Nitrogen crisis puts a third of Dutch housing projects at stake

The nitrogen crisis in the Netherlands poses a significant threat to construction and agriculture, impacting over one-third of planned housing projects and requiring urgent environmental action. According to a report by the organization Bouwend Nederland, €138 billion of investments is at stake.

The analysis, handed in by the trade association to the government on Wednesday, details the impact of the current nitrogen crisis. More than 244,000 planned housing units are currently at immediate risk. AD has mapped out the situation, and four provinces–Drenthe, Gelderland, Overijssel, and Noord-Brabant—have completely halted construction permit applications. “If you cannot apply for a permit, you cannot do anything, but sometimes I wondered whether the urgency was still felt," stated Bouwend Nederland chairman Arno Visser.

The crisis extends beyond residential projects, threatening three-quarters of non-residential construction, including critical infrastructure like schools and hospitals. Stopping these projects would further exacerbate the country’s dire housing crisis.

What is the nitrogen crisis?

The Netherlands, facing Europe's highest nitrogen concentrations per hectare with levels surpassing 500 moles per hectare in 2021, urgently needs to address this crisis and reduce emissions. Most of these emissions are linked to livestock farming, which releases ammonia. Approximately 80% of ammonia emissions come from animal manure. The country has long been battling this pollution, harming the environment, human health, and biodiversity.

Legal pressures and government response

Recent legal developments have intensified the urgency for action. A landmark court ruling in The Hague, resulting from Greenpeace's lawsuit, has mandated the government to accelerate its nitrogen reduction efforts. The court imposed a €10 million penalty if 2030 targets are not met. The current cabinet's funding reduction from €24 billion to €5 billion has been criticized as a 'step back' in addressing the crisis. The target for 2030 requires 50% of vulnerable Natura 2000 areas to be free from nitrogen overload, up from the current 28%.

Therefore, also Bouwend Nederland is calling for action on the nitrogen crisis, tackling emissions. In addition, further investments in nature and biodiversity are expected.

This plasma-based technology slashes farms' nitrogen emissions

Nitrogen air concentrations are a concern in the Netherlands, with most of them coming from livestock farming. N2 Applied offers an innovative solution.

Technological solutions to the nitrogen crisis

Innovation offers a promising path forward, with research showing that implementing 62 different agricultural innovations could reduce ammonia emissions by up to 50%. One example is N2 Applied's plasma-powered technology, which transforms livestock manure into sustainable fertilizer using only air and electricity. Housed in a 20-foot container, this system can process manure from 100-150 cows and produce fertilizer that outperforms untreated slurry by up to 40%.

The construction sector is responding to these challenges through technological innovation. Netherlands organization for applied science research TNO has developed specialized calculation tools that model nitrogen, particulate matter, and CO₂ emissions throughout construction. These tools enable real-time monitoring of equipment emissions and allow stakeholders to assess the impact of design and material choices on nitrogen emissions.

As the impact of the nitrogen crisis has been made evident by numbers, Dick Schoof’s cabinet is called to act on the matter and enforce a viable strategy to invert the trend. This needs to be done policy-wise, but also facilitating the adoption of technologies that can help mitigate the nitrogen pollution.

Innovations could end nitrogen crisis - if The Hague invests substantially more

With feasible innovations and measures, the agricultural sector can reduce ammonia emissions by nearly half in the next five years.