Chen Binhui, Zhang Xiuming, Gu Baojing
State Key Laboratory of Soil Pollution Control and Safety, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Nat Commun. 2025 May 23;16(1):4804. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-60098-5.
Nitrogen holds a crucial place in sustaining the food-energy-water (FEW) nexus, which underpins human society. Its importance spans food production, energy generation, and water quality preservation. Here we show that comprehensive nitrogen management strategies offer the dual benefits of satisfying China's food requirements and boosting nitrogen energy production from straw by 1 million tonnes (26%) compared to 2020. Simultaneously, these strategies could lead to a reduction of 8 million tonnes (-31%) in nitrogen fertilizer usage, a decrease of 3.8 million tonnes (-46%) in nitrogen-induced water pollution, and a halving of water consumption in agriculture, all relative to 2020 levels. These transformative changes within the FEW nexus could result in national societal gains of around US$140 billion, against a net investment of just US$8 billion. This highlights the cost-effectiveness of such strategies and their potential to support China's sustainable development goals, especially in hunger relief, clean energy, and aquatic ecosystem protection.
氮在维持支撑人类社会的食物 - 能源 - 水（FEW）关系中占据关键地位。其重要性涵盖粮食生产、能源生成以及水质保护。我们在此表明，全面的氮管理策略具有双重益处：既能满足中国的粮食需求，又能使秸秆氮能源产量相比2020年提高100万吨（增长26%）。与此同时，这些策略可使氮肥使用量减少800万吨（降低31%），氮引发的水污染减少380万吨（降低46%），农业用水量减半，所有这些均相对于2020年的水平。FEW关系中的这些变革性变化可能带来约1400亿美元的国家社会收益，而净投资仅为80亿美元。这凸显了此类策略的成本效益及其支持中国可持续发展目标的潜力，特别是在缓解饥饿、清洁能源和保护水生生态系统方面。
