Projects to Estimate Emissions and Probe Production, Profits and Risk

Combined use of new technology, trusted guidelines, and a consistent, credible approach to greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting will be delivered by two new research projects announced by Zero Net Emissions Agriculture Cooperative Research Centre (ZNE-Ag CRC) today.

The projects, Ag GHG Accounting and Farm Systems GHG Evaluation, will be delivered under the CRC’s Research Program 3: Whole Farm and Mixed Enterprise Systems Analysis.

ZNE-Ag CRC Research Director, Prof. Ben Hayes, said the projects will help Australian producers understand the impacts of emissions reduction technologies on both emissions and profitability, to make informed decisions about the adoption of new technologies.

“The CRC will invest a total of $3.3 million across the two projects over the next three years to guide industry towards a lower emissions future. We will do this by developing tools to estimate emissions from new technologies and test their impact on profitability.” Prof. Hayes said.

Research Program 3 Lead, Prof. Richard Eckard, said the first project will address the industry demand for a common, trusted approach to calculate on-farm emissions.

“Ag GHG Accounting is dedicated to developing science-based guidance and practical tools to help producers calculate emissions more consistently and give the industry confidence that their efforts will be recognised, including in our key export markets, creating incentive for the adoption of low emission strategies and technologies,” Prof. Eckard said.

The project brings together GHG accounting experts and CRC Partners from the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, University of Melbourne, WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, University of Southern Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and the University of New England.

Professor Eckard said the second project aims to evaluate the emissions reduction potential of new and emerging technologies and their impact on production, profit, and risk within representative farm systems.

“Farm Systems GHG Evaluation will feature technology stacking, which is the combination of multiple technologies on one site, to determine any cumulative impacts, synergies and / or tradeoffs. The team will identify the most promising technology stacks for implementation on CRC Producer Demonstration Sites through pre-experimental modelling.

“This is an exciting opportunity for a renowned team of experts in farm systems analysis, biophysical modelling, lifecycle assessment and farm economics, from the University of Melbourne, Australian National University, University of Western Australia, NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, and the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, to collaborate,” Prof. Eckard said.

ZNE-Ag CRC is funded by the Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources through the Cooperative Research Centre Program and the contribution of Partners.