1. Mitigation of non CO2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agriculture
Presentation to the in-session workshop of the Ad-hoc Working Group
New Zealand Delegation to COP/MOP12

2. Agriculture greenhouse gas emissions
Represents ~14% of global GHG emissions
Represents ~7.4% of Annex 1 emissions
Represents ~26% of non-Annex 1 emissions
Mitigation options are relatively limited

3. Agriculture is important
Agriculture supplies food to the world – population expected to increase from 6 billion to 9 billion by 2050
Agriculture is important for the sustainable development of communities and national economies, for both developed and developing countries

4. Energy – other processes 15.1%
New Zealand emissions
Waste 2.5%
(mainly methane)
Transport 19.2%
(CO2)
Energy – other processes 15.1%
Industrial processes 5.6%
(mainly CO2)
Solvents 0.1%
Agriculture 49.4%
(methane and nitrous oxide)
Electricity 8.1%
fertiliser 3%
urine 15%
methane 31%
air travel 1.3%

5. NZ agriculture situation
A reliance on the export of primary products
Dynamic land use – meeting market demand
49% of total GHG emissions from agriculture (highest of any developed country)
Highly efficient production

6. NZ’s agriculture emissions profile

7. The challenge Biological systems are complex
64% of New Zealand’s agricultural emissions have no current feasible mitigation solution
At present, practical mitigation options for grazing ruminants and grazed pastures are limited
More research is required globally, however, this is of a lower priority in most developed countries

8. Current focus in agriculture
PGGRC – a government/sector partnership for agriculture research
Measurement crucial
Technology adoption becoming more of a focus

9. Mitigation of ruminant methane emissions
Animal variability
Genetics (variation between animals – g-CH4/kg dm intake)
Nutrition
Production system
Microbial
Direct modification of microbial processes: Protozoa, Acetogens, Phage, Methanogens
Vaccination
Monensin (up to 10%) - in grain diets – forage diets 0%
Medium chain fats
Plants
Plant extracts
Plant species (tannins up to 10%)
High sugar grasses

10. Mitigation of nitrous oxide emissions
Reduce the amount of excreta N
Replace N boosted grass with maize silage
High sugar grasses
Shift N balance from urine to dung
Increase N efficiency of excreta and N fertiliser
Restricted grazing of dairy and beef animals
Effluent utilisation on dairy farms
Nitrogen fertiliser timing, rates and forms
Nitrification inhibitors – DCD has real promise and is commercially available in NZ
Avoid anaerobic soil conditions
Improve drainage
Avoid compaction

11. Conclusions
There is no simple single solution for CH4 and N2O from agriculture - a package of measures will be required
Reducing methane emissions from grazing ruminants currently has limited options available
Options need to be evaluated at the farm scale and for all three major GHGs collectively – GHG footprint of total system
GHG measurement will continue to be an issue
Increased international effort – particularly in ruminant methane mitigation in pastoral agriculture is needed