Mitigation of non CO2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions

from Agriculture

Presentation to the in-session workshop of the Ad-hoc Working Group

New Zealand Delegation to COP/MOP12

Agriculture greenhouse gas emissions

• Represents ~14% of global GHG emissions

• Represents ~7.4% of Annex 1 emissions

• Represents ~26% of non-Annex 1 emissions

• Mitigation options are relatively limited

Agriculture is important

• Agriculture supplies food to the world – population expected to increase from 6 billion to 9 billion by 2050

• Agriculture is important for the sustainable development of communities and national economies, for both developed and developing countries

New Zealand emissions

Waste 2.5%(mainly methane)

Transport 19.2%(CO2)

Energy – otherprocesses 15.1%

(CO2)

Industrial processes 5.6%(mainly CO2) Solvents 0.1%

Agriculture 49.4%(methane and nitrous oxide)

Electricity 8.1%(CO2)

fertiliser 3%

urine 15%

methane 31%

air travel 1.3%

NZ agriculture situation

• A reliance on the export of primary products

• Dynamic land use – meeting market demand

• 49% of total GHG emissions from agriculture (highest of any developed country)

• Highly efficient production

64%2%

20%

9%5%

Enteric fermentation Manure management

Direct soil emissions from livestock Indirect emissions from nitrogen fertiliser

Direct emissions from soils

NZ Agricultural GHG Emissions in 2004

NZ’s agriculture emissions profile

The challenge• Biological systems are complex

• 64% of New Zealand’s agricultural emissions have no current feasible mitigation solution

• At present, practical mitigation options for grazing ruminants and grazed pastures are limited

• More research is required globally, however, this is of a lower priority in most developed countries

Current focus in agriculture

• PGGRC – a government/sector partnership for agriculture research

• Measurement crucial

• Technology adoption becoming more of a focus

Mitigation of ruminant methane emissions

• Animal variability – Genetics (variation between animals – 14-26 g-CH4/kg dm

intake)– Nutrition– Production system

• Microbial– Direct modification of microbial processes: Protozoa,

Acetogens, Phage, Methanogens– Vaccination – Monensin (up to 10%) - in grain diets – forage diets 0%– Medium chain fats

• Plants– Plant extracts– Plant species (tannins up to 10%)– High sugar grasses

Mitigation of nitrous oxide emissions

• Reduce the amount of excreta N – Replace N boosted grass with maize silage– High sugar grasses– Shift N balance from urine to dung

• Increase N efficiency of excreta and N fertiliser– Restricted grazing of dairy and beef animals – Effluent utilisation on dairy farms– Nitrogen fertiliser timing, rates and forms – Nitrification inhibitors – DCD has real promise and is

commercially available in NZ

• Avoid anaerobic soil conditions – Improve drainage– Avoid compaction

Conclusions

• There is no simple single solution for CH4 and N2O from agriculture - a package of measures will be required

• Reducing methane emissions from grazing ruminants currently has limited options available

• Options need to be evaluated at the farm scale and for all three major GHGs collectively – GHG footprint of total system

• GHG measurement will continue to be an issue

• Increased international effort – particularly in ruminant methane mitigation in pastoral agriculture is needed