Planting a path to C02 reduction
The planting of more forestry on farms will be key in the battle to cut down our greenhouse gas emissions, writes Steven Meyen
THERE’S an old saying about forestry that goes: the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second best time is now.
Trees and forests take time to mature. Bit by bit, they deliver more and more ecosystem goods and services such as habitats, timber production, recreation and air quality improvement. They also contribute significantly to combating climate change.
And we have strong challenges ahead meeting our climate targets; 197 countries signed up to the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global temperature rise to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. The EU has also set emission reduction targets. Ireland needs to reduce its emissions by 30pc by 2030, compared to 2005 levels.
These targets present significant challenges to Irish agriculture, which accounts for one third of national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions already; while agricultural production, particularly in the dairy sector, is growing and Food Wise 2025 has ambitious targets for further growth in both primary production and exports.
Teagasc researchers and others have worked to identify cost-effective ways to reduce agricultural emissions. In the absence of any GHG limiting or reducing measures, agricultural GHG emissions are projected to increase by 9pc by 2030 relative to 2005 levels. The actual extent of increase by 2030 is uncertain; it will depend on future changes in animal numbers and fertiliser inputs.
Teagasc research has quantified the potential of a range of on-farm measures to help meet our climate challenges by improving farm efficiency even further. If we can produce food with fewer inputs, then this reduces emissions to the atmosphere and costs to the farmer.
This will be achieved through adoption of measures such as dairy EBI, beef genomics, improved animal health, extending the grazing season, and use of sexed semen. Improved nutrient management planning will help increase nitrogen efficiency and reduce nitrous oxide emissions.
In addition to achieving fur- ther farm efficiencies, Teagasc has identified the planting of trees as a key strategy to reduce agricultural emissions. Carbon sequestration is the removal of carbon dioxide from our atmosphere and its storage in plant biomass, deadwood and harvested wood products.
Irish forests removed 3.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent from the atmosphere, based on Ireland’s National Inventory Report 2017 on Greenhouse Gas Emissions to the United Nations Frame-
Biomass
This can be done not only through the maintenance of existing forests and the creation of new ones, but also in the utilisation of wood for energy by displacing fossil fuels.
For example, over 1.5 million tonnes of forest-based biomass was used for energy purposes in Ireland in 2016. This helped to avoid another 761,000 tonnes of CO2 from fossil fuel use.
The energy cost of buildings is significantly reduced by substituting energy-intensive products such as aluminium, concrete and steel by wood products. Wood is one of the very few sustainable, renewable and home-grown construction materials we have.
WOOD IS ONE OF THE FEW SUSTAINABLE, HOME-GROWN CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS WE HAVE
Steven Meyen is a Teagasc forestry advisor; email: steven.meyen@teagasc.ie