Eyre Peninsula's Largest Selection of Rural Supplies

Farm Green House Gas Emmissions

Australia has committed to reducing its nations impact on greenhouse gas emissions by signing the COP21 Paris agreement, which is a legally binding treaty which requires all signatory nations to act on reducing Greenhouse gas emissions.

 

In an effort for the nation to meet this agreement, the federal government set our nation reduction targets of 43% by 2030 and net zero by 2050. These targets have increased our markets shift towards wanting transparency of our farms impact on greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Growers need to be aware that greenhouse gas emissions are not solely carbon dioxide but are three greenhouse gasses, being: carbon dioxide, methane (typically livestock emissions) and nitrous oxide (primarily from fertiliser use). Each gas has a different warming potential, as per the table below. These gasses are reported in carbon dioxide equivalent as a standardised unit of measurement.

 

As it stands 1 tonne of methane released into the atmosphere is expected to give the same effect as 28 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 1 tonne of nitrous oxide is equivalent to 265 tonne of carbon dioxide.

 

On the other hand, a single Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) is equivalent to 1 tonne of carbon dioxide. Therefore, to offset 1 tonne of nitrous oxide you would need to have 265 ACCU to be classified as net zero.

 

As it stands, the Australian agriculture industry accounts for around 14% of Australia’s total emissions. Of that 14%, 77% is due to methane, 19% is due to nitrous oxide and 4% is due to carbon dioxide.

 

To work out each farms total farm emissions, we structure the areas of the farm into three scopes and calculate the emission footprint for each. This is called an emissions profile.

 

Scope 1 is what is released within the farm boundaries. These are emissions that farmers have the most ability to change via practices and farm management. Accordingly, fertiliser use, methane release from animals, and crop residues/burning are all used in this calculation.

 

Scope 2 is the embedded emissions from energy and electricity usage. This number is typically small in comparison to the other scopes for most farming businesses and is of minimal impact to the overall emissions profile score. It is also an area where very little impact can be made to reduce the emissions number.

Scope 3 are emissions that are brought into the property from products that are purchased or used. As all goods purchased will bring with them a value of its emissions footprint (emissions intensity) this will need to be accounted for by the consumer.  This may influence buying and selling products in the future.

 

The sum of emissions from all three scopes reports the total emissions for your business, which is reported in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. This emissions value that is reported will be proportionate to the size of the farm business, hence the bigger the farm size the greater the total amount of emissions produced.

All businesses, not just farm businesses, will need to understand their emission profile. This allows generation of an emissions intensity for all goods traded amongst all businesses, which is imperative for many businesses to establish their scope 3 emissions value.

 

An emissions intensity is the sum of the business emissions profile divided by the total amount/yield of product. For farmers this would be total emissions divided by the total yield of grain, wool and meat produced (example below).

 

 

The emissions intensity may dictate market access or become a premium like oil and protein are currently. Those that produce grain with low emissions intensity may get more money or have their grain more sort after by buyers. Hypothetically, if grain produced from farmer A has a lower emissions intensity then farmer B, the grain buyer will likely choose to buy grain from famer A instead of B or pay farmer A more money as the buyer will have less emissions to offset. This may also have a play in finance rates and farmers ability to get loans moving forward, with more emphasis on farms reducing emissions with better machinery and farming practices.

 

When companies have promised to be net zero by certain dates, this means that they will need to find a way to either reduce their total emissions or to offset their emissions with ACCU’s. There is currently only planting of trees and carbon soil sequestration in the agricultural sector that will help with carbon credits.

The average amount of carbon credits produced by planting trees in South Australia is around 3 ACCU’s per hectare of trees. Thus, to offset a whole farm to become net zero would be nearly impossible to achieve in our environment. So, if you are planning to plant trees on your property do it for another beneficial purpose (shelter belts, reduce salt moving etc), rather than just the credits produced.

 

Soil carbon is the other option, this is highly variable and is generally tied to rainfall. In high rainfall environments there is higher soil carbon and lower rainfall is typically lower. It is highly variable and must be monitored over a 25-year period. If your carbon levels were to reduce, implications may be that instead of a credit for sequestering carbon you may have to pay for the reduction of carbon in the soil.

 

There is still a lot of “fine tuning” of the way in which the calculations of carbon emissions and carbon credits are calculated. It will be pivotal as we move closer to the 2030 reduction targets that businesses can accurately capture their emissions profile and in-turn understand what their emissions intensity is for their produce.

 

Once we understand our emissions profile and have a benchmark to work on, we will then be able to reduce our total emissions through good agronomic practices. Improving animal growth rates, increasing nitrogen use efficiencies and utilising variable rates to ensure that wastage doesn’t occur.

 

If you wish to discuss anything or need more information than please get onto the agronomy team. We are happy to facilitate the Emissions profile and to work closely with you to help determine how best to reduce or improve your carbon emissions intensity.

 

 

 

Be among the first to hear about future products, discounts, events and more!
Our Stores

Port Lincoln
74-76 Liverpool St, Port Lincoln SA 5606
Phone: 08 8682 2711
Email: [email protected]

 

Cummins
14 Railway Terrace, Cummins SA 5631
Phone: 08 8676 2003
Email: [email protected]

Customer Care

We’re here to help
Phone: 08 8682 2711
Email: [email protected]

 

Eyre Peninsula's largest farm supplies, livestock products, farm gates, fencing and more for farmers in Port Lincoln & Cummins SA

 

Firearms Dealers Licence #279523L