The Ecology of Meat

Better information on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigation potential in the agricultural sector is necessary to manage these emissions and identify responses that are consistent with the food security and economic development priorities of countries. Critical activity data (what crops or livestock are managed in what way) are poor or lacking for many agricultural systems, especially in developing countries. In addition, the currently available methods for quantifying emissions and mitigation are often too expensive or complex or not sufficiently user friendly for widespread use.The purpose of this focus issue is to capture the state of the art in quantifying greenhouse gases from agricultural systems, with the goal of better understanding our current capabilities and near-term potential for improvement, with particular attention to quantification issues relevant to smallholders in developing countries. This work is timely in light of international discussions and negotiations around how agriculture should be included in efforts to reduce and adapt to climate change impacts, and considering that significant climate financing to developing countries in post-2012 agreements may be linked to their increased ability to identify and report GHG emissions (Murphy et al 2010, CCAFS 2011, FAO 2011).

Gaining Acceptance of Novel Plant Breeding Technologies.

At the UN climate change conference in Paris in November 2015, Norway committed itself to a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Agriculture accounts for 8% of Norway’s total GHG emissions. If GHGs from drained and cultivated wetland (categorized under land use, land use change and forestry) are included, the share is 13%; this for a sector that accounts for roughly 0.3% of GDP. As is the case in most countries, agriculture is currently exempt from emission reduction measures, including the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), in which Norway participates. But the country has recently signaled its intention to include agriculture in future emission reduction efforts. Consideration is being given to how best to achieve GHG reductions in the sector. A recent report by the Norwegian Green Tax Commission, established by the government to evaluate policy options for achieving emission reductions, (Government of Norway, 2015) emphasizes the importance of including agriculture. The Commission suggests that agricultural emissions should be taxed at the same rate as for other sectors. It also recommends that reductions in the production and consumption of red meat should be specifically targeted, through cuts in production grants to farmers and the imposition of consumption taxes. Unsurprisingly, this proposed policy shift is extremely controversial and faces resistance, particularly from the farmers’ unions. Farmers argue that the maintenance of domestic agricultural production is crucial for achieving national food security objectives, in addition to pursuing other aims such as the maintenance of economic activity in rural areas and landscape preservation. Food security, which has been a key policy objective since the end of the Second World War, has been interpreted in Norway as requiring high levels of selfsufficiency in basic agricultural commodities. To achieve this, substantial subsidies are provided to farmers and domestic prices of many commodities are kept at high levels by restricting imports. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that the total financial support provided to Norwegian agriculture in 2015 was equivalent to 62% of the value of gross farm receipts, which made Norway (along with Switzerland) a leader in the amount of support provided to agriculture by the 50 OECD member and non-member countries monitored by the Organization (OECD, 2016). In this paper we analyze policy options for achieving a 40% reduction in agricultural GHG emissions, consistent with the economy-wide target, while imposing the restriction that national food production measured in calories should be maintained (the food security target). This is consistent with the way that the Norwegian government identifies the country’s food security objective. In section 2 we outline the current situation with respect to GHG emissions in Norwegian agriculture. In section 3 we illustrate the policy issues involved by considering two product aggregates that are intensive in the use of land for crop production (grainland) and grassland, respectively. The aggregates are based on data for the main commodities in Norwegian agriculture relating to GHG emissions, land use, caloric content, subsidies, and costs per unit of production. We show that even though the opportunity set (i.e., the production combinations that are possible within technical constraints) is narrow, a 40% cut in emissions is achievable by substituting from ruminant products that are intensive in the use of grassland to products based on grainland. We also show that the emissions reduction both reduces government budgetary costs and land use, i.e., ruminant products are characterized by relatively high subsidies and land use. Two-dimensional analysis ignores the fact that per unit emissions from dairy production are low compared to other ruminant products (i.e., beef and sheep production). Both in terms of production value and agricultural employment, dairy farming is the most important component of Norwegian agriculture. Consequently, milk production deserves to be separated from ruminant meat production. Finally in section 4, we present a detailed analysis 3 of policy options derived from a disaggregated model that includes all the major products in Norwegian agriculture. In the model-based analysis, we examine first the imposition of a carbon tax, while maintaining existing agricultural support policies and import protection, and achieving the food security (production of calories) target. Since the imposition of a carbon tax in agriculture presents both technical and political challenges, we then examine an alternative approach of changing the existing structure of agricultural support to approximate the same result. We show that it is possible to change current subsidy rates to mimic the carbon tax and calorie target solution. The explanation for this is that ruminant products not only generate high emissions per produced calorie, but they are also the most highly subsidized products. Meat from ruminants is relatively unimportant in achieving Norway’s food security objective of calorie availability.

Bioenergy from perennial grasses mitigates climate change via displacing fossil fuels and storing atmospheric CO2 belowground as soil carbon. Here, we conduct a critical review to examine whether increasing plant diversity in bioenergy grassland systems can further increase their climate change mitigation potential. We find that compared with highly productive monocultures, diverse mixtures tend to produce as great or greater yields. In particular, there is strong evidence that legume addition improves yield, in some cases equivalent to mineral nitrogen fertilization at 33–150 kg per ha. Plant diversity can also promote soil carbon storage in the long term, reduce soil N2O emissions by 30%–40%, and suppress weed invasion, hence reducing herbicide use. These potential benefits of plant diversity translate to 50%–65% greater life-cycle greenhouse gas savings for biofuels from more diverse grassland biomass grown on degraded soils. In addition, there is growing evidence that plant diversity can accelerate land restoration. Bioenergy from perennial grasses mitigates climate change via displacing fossil fuels and storing atmospheric CO2 belowground as soil carbon. Here, we conduct a critical review to examine whether increasing plant diversity in bioenergy grassland systems can further increase their climate change mitigation potential. We find that compared with highly productive monocultures, diverse mixtures tend to produce as great or greater yields. In particular, there is strong evidence that legume addition improves yield, in some cases equivalent to mineral nitrogen fertilization at 33–150 kg per ha. Plant diversity can also promote soil carbon storage in the long term, reduce soil N2O emissions by 30%–40%, and suppress weed invasion, hence reducing herbicide use. These potential benefits of plant diversity translate to 50%–65% greater life-cycle greenhouse gas savings for biofuels from more diverse grassland biomass grown on degraded soils. In addition, there is growing evidence that plant diversity can accelerate land restoration.

From the President and <scp>IFST</scp> News

Debate over climate change is nothing new. Scientists have been arguing about whether greenhouse gases released by human activity might change the climate since the late nineteenth century, when Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius first proposed that industrial emissions might cause global warming.1 Fueled by partisan bickering, this dispute now is more bellicose than ever.

While actions for addressing global climate change should not be delayed,an open and compatible method for quantifying the greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions of cities or local regions is critical required to support policies.Urban GHG inventory is fundamental for accounting GHG emissions in cities.In general,it reflects both emission structure and trend.Compiling GHG inventories at urban scale is a basic demand of low-carbon city construction in China,and also a foundation for China′s future development. Although use the methods of national GHG inventories as reference,GHG inventories for cities have their own characteristics on principles and methodology systems.The present urban GHG inventory usually uses the experiences of GHG inventory methodologies developed by IPCC(The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change),ICLEI(International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) and Draft International Standard for Determining Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Cities.However,there are still no systemic and standardized methods and indexes for urban GHG inventories,because different organizations have established different approaches for inventorying urban GHG emissions.Though unified framework,such as IPCC or ICLEI,is used,treatments on some emission sources(electricity and cross-boundary transport) or divisions of sub-sectors are different.Due to these issues,it is unsuitable for comparison between cities.At the same time,the calculation results of China′s urban GHG emissions have little comparability with those of western cities,owing to differences of definitions and scales. China′s urban GHG emission inventory research is just at the beginning and achievements need to be extended and the performance of urban GHG emission inventory still has a long way to go.Based on present methodologies of compiling urban GHG emission inventories and typical case studies,both domestic and international,we were willing to establish a common standard by which inventory of urban emissions should be followed.Considering the special characteristics of China′s urban structure,and the problems which would be faced during the accounting progress,China′s urban GHG inventories should take its administrative area as spatial boundary and three main gases,carbon dioxide,methane and nitrous oxide,should be concluded.Consumption-based mode should be chose in order to reflect emission amount and structure more truly and more comprehensive.The most recent IPCC guidelines can be used for determining emissions from four aspects,energy(stationary and mobile sources),industrial processes and product use(IPPU),agriculture,forestry and other land use(AFOLU;where significant),and waste.While it is impractical to quantify all of the emissions associated with the indirect ways of urban GHG emissions,such as myriad of goods and materials consumed in cities,urban GHG inventories should also include out-of-boundary emissions from the generation of electricity and district heating which are consumed in cities(including transmission and distribution losses),emissions from aviation and marine vessels carrying passengers or freight away from cities,out-of-boundary emissions from waste that is generated in cities.The GHG emissions embodied in the food,water,fuels and building materials consumed in cities should also be reported as additional information items if possible.Uncertainty assessment and quality assurance are encouraged and should follow IPCC guidelines.

Estimating the contribution of rural land uses to greenhouse gas emissions: A case study of North East Scotland

Abstract. To track progress towards keeping global warming well below 2 ∘C or even 1.5 ∘C, as agreed in the Paris Agreement, comprehensive up-to-date and reliable information on anthropogenic emissions and removals of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is required. Here we compile a new synthetic dataset on anthropogenic GHG emissions for 1970–2018 with a fast-track extension to 2019. Our dataset is global in coverage and includes CO2 emissions, CH4 emissions, N2O emissions, as well as those from fluorinated gases (F-gases: HFCs, PFCs, SF6, NF3) and provides country and sector details. We build this dataset from the version 6 release of the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR v6) and three bookkeeping models for CO2 emissions from land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF). We assess the uncertainties of global greenhouse gases at the 90 % confidence interval (5th–95th percentile range) by combining statistical analysis and comparisons of global emissions inventories and top-down atmospheric measurements with an expert judgement informed by the relevant scientific literature. We identify important data gaps for F-gas emissions. The agreement between our bottom-up inventory estimates and top-down atmospheric-based emissions estimates is relatively close for some F-gas species (∼ 10 % or less), but estimates can differ by an order of magnitude or more for others. Our aggregated F-gas estimate is about 10 % lower than top-down estimates in recent years. However, emissions from excluded F-gas species such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) or hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are cumulatively larger than the sum of the reported species. Using global warming potential values with a 100-year time horizon from the Sixth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global GHG emissions in 2018 amounted to 58 ± 6.1 GtCO2 eq. consisting of CO2 from fossil fuel combustion and industry (FFI) 38 ± 3.0 GtCO2, CO2-LULUCF 5.7 ± 4.0 GtCO2, CH4 10 ± 3.1 GtCO2 eq., N2O 2.6 ± 1.6 GtCO2 eq., and F-gases 1.3 ± 0.40 GtCO2 eq. Initial estimates suggest further growth of 1.3 GtCO2 eq. in GHG emissions to reach 59 ± 6.6 GtCO2 eq. by 2019. Our analysis of global trends in anthropogenic GHG emissions over the past 5 decades (1970–2018) highlights a pattern of varied but sustained emissions growth. There is high confidence that global anthropogenic GHG emissions have increased every decade, and emissions growth has been persistent across the different (groups of) gases. There is also high confidence that global anthropogenic GHG emissions levels were higher in 2009–2018 than in any previous decade and that GHG emissions levels grew throughout the most recent decade. While the average annual GHG emissions growth rate slowed between 2009 and 2018 (1.2 % yr−1) compared to 2000–2009 (2.4 % yr−1), the absolute increase in average annual GHG emissions by decade was never larger than between 2000–2009 and 2009–2018. Our analysis further reveals that there are no global sectors that show sustained reductions in GHG emissions. There are a number of countries that have reduced GHG emissions over the past decade, but these reductions are comparatively modest and outgrown by much larger emissions growth in some developing countries such as China, India, and Indonesia. There is a need to further develop independent, robust, and timely emissions estimates across all gases. As such, tracking progress in climate policy requires substantial investments in independent GHG emissions accounting and monitoring as well as in national and international statistical infrastructures. The data associated with this article (Minx et al., 2021) can be found at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5566761.

The European Union (EU) has proposed legislative revisions to achieve climate neutrality in EU by 2050. The Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation, adopted in 2018, is being revised to ensure that accounted greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from LULUCF are balanced by equivalent accounted removals of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. This study focuses on the impact of targeted tree introduction in agricultural land in Latvia, specifically afforestation of drained organic soil and implementation of agroforestry systems (riparian buffer strips), on national GHG reduction targets for the LULUCF sector. The potential contributions of selected measures were evaluated using evaluation methods including GHG emissions factors based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines and recent scientific studies. The study differentiated between different land use categories by GHG emissions from soil and CO2 removals in living biomass, dead wood, litter, mineral soil, and organic soil. Basic scenarios were compared with additional scenarios that included afforestation of drained organic soils and implementation of agroforestry systems. The study analysed the possibilities of achieving LULUCF sector goals for 2030, 2035, and 2050 with the selected scenarios. According to the basic scenarios, the LULUCF sector has been a continuous source of GHG emissions since 2019, partly compensated by forest management by 2040, but after 2040 forest management becomes a source of GHG emissions as well. The study shows that afforestation of organic soils currently used for agricultural production can reduce GHG emissions and ensure the achievement of national LULUCF targets for 2021-2025, with a significant decrease in GHG emissions by 3.9 million t CO2 eq. during the 2021-2025 period if compared to the basic scenario. However, the study finds that national target of net GHG removals is not achieved for 2026-2030 according to both basic and afforestation scenarios if no additional measures, e.g., establishment of the shelter belts, are implemented.

Background: Current scientific literature suggests healthy dietary patterns may have less environmental impact than current consumption patterns, but most of the studies rely on theoretical modeling. The aim of this study was to assess the impact on resources (land, water, and energy) use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of healthy dietary patterns in a sample of Italian adults. Methods: Participants (n = 1806) were recruited through random sampling in the city of Catania, southern Italy. Dietary consumption was assessed through a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ); dietary patterns were calculated through dietary scores. The specific environmental footprints of food item production/processing were obtained from various available life-cycle assessments; a sustainability score was created based on the impact of the four environmental components calculated. Results: The contribution of major food groups to the environmental footprint showed that animal products (dairy, egg, meat, and fish) represented more than half of the impact on GHG emissions and energy requirements; meat products were the stronger contributors to GHG emissions and water use, while dairy products to energy use, and cereals to land use. All patterns investigated, with the exception of the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH), were linearly associated with the sustainability score. Among the components, higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet and Alternate Diet Quality Index (AHEI) was associated with lower GHG emissions, dietary quality index-international (DQI-I) with land use, while Nordic diet with land and water use. Conclusions: In conclusion, the adoption of healthy dietary patterns involves less use of natural resources and GHG emissions, representing eco-friendlier options in Italian adults.

The effect of methodology on estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from grass-based dairy systems

Pemanasan global telah menyita perhatian dunia bahkan akan semakin bertambah besar dimasa yang akan datang mengingat akibat yang ditimbulkannya UNO, melalui program lingkungan UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) dan Organisasi Meteorologi Dunia (World Meteorological Organization, WMO) membentuk The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) pada 1988 untuk meneliti dan menganalisa isu-isu ilmu pengetahuan yang muncul. Makalah ini akan membahas tentang emisi GRK dari empat industri yaitu baja, aluminium, semen dan kimia.Guna mengantisipasi meningkatnya emisi GRK maka keempat industri ini perlu melakukan kerjasama. Model kerjasama apa yang paling tepat juga akan dibahas pada makalah ini.Selanjutnya alternatif solusi yang bisa. Ada beberapa emisi GRK dari sektor industri, mulai dari industri kimia, baja, semen dan alumunium. Dalam Protocol Kyoto, tersedia tiga mekanisme fleksibel dalam upaya pencapaian target penurunan emisi GRK, yaitu Emissions Trading (ET) atau perdagangan emisi antar negara maju, Joint Implementation (JI) atau pelaksanaan penurunan emisi secara bersama sama antar negara maju, dan Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) atau kerjasama antara negara maju dan negara berkembang. Studi ini menyimpulkan bahwa salah satu cara yang strategis untuk melindungi atmosfir adalah dengan cara mengontrol penggunaan sumber daya alam melalui emisi GRK.

Evaluation of the effect of accounting method, IPCC v. LCA, on grass-based and confinement dairy systems’ greenhouse gas emissions

ABSTRACTWaste production increases with the increase in population, urbanization rate and people’s income. Solid waste is a contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which can cause global warming. At the Conference of Parties 25 (COP 25) in Madrid 2019, the Indonesian government is still commited to reducing GHG emissions and working to reduce/limit the increase in temperature below 1.50C. Karangasem regency is an area located in the eastern part of Bali Island, which administratively is one of the regency in Bali Province. The population of Karangasem regency in 2018 based on results of population registration was 414,800 people. The population is spread across 8 sub-districs with the population growth rate in Karangasem averaging 0.88% per year. The distribution of the population will be directly proportional to the distribution of solid waste produced. The method for calculating municipal solid waste will be carried out using the First Order Decay method contained in the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Guidelines. From the calculation results, GHG emission have been obtained in each sub-district in Karangasem regency. Total GHG emission in 2019 amounted to 11,764 tonnes of CO2-e. Mapping the area in Karangasem district to determine the amount of waste produced by each district is deemed necessary as a mitigation effort to be implemented. In this study, a mapping of each sub-district was carried out on the basis of Geographical Information System (GIS). It is necessary to carry out a GHG inventory at the district level, to determine how much GHG emission are generated from the waste sector. After the GHG emission in known, a mapping of each sub-district will be made to determine the level of emission produced, so that this GHG emission reduction mitigation action will focus more on the sub-districts that produce the most emission first followed by other sub-districts.Keywords: Waste, GHG Inventory, First Order Decay, Geographic Information System.ABSTRAKProduksi limbah meningkat seiring dengan meningkatnya jumlah penduduk, tingkat urbanisasi dan pendapatan masyarakat. Sampah merupakan salah satu penyumbang emisi gas rumah kaca (GRK) yang dapat menyebabkan adanya pemanasan global (global warming). Pada Conference of Parties 25 (COP 25) di Madrid tahun 2019, pemerintah Indonesia masih berkomitmen untuk dapat menurunkan emisi gas rumah kaca dan berupaya untuk mengurangi/membatasi peningkatan suhu dibawah 1,50C. Kabupaten Karangasem, merupakan daerah yang berada di belahan timur Pulau Bali, yang secara administratif merupakan salah satu kabupaten dalam wilayah Provinsi Bali. Jumlah penduduk Kabupaten Karangasem pada tahun 2018 berdasarkan hasil registrasi penduduk adalah 414.800 jiwa. Jumlah penduduk tersebut tersebar dalam 8 kecamatan dengan angka pertambahan penduduk di Karangasem rata-rata 0,88% per tahun. Sebaran jumlah penduduk akan berbanding lurus dengan sebaran limbah padat yang dihasilkan. Metode penghitungan limbah padat kota akan dilakukan dengan menggunakan metode First Order Decay yang terdapat pada IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Guidelines. Dari hasil perhitungan telah didapatkan emisi GRK di tiap-tiap kecamatan yang ada di Kabupaten Karangasem. Total emisi GRK pada tahun 2019 yaitu sebesar 11.764 ton CO2-e. Pemetaan wilayah di kabupaten392 Jurnal Teknologi Informasi dan Komputer, Volume 6, Nomor 3, Oktober 2020Karangasem untuk mengetahui jumlah sampah yang dihasilkan tiap kecamatan dipandang perlu dilaksanakan sebagai upaya mitigasi yang akan dilaksanakan. Pada penelitian ini dilaksanakan pemetaan tiap-tiap kecamatan dengan basis Sistem Informasi Geografis (SIG). Inventarisasi GRK di tingkat kabupaten ini perlu dilakukan, untuk mengetahui sampai berapa besar emisi GRK yang dihasilkan dari sektor limbah tersebut. Setelah emisi GRK sudah diketahui, maka akan dibuat sebuah pemetaan tiap-tiap kecamatan untuk mengetahui tingkat emisi yang dihasilkan, sehingga aksi mitigasi penurunan emisi GRK ini akan lebih fokus pada kecamatan-kecamatan yang menghasilkan emisi paling besar terlebih dahulu dilanjutkan dengan kecamatan yang lainnya.Kata Kunci : Limbah, Inventarisasi GRK, First Order Decay, Sistem Informasi Geografis.