REVIEW article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Soil Processes
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1592151
This article is part of the Research TopicRegenerative Agriculture for Soil Health, Greenhouse Gas Mitigation, and Climate ActionView all 10 articles
Research Progress on Fertilizer Carbon Emissions: A Bibliometric Analysis (2008-2024)
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shandong University, Weihai, Weihai, Shandong, China
- 2Stanley Agricultural Group Co. Ltd., linyi, China
- 3Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
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Fertilizers are a major source of agricultural carbon emissions, yet fertilizer carbon emissions (FCE) research remains fragmented and lacks systematic overview, despite its importance for climate mitigation. This paper selects 2494 related literature in the Web of Science from 2008 to 2024. It reveals the research hotspots and development trends in the field of FCE based on CiteSpace. The results show that: (1) The number of published papers in this field has shown an exponential upward trend, which can be divided into three stages: the infancy stage, the steady development stage, and the rapid growth stage of research. (2) China and the United States emerge as dominant contributors, reflecting their dual roles as major emitters and key drivers of scientific innovation. While high-yield authors form tight collaboration clusters, overall author cooperation remains limited, suggesting the need for greater cross-institutional and interdisciplinary synergy.(3) Co-citation and keyword analyses indicate that the dominant research hotspots include nitrous oxide emissions, fertilizer types, soil carbon cycles, and life-cycle carbon footprint assessment. Cluster and burst analyses reveal a growing emphasis on precision agriculture, emission reduction strategies, and sustainable soil management. This study outlines the trajectory and key areas of focus in FCE research, providing theoretical and methodological support for advancing regenerative agriculture and achieving a low-carbon agricultural transformation. The findings provide a valuable reference for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners seeking to enhance emission reduction strategies and promote sustainable land use globally.
Keywords: fertilizer carbon emissions, Research progress, Knowledge mapping, research theme evolution, international comparison
Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Wang, Cui, Song, Zhou, Wu, Zeng, Liu and Wan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Guangxue Wan, Shandong University, Weihai, Weihai, 264200, Shandong, China
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