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Abstract
Non-point source pollution is notoriously difficult to assess. A relevant example is ammonia emissions
in the Netherlands. Since the mid 1980s the Dutch government has sought to reduce emissions through
a wide variety of measures, the effect of which in turn is monitored using modeling techniques.
This paper presents the current generation of mineral emission models from agriculture based on
micro-simulation of farms in combination with a spatial equilibrium model for the dispersion of
manure from excess regions with high livestock intensities within the country to areas with low
livestock intensities. The micro-simulation approach retains the richness in the heterogeneity of farm
household decision making that are the core cause of the difficulty of assessing non-point source
pollution, while using the best available data to track corresponding pollution.
Examples are provided that illustrate the strengths of the modeling framework for both pollution
monitoring and environmental policy scenario analyses.