Optimizing yield, preserving the environment

Nitrate-based fertilizers – such as ammonium nitrate, calcium ammonium nitrate and nitrate based NPK compounds – are pure nutrients offering the required precision, efficiency and reliability to meet the agronomic and environmental imperatives of sustainable agriculture.

Yara nitrate-based fertilizers have a low carbon footprint and are the natural choice for farmers who want crops, not CO₂.

Urea or AN?

During production, nitrate-based fertilizers emit more CO₂ than urea. However, during the application stage, the situation is inversed, as urea releases the CO₂ stored in the molecule during production. In addition, more N₂O is emitted from urea by the nitrification process.

The overall carbon footprint for nitrate-based fertilizers is thus lower than for urea. UAN, a mix of urea and AN, has an intermediate carbon footprint. If volatilization losses are compensated by higher dosage (in general +10% for UAN and +15% for urea), the differences are even more marked.