task Force on Integrated Assessment Modelling (TFIAM) and a workshop on Green Growth. The main TFRN meeting was held on the 25th-26th (lunchtime - lunchtime). Please visit here for more information and to access the presentations.

The 'Workshop on global nitrogen scenarios in the 21st century'

Took place on the 11th-12th October 2012 at IIASA/Laxenburg.

7th meeting of the Task Force Reactive Nitrogen (TFRN-7)

TFRN-7 and Expert Workshop 'Abating ammonia emissions in the UNECE and EECCA region in the context of the nitrogen cycle'

The TFRN-7 and associated meetings were held in late Feb/early Mar in St Petersburg, Russia. Links to the meetings, presentations and background documents can be found here. A link to the co-chairs report can be found here.

6th meeting of the Task Force Reactive Nitrogen (TFRN-6)

TFRN-6 was held in Rome, Italy, at ENEA on the 10th-12th May 2011please visit the TFRN-6 homepage for access to presentations and documents. 

The European Nitrogen Assessment

The European Nitrogen Assessment (in short ENA) was launched at the Nitrogen & Global Change event in Edinburgh on the 11th April, 2011. Watch a short video (on YouTube) and read more about the ENA on the website of the ESF-NinE programme.The BBC News have covered the ENA on television and in the Science & Environmentnews.

Edinburgh Declaration on Reactive Nitrogen

Edinburgh Declaration on Reactive Nitrogen emerging from the Nitrogen & Global Change event launched

5th meeting of the Task Force Reactive Nitrogen (TFRN-5)

TFRN-5 was held in Paris on the 25th-27th October 2010, along with a workshop on estimating costs of ammonia abatement. 

4th meeting of the Task Force Reactive Nitrogen (TFRN-4)

The fourth meeting of the Task Force Reactive Nitrogen was held in May 11-13, 2010 in Prague/CZ, please visit the Documents to access the meeting reports and background documents. 

3rd meeting of the Task Force Reactive Nitrogen (TFRN-3)

The third meeting of the Task Force Reactive Nitrogen has been held near Schipol airport, at the IBIS Hotel on the 24th-25th November 2009. Documents are available on the Documents page soon.

2nd meeting of the Task Force Reative Nitrogen (TFRN-2)

 This meeting took place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, 28th-29th April 2009.
Please visit the Documents page for more information and follow the links to TFRN-2 documents and presentations.

1st meeting of the Task Force Reative Nitrogen (TFRN-1)

The first meeting of TFRN took place on 21-23 May 2008 at the Wageningen International Conference Centre (WICC), the Netherlands. Presentations and documents from the meeting can be downloaded from the 'Documents' page. 

Official Documents

Official documents related to the establishment of the Task Force can be found at the 'Documents' page.

Contact

 You can contact the Co-Chairs of the Task Force by email at tfrn@ceh.ac.uk

You can return to the Convention’s web page for TFRN here (http://www.unece.org/env/lrtap/TaskForce/tfrn/welcome.htm).