Agriculture is central to the Scottish economy, yet carbon accounting for agriculture is fraught with uncertainties, and a much greater understanding of these problems is needed in order to develop a robust framework for carbon accounting in this sector.

In order to inform this work the Best Available Techniques in Farming (BATFarm) project team at GCU will bring experts from Ireland and France to discuss their progress, however participants are encouraged to bring their own problems for discussion. The focus will be on the more practical problems of robustly measuring and attributing emissions to agriculture.

A summary of the outcomes of the workshop will be published on the ICARB website (www.icarb.org) and it is intended that participants and other interested parties will discuss this further prior to the ICARB Annual Conference in November. If you are intending to bring a problem or issue to the workshop and would like to flag it up in advance please email keith.baker@gcu.ac.uk

Agenda

1. Welcome and introduction – Dr Keith Baker, GCU and ICARB Steering Group

2. The BATFarm project – Dr Ole Pahl (5 mins)

3. Greenhouse gas emissions in animal husbandry – Dr Colin Burton, Cemagref, France (15 mins)

4. Methods and challenges for emission measurement from buildings and fields – Dr Gary Lanigan, Teagasc, Ireland (20 mins)

5. Issues and problems raised by participants (45 mins)

6. Group discussions (30 mins)

7. Feedback from groups and open forum session (30 mins)

8. Lunch and networking

Goals for this meeting

1. Discuss the integrated nature of emissions – potential downstream effects and upstream abatement

2. Discuss generally accepted methods for emissions measurement and existing guide values for emission factors

3. Discuss levels of uncertainty in emissions measurement for agriculture and their implications for carbon management and policy making

4. Discuss the implications of the above for the Scottish Carbon Budget

Details of International Speakers

Dr Colin Burton, Senior Researcher, CEMAGREF
Area of research: treatment of animal wastes to reduce their environmental impact.

Dr Gary Lanigan, Research Officer, Teagasc
Area of research: quantifying and drawing up mitigation strategies for gaseous emissions associated with agricultural practices. These emissions include the major greenhouse gases; carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, as well as non-greenhouse emissions, such as ammonia. Particularly interested in the effects of changes in land management and / or land use on nitrous oxide, carbon and ammonia fluxes.

Capacity is limited to 40 participants so please register in advance to avoid disappointment.