Emissions mitigation
Background:
Australian agriculture is responsible for 16% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions and the dairy industry for 1.6%. Society expects agriculture to play a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This is evidenced by the number of retailers asking dairy processors for info on the carbon footprint of dairy products and activities being undertaken to reduce it.
The aim of the emissions mitigation project is to develop knowledge, monitoring tools and management strategies of direct relevance to ruminant producers to assist them reduce their GHG emissions without loss of productivity.
Project objective:
To develop knowledge, monitoring tools and management strategies of direct relevance to ruminant producers to assist them reduce their GHG emissions without loss of productivity
Project scope:
The Reducing Emissions from Ruminant Livestock Program (RERLP) is a DAFF funded cross-organisational arrangement of projects in strategic and applied science, targeting the development of strategies to reduce enteric methane emission. The two RERLP dairy projects are:
- Novel individual enteric methane measuring system for multiple ruminants
- Enteric methane abatement strategies for ruminant production systems in south eastern Australia
The DAFF funded Nitrous oxide program includes two dairy projects:
- The potential of inhibitors for the mitigation of nitrous oxide emissions from animal production systems
- Enhanced efficiency fertilisers as mitigation tools for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from intensive agricultural systems in Australia
The DAFF funded Methane to Markets Australia (M2MA) program aims to evaluate the cost effectivness of covered lagoon aerobic digesters and their applicability to Autsralian intensive livestock industries.
Outcomes/benefits:
The key outcome of the RERLP programs is improved knowledge and understanding about the cost effectiveness of abetment strategies to reduce methane emissions, including improved monitoring tools.
The key outcome of the Nitrous Oxide program will be a better understanding of the potential for N20 inhibitors to reduce direct nitrous oxide emissions from urine deposited on pasture in dairy
production systems. Before nitrification inhibitors can be evaluated as a recognised greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement strategy the GHG mitigation benefits must be quantified under Australian conditions.
The key outcome of the DemoDairy – Creating Energy from Effluent activity is quantification of the expected methane gas yield from a covered lagoon digester supplied by a 300 cow, pasture based dairy farming system. Australian dairy farmers are keen to explore the possible financial benefits associated with production of bio-gas from effluent lagoons.
More information:
For more information, please contact Cathy Phelps, Dairy Australia Natural Resource Management Program Manager.