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Land Management Techniques Under Scrutiny - SAC-Led Research Considers Options To Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Changing ploughing techniques can alter N2O emissions (opens in new window)
An SAC-led research consortium is to advise government on which land management methods produce the lowest emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), a powerful greenhouse gas.
If EU, UK and Scottish policy makers are to meet their challenging climate change targets, techniques like ploughing and drainage, which can release high levels of N2O, might have to be altered. The consortium is to assess and recommend suitable alternatives.
Nitrous oxide has a global warming potential 296 times larger than CO2. The UK’s grassland, growing in a mild, damp climate and often well fertilised with nitrogen, can emit large volumes of N2O. Despite reductions since 1990 they remain an important component of the UK’s greenhouse gas budget. In Scotland agricultural soils are responsible for 94% of nitrous oxide emissions in Scotland and contribute an estimated 60% to total emissions from the agriculture sector in the UK.
Ploughing, drainage and fertilising can all change N2O emissions, as can the methods used to increase soil carbon storage. So, when making changes to land use or farm management, it is vital to take their likely global warming potential into account and chose methods which reduce GHG emissions. At the same time any decisions must be consistent with other government policies such as food security, and environmental protection.
The research will identify the appropriate practices, evaluate their effectiveness and suggest to policy makers how feasible these practices will be to implement under a changing climate and other external pressures. This will include an economic analysis of the options considered
This project brings together an expert team from SAC, ADAS, the Macaulay Institute and the University of Edinburgh. There are additional linkages with scientists in Europe and beyond. The team is currently engaged in related research programmes worth over £2m a year. The results will feed in to the State of Scotland’s Soil report and inform the Scottish Government’s climate change mitigation strategy.
For more information contact Dr John Baddeley.