Farm emissions estimates cut by 7%

A refinement of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) greenhouse gas emissions inventory has made better use of Ireland-specific data which has resulted in a downward revision of farming’s emissions estimates for every year since 1994.

Farm emissions for 2022 are estimated by the EPA as being 7% lower than had been initially reported for that year owing to the use of more Ireland-specific data to estimate emissions in place of international default figures.

Some 1.561Mt of CO2 equivalents previously calculated as having been emitted by the sector have been cut from the national inventory’s updated 2022 figure.

The equivalent reduction in reported emissions for 2021 and 2020 were a respective 1.473Mt and 1.058Mt lower than the figures previously reported – equating to reductions of 6.5% and 4.8% for these years.

More accurate

Head of Teagasc’s Climate Centre Karl Richards stated that this switch away from tier one figures – international averages – and towards tier two figures, which are those actually reflective of the reality of Irish farming, reduced the emissions figures.

“What inventory refinement is about is moving away from international default figures towards much more accurate, country-specific figures,” Richards told the Irish Farmers Journal.

The climate centre in Teagasc has the dual aims of improving the accuracy of the understanding of current emissions and assessing the impact that emissions-reduction measures have, he said.

“What we want farmers to know is that the measures work and they will be accounted for in the national emissions inventory.

“We want to focus on adoption of practices including in the MACC, like using protected urea, lowering age at slaughter and improving EBI. If farmers are adopting these measures, they can be assured that inventory will catch up and acknowledge their improvements,” Richards said.

The agriculture sector must cut emissions by 25% by 2030.