CBAM_UNKNOWN_ORIGINOpen licence

Mineral or chemical fertilisers containing the two fertilising elements nitrogen and potassium, or one principal fertilising substance only, incl. mixtures of animal or vegetable fertilisers with chemical or mineral fertilisers, containing > 10 % nitrogen by weight (excl. in tablets or similar forms, or in packages with a gross weight of <= 10 kg)

1.96kgCO₂e/kgGWP: AR5 (as published)

Published by European Commission (DG TAXUD) — Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism in European Commission (DG TAXUD) — Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism 2026/1740 (DVs v2026-08-06) (Any year); last verified 2026-08-28.

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About this factor

Included processes

3.1. Cross-sectoral rules Specific embedded emissions shall be calculated as the emissions of the production process and, for complex goods, the embedded emissions of the precursors to produce the functional unit of the good during the reporting period. The system boundaries are defined per aggregated goods categories and cover the direct emissions, the indirect emissions from electricity consumption where relevant under Regulation (EU) 2023/956, emitted by all processes directly or indirectly linked to the production processes, and the embedded emissions of precursors, independently of whether these precursors are produced in the installation or acquired from a different installation. In addition to these general rules, the specific details of each aggregated goods category are set out in points 3.2 to 3.19. Any CBAM goods produced by means of a production route not listed in points 3.2 to 3.19 is subject to the cross-sectoral rules described in this point, and to the sector-specific rules if the production route is a combination of the production routes listed in in points 3.2 to 3.19. The purchase and maintenance of infrastructure and equipment are excluded from the system boundaries. When the production process of complex goods listed in Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2023/956 includes one or more precursors not listed in that Annex, the indirect emissions of those precursors will be included in the calculation of the embedded emissions of the complex goods. When the production process of complex goods not listed in that Annex includes one or more precursors listed in that Annex, the indirect emissions of these precursors will not be included in the calculation of the embedded emissions of the complex goods. 3.10. Mixed fertilisers 3.10.1. Special provisions This point applies to the production of all kinds of nitrogen containing fertilisers, including ammonium nitrate, calcium ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulphate, ammonium phosphates, urea ammonium nitrate solutions, as well as nitrogen-phosphorus (NP), nitrogen-potassium (NK) and nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK) fertilisers. All kinds of operations are included such as mixing, neutralisation, granulation, prilling, irrespective of whether only physical mixing or chemical reactions take place. The amounts of different nitrogen compounds contained in the final product shall be recorded in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 2 ) : — content of N as ammonium (NH 4 + ); — content of N as nitrate (NO 3 – ); — content of N as Urea; — content of N in other (organic) forms. 3.10.2. System boundary For mixed fertilisers, direct emissions monitoring shall encompass: — all processes directly or indirectly linked to the production processes, such as driers and for heating input materials, and from flue gas cleaning.

Applicability

Default value for a precursor whose country of production cannot be identified: the HIGHEST total embedded-emissions default across the priced origins. It is a deliberate worst case, not an average, and it is not attributable to any particular country. This is a regulatory default value published for CBAM compliance, not a measured or modelled life-cycle result: it is set deliberately conservatively, a legislated mark-up raises it further over the 2026-2028 phase-in, and its gas coverage is narrower than a GHG inventory — carbon dioxide always, nitrous oxide for nitric acid and mixed fertilisers only, perfluorocarbons for aluminium only, and methane never. It is not comparable with a GHG-Protocol cradle-to-gate factor.

Values by year and methodology

Any year1.96▣headline

Cite this factor

open-climate.ai (n.d.). Mineral or chemical fertilisers containing the two fertilising elements nitrogen and potassium, or one principal fertilising substance only, incl. mixtures of animal or vegetable fertilisers with chemical or mineral fertilisers, containing > 10 % nitrogen by weight (excl. in tablets or similar forms, or in packages with a gross weight of <= 10 kg) [emission factor]. European Commission (DG TAXUD) — Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, European Commission (DG TAXUD) — Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism 2026/1740 (DVs v2026-08-06). Dataset 2026-08-28. https://open-climate.ai/factors/ef-cbam-mineral_or_chemical-cbam_unknown_origin-kg-cbam_embedded-2bdc6efc/