| | By reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the livestock, cropping and agri-food processing sectors will not only address the concerns of consumers and government; they could also reduce their own input costs. As well, many of the practices that reduce GHG emissions can also improve efficiencies and conserve natural resources. To capture these potential benefits, producers and processors need to increase their understanding of GHG emissions and options to reduce them.
To provide this much-needed information, Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (AAFRD) continues to expand its Greenhouse Gas Information Bulletin Series.
"We want to continue to inform producers and staff on agricultural-GHG related issues and environmentally sustainable agriculture practices. One of the ways is through this series of information bulletins," explains Jilene Sauvè, Climate Change Agrologist in Edmonton. Sauvè is chair of AAFRD's Greenhouse Gas Communication Team. This team is responsible for developing the information bulletins and other information packages on GHG emissions.
To date, six bulletins have been published, including:
"We're also in the process of developing bulletins on two new 'hot' topics: Emissions Trading and Alternative Fuel Sources," notes Sauvè. "We're really excited about the Emissions Trading Information Bulletin, as there are a lot of questions regarding this issue." This bulletin will be published soon.
The Alternative Fuel Sources bulletin will address such topics as bio-fuels and co-generation. "We want to explain the options producers have for alternative fuel sources and the environmental implication of those choices," explains Sauvè. For example, with the high natural gas prices, many farmers are switching to coal as their primary fuel. The bulletin will compare the GHG emissions of coal versus natural gas. "We're also reviewing the method of co-generation, which recovers methane from manure through specialized waste catchment systems and then uses it to heat barns." The Alternative Fuels bulletin will be available later this year.
The Greenhouse Gas Communication Team is involved in other awareness and education projects. "We're using the information bulletins as a basis to develop a pilot Greenhouse Gas Training Module for a series of Regional Pasture Planning Workshops being planned for the north and central regions. Although this module concentrates on pastures and rangeland, we're planning to expand the module to include other sectors in hopes to offer this training project province-wide," says Sauvè. The Team is also exploring ways to contribute to the Environmental Farm Plan process currently being developed for Alberta. The bulletins and training modules are sponsored jointly by the Alberta Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture Program and AAFRD.
For more information, contact Jilene Sauvè |
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