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International audience ; Formerly on the margins of the European agricultural landscape, liquid biofuels for transport have recently come into sharp focus with the help of three drivers: the depletion of oil resources and the political motto of energy independence, international negotiations on climate, and finally - in Europe at least- the overhaul of the common agricultural policy underpinning the need tor diversify this sector. This political will has led to aggressive development targets in both Europe and the United States, implying a nearly ten-fold increase of biofuel production within 10 years. This article introduces the current biofuel production technologies (so-called 'first generation'), whose common marker is the reliance on the storage organs of agricultural plants. This implies a relatively strong demand in arable areas, along with only moderately positive energy and environmental advantages compared to fossil fuels. 'Second generation' biofuels, which are based on generic biomass (ligno-cellulose) are expected to overcome these limitations, but will not be deployed on the market for another ten years.

International audience ; Formerly on the margins of the European agricultural landscape, liquid biofuels for transport have recently come into sharp focus with the help of three drivers: the depletion of oil resources and the political motto of energy independence, international negotiations on climate, and finally - in Europe at least- the overhaul of the common agricultural policy underpinning the need tor diversify this sector. This political will has led to aggressive development targets in both Europe and the United States, implying a nearly ten-fold increase of biofuel production within 10 years. This article introduces the current biofuel production technologies (so-called 'first generation'), whose common marker is the reliance on the storage organs of agricultural plants. This implies a relatively strong demand in arable areas, along with only moderately positive energy and environmental advantages compared to fossil fuels. 'Second generation' biofuels, which are based on generic biomass (ligno-cellulose) are expected to overcome these limitations, but will not be deployed on the market for another ten years.

Dans un pays comme la France, la part de l'agriculture dans le pouvoir de réchauffement global est semblable à celles des autres secteurs d'activités tels que la production d'énergie, les transports, l'industrie ou le secteur résidentiel. Cette contribution porte surtout sur les émissions de protoxyde d'azote (N2O), liées principalement à l'usage de l'azote en agriculture, et de méthane, liées à la fermentation entérique des ruminants. De plus, même s'il n'est pas officiellement comptabilisé aujourd'hui, le dioxyde de carbone peut représenter localement une contribution importante, positive ou négative, à l'effet de serre. La production et les émissions de N2O par les sols résultent essentiellement de processus microbiens, la nitrification et la dénitrification, qui sont en grande partie contrôlés par les conditions physiques et chimiques du sol. Si l'on veut tenter de limiter les émissions de N2O, il est important de comprendre les mécanismes de production de N2O, de savoir comment elles sont contrôlées par les facteurs du milieu et comment les pratiques agricoles peuvent les modifier, voire pourraient les contrôler. Mais, au-delà de la compréhension des processus conduisant à ces émissions, il faut aussi considérer les émissions de N2O dans un contexte plus global que celui du profil de sol ou de la parcelle. En effet, ces émissions ne sont qu'un élément du bilan d'effet de serre de l'agriculture. Elles doivent être mises en regard des émissions/dépôts de CO2 et CH4, mais aussi de nombreux autres flux de composés à effet de serre dans lesquels l'agriculture intervient (particules, NH3 comme précurseur de particules, NO comme précurseur d'ozone). Il est également indispensable de dépasser l'échelle de la parcelle agricole et d'appréhender les flux de gaz à effet de serre (GES) à des niveaux d'organisation supérieurs, notamment le système de culture, l'exploitation agricole et le paysage, échelles auxquelles on peut prendre en compte de manière plus cohérente la chaîne de processus et de transferts conduisant aux émissions de GES, notamment de N2O. La forte variabilité spatiale et temporelle des émissions de GES est une difficulté majeure, mais peut aussi être une voie d'investigation, si on arrive à bien en comprendre ses déterminants. Les voies de réduction des émissions de GES en agriculture passent par une meilleure maitrise de la fertilisation azotée, par la recherche de voies novatrices de stockage ou de contrôle des émissions (par exemple, stockage du carbone, réduction de N2O en N2, influence des apports de matière organique) et par la mise au point et l'évaluation de systèmes de culture innovants. Il est également nécessaire de mettre en place de dispositifs d'observation coordonnés à moyen et long terme pour acquérir des références fiables et représentative de la variété des conditions agricoles. Il est également indispensable de resituer toutes ces actions possibles d'une part vis-à-vis du contexte économique et politique des activités agricoles, d'autre part vis-à-vis des autres problématiques (qualité de l'air et des eaux, biodiversité, pesticides, .) et politiques environnementales.

Dans un pays comme la France, la part de l'agriculture dans le pouvoir de réchauffement global est semblable à celles des autres secteurs d'activités tels que la production d'énergie, les transports, l'industrie ou le secteur résidentiel. Cette contribution porte surtout sur les émissions de protoxyde d'azote (N2O), liées principalement à l'usage de l'azote en agriculture, et de méthane, liées à la fermentation entérique des ruminants. De plus, même s'il n'est pas officiellement comptabilisé aujourd'hui, le dioxyde de carbone peut représenter localement une contribution importante, positive ou négative, à l'effet de serre. La production et les émissions de N2O par les sols résultent essentiellement de processus microbiens, la nitrification et la dénitrification, qui sont en grande partie contrôlés par les conditions physiques et chimiques du sol. Si l'on veut tenter de limiter les émissions de N2O, il est important de comprendre les mécanismes de production de N2O, de savoir comment elles sont contrôlées par les facteurs du milieu et comment les pratiques agricoles peuvent les modifier, voire pourraient les contrôler. Mais, au-delà de la compréhension des processus conduisant à ces émissions, il faut aussi considérer les émissions de N2O dans un contexte plus global que celui du profil de sol ou de la parcelle. En effet, ces émissions ne sont qu'un élément du bilan d'effet de serre de l'agriculture. Elles doivent être mises en regard des émissions/dépôts de CO2 et CH4, mais aussi de nombreux autres flux de composés à effet de serre dans lesquels l'agriculture intervient (particules, NH3 comme précurseur de particules, NO comme précurseur d'ozone). Il est également indispensable de dépasser l'échelle de la parcelle agricole et d'appréhender les flux de gaz à effet de serre (GES) à des niveaux d'organisation supérieurs, notamment le système de culture, l'exploitation agricole et le paysage, échelles auxquelles on peut prendre en compte de manière plus cohérente la chaîne de processus et de transferts conduisant aux émissions de GES, notamment de N2O. La forte variabilité spatiale et temporelle des émissions de GES est une difficulté majeure, mais peut aussi être une voie d'investigation, si on arrive à bien en comprendre ses déterminants. Les voies de réduction des émissions de GES en agriculture passent par une meilleure maitrise de la fertilisation azotée, par la recherche de voies novatrices de stockage ou de contrôle des émissions (par exemple, stockage du carbone, réduction de N2O en N2, influence des apports de matière organique) et par la mise au point et l'évaluation de systèmes de culture innovants. Il est également nécessaire de mettre en place de dispositifs d'observation coordonnés à moyen et long terme pour acquérir des références fiables et représentative de la variété des conditions agricoles. Il est également indispensable de resituer toutes ces actions possibles d'une part vis-à-vis du contexte économique et politique des activités agricoles, d'autre part vis-à-vis des autres problématiques (qualité de l'air et des eaux, biodiversité, pesticides, …) et politiques environnementales. ; In a country like France, the share of agriculture in the global warming potential is similar to those of other sectors such as energy production, transport, industry and the residential sector. This contribution focuses on emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), mainly related to the use of nitrogen in agriculture, and methane associated with enteric fermentation by ruminants. In addition, although not officially recognized today, carbon dioxide can contribute locally, positive or negative, to the greenhouse effect. Production and N2O emissions from soils result mainly from microbial processes, nitrification and denitrification, which are largely controlled by physical and chemical conditions of the soil. If we want to try to limit emissions of N2O, it is important to understand the mechanisms of production of N2O, how they are controlled by environmental factors and how farming practices can modify or even could control them. But beyond understanding the processes leading to these emissions, we must also consider the emission of N2O in a broader context than that of the soil profile or parcel. Indeed, these emissions are only part of the balance sheet of greenhouse agriculture. They must be checked against emission / deposition of CO2 and CH4, but also many other streams of compounds greenhouse in which agriculture operates (particles, such as NH3 precursor particles, NO as a precursor of ozone). It is also essential to go beyond the scale of the agricultural parcel and to understand the flow of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with higher levels of organization, including the cropping system, farm and landscape, scales at which we can consider a more consistent process chain and transportation leading to GHG emissions, including N2O. The high spatial and temporal variability of GHG emissions is a major problem, but can also be a means of investigation, if we can fully understand its determinants. Ways to reduce GHG emissions in agriculture pass through a better control of nitrogen fertilization, the search for innovative ways of storage or emission control (eg, carbon storage, reduction of N2O to N2, the influence of contributions organic matter) and the development and evaluation of innovative cropping systems. It is also necessary to develop devices coordinated observation medium and long term to develop reliable references and representative of the variety of agricultural conditions. It is also essential to situate these possible actions on the one hand vis-à-vis the political and economic context of farming, on the other hand vis-à-vis other issues (air quality and water biodiversity, pesticides.) and environmental policies.

The potential of first generation biofuels to mitigate climate change is still largely debated in the scientific and policy-making arenas. It is currently assessed through life cycle assessment (LCA), a method for accounting for the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a given product from "cradle-to-grave", which is widely used to aid decision making on environmental issues. Although LCA is standardized, its application to biofuels leads to inconclusive results often fraught by a high variability and uncertainty. This is due to differences in quantifying the environmental impacts of feedstock production, and the difficulties encountered when considering land use changes (LUC) effects. The occurrence of LUC mechanisms is in part the consequence of policies supporting the use of biofuels in the transport sector, which implicitly increases the competition between various possible uses of land worldwide. Here, we review the methodologies recently put forward to include LUC effects in LCAs, and examples from the US, Europe and France. These cross analysis show that LCA needs to be adapted and combined to other tools such as economic modeling in order to provide a more reliable assessment of the biofuels chains. ; Importance du changement d'affectation des sols dans les bilans environnementaux des biocarburants. La contribution potentielle des biocarburants de première génération à l'atténuation des changements climatiques est largement débattue dans les arènes scientifique et politique. Ce potentiel est souvent évalué par l'analyse en cycle de vie (ACV), méthode permettant de comptabiliser les émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES) "du berceau à la tombe" d'un produit, et qui est largement utilisée pour l'aide à la décision en matière environnementale. Cependant, l'utilisation de l'ACV pour évaluer la performance environnementale des biocarburants conduit à des résultats peu concluants et marqués par une grande variabilité et incertitude. Ceci est principalement dû aux différences dans la quantification des impacts environnementaux liés à la production des matières premières, ainsi qu'aux difficultés rencontrées lorsque les effets des changements d'affectation des sols (CAS) sont pris en compte. Le déclenchement des mécanismes de CAS est en partie la conséquence des politiques encourageant le déploiement à grande échelle des biocarburants dans le secteur des transports, ce qui accroît implicitement la concurrence entre les différentes utilisations possibles des terres à l'échelle de la planète. Dans cette étude, nous passons en revue les différentes méthodes récemment utilisées pour inclure les effets des CAS, avec des exemples de résultats extraits d'études américaines, européennes et françaises. Ces analyses croisées montrent que l'ACV doit être adaptée et combinée à d'autres méthodes d'évaluation telles que la modélisation économique afin de fournir une évaluation plus fiable des filières biocarburants

In the face of the current push for liquid biofuels worldwide, the design of policies compatible with sustainable development requires a careful and comprehensive analysis of their respective benefits and drawbacks. The environmental impacts of biofuels are usually quantified with life-cycle assessment (LCA), which provides indicators for a suitable range of impacts but leaves their prioritization up to decision-makers. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) may be used to aggregate these impacts through an economic valuation of positive and negative effects on the environment. Here, we propose a simplified and ad hoc framework to combine LCA with CBA based on different valuations found in the literature, and apply it to a case-study comparing first-and second-generation biofuels in the Picardy region (northern France). The results were compared to 2 other methods already used to monetize externalities: the Eco-Cost method, and a method developed as part of the European Nitrogen Assessment. In terms of LCA, 2G bioethanol from miscanthus emitted 30 to 90% less pollutants than its 1G counterpart from sugar-beet, due to its lower requirements in agricultural inputs. This was directly reflected in the ad hoc CBA results, with a 3 to 6-fold decrease between the external costs of sugar-beet and miscanthus ethanol for the 4 impact categories monetized. There was a large variation between the valuation methods, which varied within an order of magnitude. For instance, the eutrophication costs associated with sugar-beet ethanol varied from 4 10-4to 4 10-3€/MJ of biofuel. Compared to fossil fuels, miscanthus-based ethanol incurred an overall net positive externality of 0.1€/MJ of biofuel, which is on a par with the tax exemption level put in place by the French government for 2ndgeneration biofuels.

In the face of the current push for liquid biofuels worldwide, the design of policies compatible with sustainable development requires a careful and comprehensive analysis of their respective benefits and drawbacks. The environmental impacts of biofuels are usually quantified with life-cycle assessment (LCA), which provides indicators for a suitable range of impacts but leaves their prioritization up to decision-makers. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) may be used to aggregate these impacts through an economic valuation of positive and negative effects on the environment. Here, we propose a simplified and ad hoc framework to combine LCA with CBA based on different valuations found in the literature, and apply it to a case-study comparing first-and second-generation biofuels in the Picardy region (northern France). The results were compared to 2 other methods already used to monetize externalities: the Eco-Cost method, and a method developed as part of the European Nitrogen Assessment. In terms of LCA, 2G bioethanol from miscanthus emitted 30 to 90% less pollutants than its 1G counterpart from sugar-beet, due to its lower requirements in agricultural inputs. This was directly reflected in the ad hoc CBA results, with a 3 to 6-fold decrease between the external costs of sugar-beet and miscanthus ethanol for the 4 impact categories monetized. There was a large variation between the valuation methods, which varied within an order of magnitude. For instance, the eutrophication costs associated with sugar-beet ethanol varied from 4 10-4to 4 10-3€/MJ of biofuel. Compared to fossil fuels, miscanthus-based ethanol incurred an overall net positive externality of 0.1€/MJ of biofuel, which is on a par with the tax exemption level put in place by the French government for 2ndgeneration biofuels.

Biofuels are fuels produced from biomass, mostly in liquid form, within a time frame sufficiently short to consider that their feedstock (biomass) can be renewed, contrarily to fossil fuels. This paper reviews the current and future biofuel technologies, and their development impacts (including on the climate) within given policy and economic frameworks. Current technologies make it possible to provide first generation biodiesel, ethanol or biogas to the transport sector to be blended with fossil fuels. Still under-development 2nd generation biofuels from lignocellulose should be available on the market by 2020. Research is active on the improvement of their conversion efficiency. A ten-fold increase compared with current cost-effective capacities would make them highly competitive. Within bioenergy policies, emphasis has been put on biofuels for transportation as this sector is fast-growing and represents a major source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Compared with fossil fuels, biofuel combustion can emit less greenhouse gases throughout their life cycle, considering that part of the emitted returns to the atmosphere where it was fixed from by photosynthesis in the first place. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is commonly used to assess the potential environmental impacts of biofuel chains, notably the impact on global warming. This tool, whose holistic nature is fundamental to avoid pollution trade-offs, is a standardised methodology that should make comparisons between biofuel and fossil fuel chains objective and thorough. However, it is a complex and time-consuming process, which requires lots of data, and whose methodology is still lacking harmonisation. Hence the life-cycle performances of biofuel chains vary widely in the literature. Furthermore, LCA is a site- and time- independent tool that cannot take into account the spatial and temporal dimensions of emissions, and can hardly serve as a decision-making tool either at local or regional levels. Focusing on greenhouse gases, emission factors used in LCAs give a rough estimate of the potential average emissions on a national level. However, they do not take into account the types of crop, soil or management practices, for instance. Modelling the impact of local factors on the determinism of greenhouse gas emissions can provide better estimates for LCA on the local level, which would be the relevant scale and degree of reliability for decision-making purposes. Nevertheless, a deeper understanding of the processes involved, most notably emissions, is still needed to definitely improve the accuracy of LCA. Perennial crops are a promising option for biofuels, due to their rapid and efficient use of nitrogen, and their limited farming operations. However, the main overall limiting factor to biofuel development will ultimately be land availability. Given the available land areas, population growth rate and consumption behaviours, it would be possible to reach by 2030 a global 10% biofuel share in the transport sector, contributing to lower global greenhouse gas emissions by up to (IEA, 2006), provided that harmonised policies ensure that sustainability criteria for the production systems are respected worldwide. Furthermore, policies should also be more integrative across sectors, so that changes in energy efficiency, the automotive sector and global consumption patterns converge towards drastic reduction of the pressure on resources. Indeed, neither biofuels nor other energy source or carriers are likely to mitigate the impacts of anthropogenic pressure on resources in a range that would compensate for this pressure growth. Hence, the first step is to reduce this pressure by starting from the variable that drives it up, i.e. anthropic consumptions.

International audience ; Biofuels are fuels produced from biomass, mostly in liquid form, within a time frame sufficiently short to consider that their feedstock (biomass) can be renewed, contrarily to fossil fuels. This paper reviews the current and future biofuel technologies, and their development impacts (including on the climate) within given policy and economic frameworks. Current technologies make it possible to provide first generation biodiesel, ethanol or biogas to the transport sector to be blended with fossil fuels. Still under-development 2nd generation biofuels from lignocellulose should be available on the market by 2020. Research is active on the improvement of their conversion efficiency. A ten-fold increase compared with current cost-effective capacities would make them highly competitive. Within bioenergy policies, emphasis has been put on biofuels for transportation as this sector is fast-growing and represents a major source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Compared with fossil fuels, biofuel combustion can emit less greenhouse gases throughout their life cycle, considering that part of the emitted CO2 returns to the atmosphere where it was fixed from by photosynthesis in the first place. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is commonly used to assess the potential environmental impacts of biofuel chains, notably the impact on global warming. This tool, whose holistic nature is fundamental to avoid pollution trade-offs, is a standardised methodology that should make comparisons between biofuel and fossil fuel chains objective and thorough. However, it is a complex and time-consuming process, which requires lots of data, and whose methodology is still lacking harmonisation. Hence the life-cycle performances of biofuel chains vary widely in the literature. Furthermore, LCA is a site- and timeindependent tool that cannot take into account the spatial and temporal dimensions of emissions, and can hardly serve as a decision-making tool either at local or regional levels. Focusing on greenhouse ...

International audience ; Biofuels are fuels produced from biomass, mostly in liquid form, within a time frame sufficiently short to consider that their feedstock (biomass) can be renewed, contrarily to fossil fuels. This paper reviews the current and future biofuel technologies, and their development impacts (including on the climate) within given policy and economic frameworks. Current technologies make it possible to provide first generation biodiesel, ethanol or biogas to the transport sector to be blended with fossil fuels. Still under-development 2nd generation biofuels from lignocellulose should be available on the market by 2020. Research is active on the improvement of their conversion efficiency. A ten-fold increase compared with current cost-effective capacities would make them highly competitive. Within bioenergy policies, emphasis has been put on biofuels for transportation as this sector is fast-growing and represents a major source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Compared with fossil fuels, biofuel combustion can emit less greenhouse gases throughout their life cycle, considering that part of the emitted CO2 returns to the atmosphere where it was fixed from by photosynthesis in the first place. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is commonly used to assess the potential environmental impacts of biofuel chains, notably the impact on global warming. This tool, whose holistic nature is fundamental to avoid pollution trade-offs, is a standardised methodology that should make comparisons between biofuel and fossil fuel chains objective and thorough. However, it is a complex and time-consuming process, which requires lots of data, and whose methodology is still lacking harmonisation. Hence the life-cycle performances of biofuel chains vary widely in the literature. Furthermore, LCA is a site- and timeindependent tool that cannot take into account the spatial and temporal dimensions of emissions, and can hardly serve as a decision-making tool either at local or regional levels. Focusing on greenhouse ...

International audience ; Biofuels are fuels produced from biomass, mostly in liquid form, within a time frame sufficiently short to consider that their feedstock (biomass) can be renewed, contrarily to fossil fuels. This paper reviews the current and future biofuel technologies, and their development impacts (including on the climate) within given policy and economic frameworks. Current technologies make it possible to provide first generation biodiesel, ethanol or biogas to the transport sector to be blended with fossil fuels. Still under-development 2nd generation biofuels from lignocellulose should be available on the market by 2020. Research is active on the improvement of their conversion efficiency. A ten-fold increase compared with current cost-effective capacities would make them highly competitive. Within bioenergy policies, emphasis has been put on biofuels for transportation as this sector is fast-growing and represents a major source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Compared with fossil fuels, biofuel combustion can emit less greenhouse gases throughout their life cycle, considering that part of the emitted CO2 returns to the atmosphere where it was fixed from by photosynthesis in the first place. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is commonly used to assess the potential environmental impacts of biofuel chains, notably the impact on global warming. This tool, whose holistic nature is fundamental to avoid pollution trade-offs, is a standardised methodology that should make comparisons between biofuel and fossil fuel chains objective and thorough. However, it is a complex and time-consuming process, which requires lots of data, and whose methodology is still lacking harmonisation. Hence the life-cycle performances of biofuel chains vary widely in the literature. Furthermore, LCA is a site- and timeindependent tool that cannot take into account the spatial and temporal dimensions of emissions, and can hardly serve as a decision-making tool either at local or regional levels. Focusing on greenhouse ...

International audience ; Biofuels are fuels produced from biomass, mostly in liquid form, within a time frame sufficiently short to consider that their feedstock (biomass) can be renewed, contrarily to fossil fuels. This paper reviews the current and future biofuel technologies, and their development impacts (including on the climate) within given policy and economic frameworks. Current technologies make it possible to provide first generation biodiesel, ethanol or biogas to the transport sector to be blended with fossil fuels. Still under-development 2nd generation biofuels from lignocellulose should be available on the market by 2020. Research is active on the improvement of their conversion efficiency. A ten-fold increase compared with current cost-effective capacities would make them highly competitive. Within bioenergy policies, emphasis has been put on biofuels for transportation as this sector is fast-growing and represents a major source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Compared with fossil fuels, biofuel combustion can emit less greenhouse gases throughout their life cycle, considering that part of the emitted CO2 returns to the atmosphere where it was fixed from by photosynthesis in the first place. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is commonly used to assess the potential environmental impacts of biofuel chains, notably the impact on global warming. This tool, whose holistic nature is fundamental to avoid pollution trade-offs, is a standardised methodology that should make comparisons between biofuel and fossil fuel chains objective and thorough. However, it is a complex and time-consuming process, which requires lots of data, and whose methodology is still lacking harmonisation. Hence the life-cycle performances of biofuel chains vary widely in the literature. Furthermore, LCA is a site- and timeindependent tool that cannot take into account the spatial and temporal dimensions of emissions, and can hardly serve as a decision-making tool either at local or regional levels. Focusing on greenhouse ...

INTRODUCTIONMitigating future climate changes, likely to result in increasing damages from droughts, tornados, typhoons or extreme precipitation events warrants a detailed knowledge of the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) originating from various economic sectors. Assessing the contribution of agriculture to climate change is one of the key questions that environmental scientists have to address in order to identify possible measures to reduce the burden of agriculture on global warming. Solutions to reduce these emissions exist but are less well quantified than in other sectors due to the large variability of GHG exchanges over time and space. Building on its 20 years of experience in quantifying and predicting biosphere‐atmosphere exchanges of GHGs, the ECOSYS research unit (INRA and AgroParisTech) is now able to propose a commercial offer for the environmental assessment of agricultural systems, directed at academic research, agricultural extension services, agro‐chemical companies or government agencies overseeing agriculture and environmental management. Applications of the novel platform of INRA Transfer at ECOSYS include the evaluation of, among others: (a) the GHG balance of agricultural practices (b) the potential solutions for reducing GHG emissions (c) the potential emissions from chemical or organic fertilizers and their dynamics. This paper details the types of measurements and monitoring that this platform can deliver, and showcases some of the results obtained in past programmes, and their use for evaluation and decision‐making processes.

INTRODUCTIONMitigating future climate changes, likely to result in increasing damages from droughts, tornados, typhoons or extreme precipitation events warrants a detailed knowledge of the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) originating from various economic sectors. Assessing the contribution of agriculture to climate change is one of the key questions that environmental scientists have to address in order to identify possible measures to reduce the burden of agriculture on global warming. Solutions to reduce these emissions exist but are less well quantified than in other sectors due to the large variability of GHG exchanges over time and space. Building on its 20 years of experience in quantifying and predicting biosphere‐atmosphere exchanges of GHGs, the ECOSYS research unit (INRA and AgroParisTech) is now able to propose a commercial offer for the environmental assessment of agricultural systems, directed at academic research, agricultural extension services, agro‐chemical companies or government agencies overseeing agriculture and environmental management. Applications of the novel platform of INRA Transfer at ECOSYS include the evaluation of, among others: (a) the GHG balance of agricultural practices (b) the potential solutions for reducing GHG emissions (c) the potential emissions from chemical or organic fertilizers and their dynamics. This paper details the types of measurements and monitoring that this platform can deliver, and showcases some of the results obtained in past programmes, and their use for evaluation and decision‐making processes.

INTRODUCTIONMitigating future climate changes, likely to result in increasing damages from droughts, tornados, typhoons or extreme precipitation events warrants a detailed knowledge of the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) originating from various economic sectors. Assessing the contribution of agriculture to climate change is one of the key questions that environmental scientists have to address in order to identify possible measures to reduce the burden of agriculture on global warming. Solutions to reduce these emissions exist but are less well quantified than in other sectors due to the large variability of GHG exchanges over time and space. Building on its 20 years of experience in quantifying and predicting biosphere‐atmosphere exchanges of GHGs, the ECOSYS research unit (INRA and AgroParisTech) is now able to propose a commercial offer for the environmental assessment of agricultural systems, directed at academic research, agricultural extension services, agro‐chemical companies or government agencies overseeing agriculture and environmental management. Applications of the novel platform of INRA Transfer at ECOSYS include the evaluation of, among others: (a) the GHG balance of agricultural practices (b) the potential solutions for reducing GHG emissions (c) the potential emissions from chemical or organic fertilizers and their dynamics. This paper details the types of measurements and monitoring that this platform can deliver, and showcases some of the results obtained in past programmes, and their use for evaluation and decision‐making processes.