Greenhouse Gases and Ammonia In Irish Agriculture Gary Lanigan, Patrick Forrestal, William Burchill, Owen Fenton and Karl Richards Agri-Environment Meeting Tullamore 06/04/17
GHG & Ammonia Emissions Irish Agriculture accounts for 33% of Irish national emissions (EU = 9%) Due to small industrial base to dilute agricultural emissions allied to proportionally large livestock sector Agriculture 33% Waste 1.7% Industry 2% Energy 19.7% Residential 10.1% 80% of ammonia from dairy and beef Remainder from pig and poultry F-gases 1.9% Agriculture 98% Industry 3.3% Transport 19.8% Services 2.9% Manufacturing 7.6%
CH4 CO2 NH3 N2O N2O NH3 NH3 CH4 N2O N2O
Irish GHG Emissions Enteric fermentation Manure management EPA National Inventory Report N2O Ag.Soils Liming CO2 Urea CO2 24000 GHG (kt CO2-e) +9.7% -18.1% +5.8% 18000 12000 6000 0 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 1990-2014 6.8% Reduction Methane from EF and manure management comprise 66% and Nitrous oxide 32% of sectoral emissions Cattle account for 88.7 % of methane emissions and 90% of N 2O emissions AFGDP 05/04/17 2012 2014
Ammonia emissions Housing 100000 Storage Landspreading Grazing +12.5% Yard emission Fertilizer -15% +0.5% 90000 80000 tnh3 70000 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 Ammonia emissions are currently 1.5% below 1990 levels Housing and storage =48% but abatement options mainly currently limited to landspreading and fertiliser Targets 2020-2030 limit NH3 to 1% below 2005 so all s well?? 5 AFGDP 05/04/17 2010 2012 2014
Policy Context Food Harvest 2020 set in place agricultural production and value targets to be achieved by 2020 FoodWise 2025 extended these targets: 85% increase in export value, 65% increase in primary production value, 23,000 extra jobs EU 2020 Climate and Energy Package set a 20% GHG reduction target for Ireland by 2020 based on GDP per capita EU 2030 Climate and Energy Framework proposes a 30% reduction for Ireland but with flexibilities
Why are these Targets so challenging? By 2030, GHG projected to be 6% higher than 2005 Without mitigation 5M tonnes CO2e reduction required Ammonia will be 6.8% higher than 2005 requiring a 12% reduction from 2030..not 5% 7 Teagasc Presentation Footer
Why are these Targets so challenging? Our National Target is based on non-ets emissions: That is residential power consumption, transport, waste and agriculture Industrial and power generation emissions dealt with at EU level Agriculture 49% of non-ets emissions The inventories poorly reflect agricultural activity However Irelands target not the most severe and we have been given the largest % that can be met by buying credits or offset using sequestration 10% Flexibilities 5% 0% LU SE DK FI DE FR UK NL AT BE IT IE ES CY MT PT EL SI CZ EE SK LT PL HR HU LV RO BG -5% -10% -15% 49% -20% -25% -30% -35% -40% Target Credits Sequestration
Absolute Emissions or Emissions Intensity Currently GHG emissions are reported on an absolute basis (ie. Total emissions associated with each LU or kg of fertiliser etc) Emissions intensity is amount of GHG produced per amount of produce accounts for food production Dairy GHG footprint: second smallest in EU
Milk footprint C footprint (kgghg kg-1 milk 1.1 1.05 1 0.95 0.9 0.85 0.8 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035
Methane (g/day) Dry Matter Intake (kg/day) 11
Methane abatement Increased animal efficiencies (reduction in GHG per unit product) FAO 2010 Increased Genetic Merit (EBI, beef genomics) Better forage quality Methane (g/day) Extend grazing season Reduced finishing times Feed additives/oils to reduce methane emissions Rumen Microbial Ecology and genetics Higher proportion of concentrates 12 Teagasc Presentation Footer Dry Matter Intake (kg/day)
Manure Management Timing (spring spreading) can give comparable results to trailing shoe Reducing crude protein can be a win-win less opportunity in grazing animals Chemical amendments during both landspreading and storage promising - can also reduce N2O and methane many also sequester P Measure Acetic acid Application Technique Bandspreading 61% Timing -19 +5.6ns Trailing Shoe -28.5 +11.4ns Spring v summer Alum -25 90% v summer Autumn Evening v daytime (noon) Chemical 13 Teagasc Presentation Footer FeCl -18.7 96% +13.2 H2SO4 96% +58.8-16.8-3.8ns -77.1-44.2-65 +54.5 Alum -92.4 +72.0 DCD na -48-19.2-18 Biochar Polyaluminium Chloride Diet % change relative to broadcast Ammonia Nitrous Oxide Reduced Crude Protein
Mitigating Nitrous Oxide Strategies can involve Reducing N inputs of fertiliser or excreted N Altering the emission factor by a) increased plant uptake, b) inhibition of nitrification, c) altering soil moisture, d) altering the form of N applied, e) reducing indirect losses Altering fertiliser formulation & inhibitors More widespread use of legumes N2O (kgn ha-1 yr-1) 14 16 12 8 6 4 2 0 N2O (kg N ha-1 yr-1) 10 4 N2O 14 Milk Prodn. 12 3 10 8 2 6 4 1 2 0 Grass +210N Drained Grass/Clover+80N Undrained Grass/Clover Background 0 Milk Production (t milk ha-1 yr-1) Draining wet mineral soils
N2O inventory refinement Currently ALL Nitrogen emits the same amount of N2O No accounting for impact of different N form or soil type GHG emissions (kt CO2-e) 22,000 21,000 20,000 19,000 18,000 Current inventory 17,000 16,000 15,000 14,000 1989 15 1994 Teagasc Presentation Footer 1999 2004 2009 2014
Making inventories usable Currently ALL Nitrogen emits the same amount of N2O No accounting for impact of different N form or soil type Inorganic fertiliser share of emissions increases from 27% to 38% Pasture, Range and Paddock (Dung/urine) share decreases from 41% to 23% leaching, 5% mineralisation, deposition, 3% 3% crop residues, 3% cultivation of organic soils, 8% Inorganic deposition, 4% leaching, 6% Fertiliser, 27%mineralisation, 3% crop residues, 4% cultivation of organic soils, 9% Inorganic Fertiliser, 38% manure management, 10% manure management, 14% Dung & Urine, 41% Dung & Urine, 23%
GHG emissions (kt CO2-e) Impact of new N2O on emissions profile 22,000 21,000 20,000 19,000 18,000 Current inventory Refined Inventory 17,000 16,000 15,000 14,000 1989 Total emissions reduced by 700,000 tonnes! 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014
Impact on C footprint C footprint is decreasing even under BAU Refinement decreases footprint by 7% Mitigation will deliver extra 24% improvement 1.1 1.05 1 0.95 0.9 0.85 0.8 0.75 0.7 1985 18 1990 Teagasc Presentation Footer 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035
Carbon sequestration Offsets emissions by absorbing CO2 from atmosphere The majority of sequestration (80%) from the forestry sector, based on 8000 hectare afforestation rate The sink capacity will vary potential for the forest sink to be reduced from 4.4 Mt CO2-eq to 2.2 Mt CO2-eq dependent on future rules Further potential for agricultural abatement from optimal pasture and tillage management 0.6 Mt CO2-eq Plugging hotspots altering water table on managed peatlands 0.6 Mt CO2-eq
Manure and fertilizer Addition Manure can increase SOC as 25% of applied manure C is retained Fertilisation increases crop yield and also increases root and residue C input into soil
Impact of soil type and land use SOC (tc ha-1 at 30cm depth) 160 Brown Earth a G/B Podzol 140 a a Gley 120 Podzol c cd c 100 80 b d d c cd d b d d 60 40 20 0 Crop Pasture Rough grazing Forest
Land Use and Land management optimisation is required Enhance grassland and cropland sinks through optimal management Maintain forestry sinks Plug carbon hotspots water table manipulation on managed organic soils Enhance biodiversity
Mainstreaming Sustainability to farmers: The Carbon Navigator Partnership approach: Teagasc & Bord Bia Online software to assist farmers: To understand how their farms produce GHG emissions To identify mitigation capacity To set targets and a pathway to reduce emissions
Set current and target performance Review impact on GHG emissions per kg beef Scoring chart Indicator of improvement in profitability
Set current and target performance Review impact on GHG emissions per kg beef Scoring chart Indicator of improvement in profitability
Cannot be tunnel visioned! You could collapse emissions by 30%...but Feed nitrate GMO.is it acceptable to the customer 26 Teagasc Presentation Footer
Conclusions Methane reductions will mainly be via efficiency: increase in MS per cow, higher fertility, reduced finishing times Nitrous oxide can be reduced via timing and rate of fertiliser, type of fertiliser, use of legumes, reduced crude protein Good fertilisation or grazing can enhance grassland sinks forestry planting is needed for large-scale sequestration Land management can contribute but verification is difficult Need a spatial strategy and improved KT Absolute methane reduction remains a challenge
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Sustainable Nitrogen Fertiliser Use & Disaggregated Emissions of Nitrogen ow mmo LA Thank you for your attention We gratefully acknowledge the substantial funding from: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Grants: RSF 10-/RD/SC/716, AGRI-I & RSF 11S138, SUDEN ) & Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA E&I, Project 13/4/06)