In the letter to the House of Representatives, Minister Van der Wal explains: “In the Netherlands we know about three hundred different housing systems with associated emission factors.” This is the so-called Ravcode list.
“In the incorrect data file, barns with modern emission-reducing techniques have been assigned a Ravcode that belongs to a less clean barn type,” the minister writes. “Because this often concerns barns with large numbers of animals, the effect of this deficiency for these barns is large. So great that it may mean that barns that do not actually have high emissions are still on the list.”
The ministry is working on an adjusted top 100 list of ammonia emitters. The minister expects to be able to supply this list within a week.
Minister Van der Wal will have to explain errors in a list this evening in a parliamentary debate. RIVM, the compiler of the list, has made a coding error, which means that the list is incorrect. The House of Representatives wants text and explanation from the minister.
Member of parliament Caroline van der Plas of the BoerBurgerBeweging says that “the RIVM’s emission lists have been tinkered with enormously”. She wants to know from the minister “how this could have happened”. Van der Plas also wonders how long this list has been around and whether the data “has had any consequences for policy”. She would prefer to see a letter before the outline debate to be held on Wednesday evening.
“I was also really surprised that there was such a serious mistake,” says Derk Boswijk of the CDA. Like many other MPs, he hopes that the minister can provide text and explanation in the debate. “Top 100 is top 100”, says GroenLinks MP Laura Bromet, who had requested the list. “Farmers will drop off the list, but new farmers will also be added.”