NOS
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 16:59
Thomas Spekschoor
news reporter
Sarah Bürmann
editor Domestic
Thomas Spekschoor
news reporter
Sarah Bürmann
editor Domestic
Current plans to buy out so-called peak loaders will reduce nitrogen precipitation in Dutch nature reserves by no more than 2.5 percent. This is evident from calculations made by nitrogen scientists at the request of NOS.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Safety says in a response that these types of figures are also used internally. Nothing has previously been said about the expected proceeds of the purchase scheme.
About 3,000 farms and about twenty industrial companies have been classified as peak loaders by the government. The farms will have until early next year to decide whether they want to stop their business in exchange for 120 percent of the company value. In total, almost one billion euros will be allocated for this. The companies that cause the most nitrogen deposition in Natura 2000 areas are eligible. In practice, these are companies that are close to these nature reserves or that emit a lot of nitrogen.
Yet the contribution of these peak loaders to the total nitrogen precipitation is very modest, says scientist Wim de Vries of Wageningen University. “Ultimately, there are only a few thousand peak loaders, while we have 50,000 farms in the Netherlands. And then we have hundreds of thousands of other companies. In addition, abroad come with many hundreds of thousands. So it’s about those peak loaders compared to hundreds of thousands of other sources. which together form a blanket of nitrogen.”
how is the calculation made?
The RIVM previously published an anonymized list of the 3,000 peak loaders. It also showed how many kilos of nitrogen from those companies are deposited in nature reserves. In total that is almost 350,000 kilos per year.
A total of around 3.5 million kilos of nitrogen is deposited in Dutch nature reserves every year. If all 3,000 peak loads were to stop completely, precipitation would decrease by about 10 percent, calculated Wim de Vries of Wageningen University. According to the RIVM, that order of magnitude is approximately correct. For comparison: to achieve the government’s goals, nitrogen precipitation would have to be reduced by about a third.
It is very unlikely that all 3,000 peak loaders will sign up for a buyout scheme and there is currently no budget for this. The ministry has approximately 1 billion euros available, which, according to an estimate, can buy out about 600 farmers. So far, almost 500 farmers have registered. The budget can still be increased if necessary.
Currently, an average of about 1,438 moles (the unit used for calculation) of nitrogen per hectare per year is deposited in Dutch nature reserves. According to the ministry, approximately 32 percent will be reduced after the buyout scheme if 600 farmers indeed participate, approximately 2.2 percent.
In a response, the government points out that buying out peak loaders is not the only way to reduce emissions. Peak loaders can also choose to move their company or reduce nitrogen emissions using new techniques. The aim of all these peak load regulations is to reduce nitrogen precipitation by about 8 percent.
The ministry believes it is too early to say whether that goal is still achievable. “Whether the rest of the ambition can be achieved with the various schemes is still difficult to say, as not all schemes are yet open and it is therefore not clear how much interest there will be in those schemes.” These schemes concern, for example, the subsidized relocation of farms or subsidized new techniques to filter nitrogen.
Not a dent in a pack of butter
De Vries expects that nature will hardly benefit from the peak load scheme. “This won’t make a dent in a pack of butter.” Especially because part of the nitrogen profit is used to issue building permits.
Major gains can only be achieved with a much broader approach, he says. “Then all farmers must make a contribution, including all industrial emitters.” There are plans for such an approach. The provinces would have to implement this to a large extent and the outgoing cabinet will pass on decisions about it to the next cabinet.
The RIVM is also calculating how much the peak load scheme will yield. This will provide a more precise picture than De Vries’ calculations, because the RIVM researchers have more data at their disposal. That research will probably only be published after the elections.
2023-10-05 14:59:07
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