CO2-neutral farming is possible

18 Sep 2008 Unit: Animal Sciences Group A CO2-neutral livestock farm is possible for most sectors, but only if the farm generates its own energy. As long as a farm obtains its energy from fossil fuel, energy neutrality is impossible. This was the conclusion of a study conducted by the Animal Sciences Group of Wageningen UR (ASG) at the request of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. According to ASG researcher Hilko Ellen, CO2-neutral farms are a long way from being commonplace. “A great deal of expertise is still lacking about coordinating the various energy-saving technologies and technologies that generate energy on the farm. The expertise about the technologies themselves is sufficiently available, but not regarding applications in the agricultural sector.” In order to promote the use of these technologies, or conduct research into their mutual coordination, the current incentive measures in the Netherlands such as VAMIL/MIA, EIA, SDE and Groenregelingen must be adapted for use in agriculture. The study conducted by the ASG looked only at the emissions that are caused by the livestock farm itself, resulting from the use of energy sources such as natural gas, diesel fuel and electricity. Expressed in kg of CO2 per average animal present per year, the emissions ranged from 1.63 kg CO2 for table chickens to 283 kg CCO2 for dairy cattle. Converted to an entire farm, table chickens have the highest emissions and laying hens the lowest. The difference is a factor of four. If the emissions are expressed per kg of delivered product, the ranking is different: dairy cattle have the lowest emissions with 0.03 kg/kg of milk, and sows have the highest emissions with almost 0.4 kg/kg piglet. Ellen: “A number of new concepts provide an important contribution to reducing CO2 emissions, such as the Comfort Class system for finishing pigs, outdoor systems for sows and the TerraSea for table chickens.” But other developments in livestock production, such as organic production, megafarms and summer pen feeding (zomerstalvoedering) do not lead to a direct reduction of the CO2 emissions. They may even lead to an increase in CO2 emissions, for example if an airwasher has been installed in compliance with ammonia and particulate matter legislation. Due to the higher energy consumption, the CO2 emissions actually increased in this case.

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