Shrinking our Carbon Footprint

When farmers want to show their eco credentials, hedgerows and buffer strips are tangible achievements. But greening the farm means more than that.

What about the Carbon Footprint? How can farmers begin to calculate their Carbon Footprint – or plan to reduce it? A new ‘carbon calculator’ for farmers is soon to be released by Forum for the Future and FWAG.

What is a Carbon Footprint?

This the amount of greenhouse gases created by all of an enterprise’s activities – transport, purchased materials, heating, power supplies, and so on. The main greenhouse gases for agriculture - worst offender first - are Nitrous Oxide (NO2), Methane (CH4), and Carbon Dioxide (CO2). So people don’t get too baffled by talking about all of these different gases, a Carbon Footprint is usually simplified as an equivalent amount of Carbon Dioxide (CO2e).   Agriculture in 2004 was responsible for: 27.9 Mt CO2e for England 7.3 Mt CO2e for Scotland 5.5 MT CO2e for Wales 4.7 Mt CO2e for N. Ireland (Mt CO2e= million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.)

Sheepdrove Organic Farm, meanwhile, has begun to assess its Carbon Footprint, and take action to tackle it. Some of the ways we have always minimised this include:

Organic farming
Organic production has a smaller footprint than conventional farming.

Home delivery direct from the farm
The vast majority of customers who buy Sheepdrove Organic Farm meat boxes have it delivered direct from the farm. Home delivery is greener than driving to the supermarket.

On-site processing of chickens
This cuts out transport between the farm, abattoir, warehouse and sales.

Increasing the farm's grassland
Grassland holds more carbon in the soil than arable land. Good root structure and active soil ecosystems in grassland are also better able to use nitrogen ‘inputs’ such as cowpats, and this uses up NO₂ one of the worst greenhouse gases, 296 times worse than CO₂.

Energy use and carbon

We have looked closely at energy use, because this underlies all operations and it’s the most direct link to greenhouse gas emissions.

An energy audit revealed total energy use was dominated by red diesel 32%; electricity 27%, propane heating 21%, heating oil 8% and white diesel 7%, with the balance shared by petrol and liquid propane gas (LPG) which is used as a clean-burning fuel for some farm vehicles.

Each type of energy has its own Carbon Footprint which is the emissions generated both by the quantity of fuel used and by the quantity of energy used in the production and supply of the fuel. For Sheepdrove, that is as follows:

Sheepdrove’s energy Carbon Footprint - measured in kg of CO2
Electricity	210,218
Red diesel	202,020
Propane	111,740
Heating oil	55,260
White Diesel	43,320
Petrol	18,361
LPG	9,300
TOTAL CO2	650,219 kg

 

Electricity, unit-for-unit, creates a larger Carbon Footprint than diesel because it is usually generated by fossil fuels, and efficiency is low, with half the energy lost during generation and along the national grid. So it actually has the highest CO₂ figure although it is not the largest energy source for the farm.

Savings first

Our strategy to reduce greenhouse gases is prioritised in this order: energy efficiency; buying low-carbon energy alternatives; and creatinglow-carbon energy on site.

Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre is our best example of energy efficiency: highly insulated, partly set into a chalk bank to save heat, the building makes the most of with natural light and ventilation.

Energy savings can also be achieved in many small ways and simple actions can be very effective. For example, we carry out regular checks of tyre pressure, lubricant levels, and so on to ensure vehicles operate at their best. Tractor tyre pressure too low by 2 PSI can increase fuel consumption by 3%. (Multiply your annual petrol bill by 3% to see how much that saves!)

We also save energy with our Reedbed Water Treatment System, which ecologically cleans and recycles 7 million litres of wastewater every year without any need for power. This means a massive energy saving, equivalent to 3,080 kg CO₂ offset from our Carbon Footprint.

Saving the Albert Hall

Sheepdrove runs on 100% renewable electricity supplied by Ecotricity. Choosing Ecotricity saved all the CO₂ that shadows standard grid electricity. This shaves a massive 33% off Sheepdrove’s total energy Carbon Footprint - that’s 210 tonnes of CO₂ – more than enough gas to fill the Royal Albert Hall every year! Read more...

Biodiesel is a low-carbon alternative fuel that we use on the farm to replace white diesel. However, although we source this in the UK, it is debateable whether biodiesel is sustainable with today’s methods. The rapeseed crop relies on fossil-fuel inputs and pesticides. New research also shows that it emits NO₂ which might cancel out it's CO₂ saving. So we would prefer not to use too much of that!

We also have 2 electric-powered work buggies and a G-wiz car at the farm, running on Ecotricity.

Think global, act local

Locally-produced energy is better for the environment. The farm is making good progress creating its own renewable energy on site.

Solar electricity cells and tiny windmills run feeders and lights in the mobile chicken houses, and the same system powers a security gate. Sheepdrove is also gradually increasing microgeneration scale solar and wind power. (not a wind farm!)

Future plans for a special anaerobic digester to treat waste from the processing unit are particularly exciting because it will deal with problematic material, and recycle the nutrients from it. Solids and liquids from the digestor would be rich in nutrients and can be fed into aquaculture and composting. Dealing with this waste on the farm will reduce the costs and Carbon Footprint linked to transport and disposal. Using the compost to boost food production makes for low-impact agriculture too.

There are also plans to install Ground Source Heat Pumps at Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre to save a further 4,169 kg of CO₂ per year.

Carbon saving measures	CO2 saved annually (kg)	% of total CO2 for energy
Already in place
Ecotricity 100% renewable tariff	210,218	32.33
Reedbed System recycling water	3240	0.50
Eco Conference Centre water savings	48	0.01
Sub-total	213,508	32.84
Future projects
Solar PV Tracker	805	0.12
Ground Source Heat Pump	4169	0.64
Sub-total	4,974	0.76
Total	218,482	33.6

 

Find out your Carbon Footprint and how to shrink it

ACTON - estimate your C-footprint at this animated website. Businesses should visit the Carbon Trust website for free downloads, special loans for energy efficient investments, and advisory services. Or phone 0845 085 2005. For the UK footprint click here.