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The carbon footprint standard for China's nitrogen fertilizer industry has been launched

On May 29th, the reporter learned from the China Nitrogen Fertilizer Industry Association that the national standard "Quantitative Methods and Requirements for Carbon Footprint of Greenhouse Gas Products - Synthetic Ammonia/Urea", commissioned by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation and led by the association, has completed data research and draft writing, and has held a standard launch meeting. At present, the standard setting work is accelerating.

Background and Objectives
China is currently in a critical stage of transitioning from dual control of energy consumption to dual control of carbon emissions. As a key area of carbon emissions, the nitrogen fertilizer industry cannot ignore the carbon dioxide emissions from its synthetic ammonia and urea products. The unit product emission of synthetic ammonia produced from coal is 4.2 tons of carbon dioxide per ton, with an annual total emission of 234 million tons of carbon dioxide; The unit product emissions of urea (including raw material synthetic ammonia) are 2.91 tons of carbon dioxide per ton, with an annual total emissions of approximately 147 million tons of carbon dioxide.

The Importance of Standard Setting
Given that the steel, cement, and aluminum smelting industries will be included in the national carbon market coverage by 2025, the petrochemical and chemical industries will become the next research focus, and the synthetic ammonia and urea industries urgently need to accurately calculate the carbon emissions of the entire industry. Therefore, establishing relevant carbon footprint standards is particularly important. These standards provide detailed accounting methods and rules, providing scientific and unified norms and measurement standards for enterprise carbon accounting, carbon certification, and carbon labeling, and helping enterprises achieve low-carbon transformation.

It is reported that the Nitrogen Fertilizer Association referred to the relevant content of the published national standard GB/T 24067-2024 "Requirements and Guidelines for Quantifying the Carbon Footprint of Greenhouse Gas Products" in the process of formulating standards, and formed the main structure of this standard. This standard covers multiple key aspects such as standard scope, normative references, terminology and definitions, quantification purposes, and quantification scope, providing comprehensive guidance for carbon emission accounting in the synthetic ammonia and urea industries.