http://m.farmersguardian.com/49734.article?mobilesite=enabled
HILL and upland farms in Scotland are not being given the credit they deserve for the substantial role they play in improving the environment through the removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.This is according to Dr Jimmy Hyslop, SAC beef specialist, speaking at the launch of Quality Meat Scotland’s (QMS) latest research and development report.He said while the role of sheep and cattle as sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, principally methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), is high profile, the environmental benefit many farms deliver through carbon sequestration is not generally appreciated.He said calculations which do not consider the role of grassland in sequestration (capturing and storing carbon) ignore a huge part of the pollution equation.“At a farm scale level, several carbon footprint calculators are now available to estimate the tonnes of CO2 equivalents produced for each enterprise. The results are usually expressed per tonne of beef or lamb produced,” said Dr Hyslop.“However, while there is general acceptance grassland does sequester carbon, no assessment of this is currently undertaken because no accepted mechanisms exist to achieve this in practical circumstances on farms.Further research“The next step is for further research to develop methods to calculate the carbon sequestration potential of land, which will deliver at a practical farm implementation level.”While there are some techniques around to look at this challenge, these are very much at an early stage, said Dr Hyslop. Meanwhile, the livestock industry is being asked more and more, by processors and retailers, to provide information to be used to calculate the carbon footprint of their farms.“In Scotland we have a lot of hill ground with low stocking rates which doesn’t emit much CO2 equivalent per hectare and vast areas of grassland sequestering carbon.“We can’t say with certainty these unimproved or semi-improved areas are sequestering an amount of carbon which would offset the equivalent being generated by beef and lamb production on these farms because we don’t have the technology to prove it, however, it probably is the case.”The latest QMS-funded res-earch project, led by Dr Hyslop, showed extensive farms with low stocking rates, less than 0.5 livestock units/hectare (0.2/acre), have low outputs of GHGs and therefore have a low requirement for carbon sequestration (less than 0.4t/ha or 0.1t/acre) from their own livestock production.However, these farms in particular, also have large areas of grassland with the potential to sequester carbon, added Dr Hyslop.Accepted“The methodology rem-ains to be tested and the figure for carbon sequestration potential identified in a recent European project remains to be validated. However, it is widely accepted soils growing Scotland’s grassland may be capable of sequestering at least a substantial part of its livestock-based CO2 equivalent emissions.“Further research work to establish these recent developments in carbon sequestration methodology is required. This is particularly in the area of actual carbon sequestration potential of individual grassland sites, to provide reliable predictors of this under practical farming conditions.”The QMS carbon projectData and background information on suckler beef and sheep was collected from 21 farms throughout ScotlandThis information was used in the calculation of a standard ‘carbon footprint’ for beef and sheep production systems and then re-calculated to be expressed in terms of carbon sequestration needed per hectare of grassland to wholly negate these ‘carbon footprints’For each of the 21 farms sampled, the tonnes of carbon sequestration per ha needed to negate the GHG emissions associated with the beef and sheep production systems was calculated. The figures range from 0.06-2.89 tonnes of carbon per grassland ha (0.02-1.16t/acre), with an average value of 1.06t/ha (0.4t/acre) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en.
