Are Emissions Important?
Company Mission Statement
- Empower farmers and associated land-based industries in arena of greenhouse gas emissions by allowing them to calculate their own carbon equivalent footprint.
- In collaboration with other farmer led organisations, ensure new regulations (government and supermarket driven) are economically, environmentally and socially feasible as well as scientifically justified.
- Encourage reduction of greenhouse gas emissions globally.
Agriculture and greenhouse gas emissions
Currently the UK agricultural sector produces only around 8% of the UK's total greenhouse gas emissions according to government figures. Our aim is to give individual farm businesses the tools to calculate their own carbon equivalent foot print and so empower them with this knowledge.
It is carbon equivalent footprints because carbon dioxide is not the only greenhouse gas - there are many (see Table 1). Two potent gases methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are responsible for most of the UK's agricultural greenhouse gas emissions at a national level. These gases are more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) as they remain in the atmosphere longer. Scientists estimate that methane is 25 times more damaging and nitrous oxide 298 times more damaging than carbon dioxide i.e. 21 and 310 times the potential to warm the earth relative to carbon dioxide (global warming potential –GWP).
Methane is primarily produced by animals on farms both by enteric fermentation in the ruminant (burping and farting) and in the manure they produce. Nitrous oxide is mainly emitted from soil micro-organisms which emit more following application of organic and inorganic fertiliser (more food for them).
Scientists have been working to calculate the emission of greenhouse gases for a long time and there are many many different methods. We have chosen to follow the methodology recommended by the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Working Group I of The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). A full explanation of all the equations we use is held on their web site (www.ipcc.ch). The IPCC is an intergovernmental body that is open to all member countries of the UNEP and of WMO. The UK country specific default values are provided by DEFRA.
However the science is not exact there is still a great deal that is not defined. In the IPCC methodology scientists have given an estimate of how certain they are about the emissions factors that they quote. We therefore calculate the total emissions with an upper and lower estimate.
Working with other research scientists we have produced a discussion document taking the science of calculating far scale greenhouse gas accounts further – click here to learn more.
| TABLE 1 |
|---|
| Gases for which global warming potential (GWP) values are available in IPCC methodology. |
| Carbon Dioxide CO2 |
| Methane CH4 |
| Nitrous Oxide N2O |
| Hydrofluorocarbons HFCs (e.g., HFC-23 (CHF3), HFC-134a (CH2FCF3), HFC-152a (CH3CHF2)) |
| Perfluorocarbons PFCs (CF4, C2F6, C3F8, C4F10, c-C4F8, C5F12, C6F14) |
| Sulphur Hexafluoride SF6 |
| Nitrogen Trifluoride NF3 |
| Trifluoromethyl Sulphur |
| Pentafluoride |
| SF5CF3 |
| Halogenated Ethers e.g., C4F9OC2H5, CHF2OCF2OC2F4OCHF2, CHF2OCF2OCHF2 |
| Other halocarbons e.g., CF3I, CH2Br2, CHCl3, CH3Cl, CH2Cl2 |
| TABLE 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Abbreviations, units and conversions | ||
| Energy & Power | ||
| J | Joule | Basic unit of energy |
| kJ | Kilojoule | 1,000 Joules |
| MJ | Megajoule | 1,000,000 Joules |
| GJ | Gigajoule | 1,000,000,000 Joules |
| W | Watt | Basic unit of power = 1 Joule per second |
| kW | Kilowatt | 1,000 Watts |
| kWh | Kilowatt-hour | 3.6 MJ |
| Others | ||
| ha | Hectare (10,000 square metres) | |
| g | Grams | |
| kg | kilograms (1,000 grams) | |
| tonne | 1,000 kilograms | |
| t | tonne | |
| ml | Millilitre | |
| L | Litre (1,000 millilitres) | |
| CO2 | Carbon Dioxide | |
| ai | Active Ingredient | |
| Conversions | ||
| 1 ha = 2.47 acres | ||
| 1 kJ = 239 calories | ||
| 1 kW = 1.34 horse-power (HP) | ||