Recently in Carbon footprint Category

The government has published its draft Energy Bill, which sets out measures to deliver a “secure, affordable and low carbon economy”.

The Bill includes a number of proposals, such as long-term incentives for companies to invest in low carbon generation, transition arrangements for investment under the Renewables Obligation scheme, and policies to ensure the security of the electricity market.

But the Renewable Energy Association said any policies should ensure fair treatment for renewables, small and mid-scale players and consumers. With energy bills forecast to keep rising because of increasing gas prices, any reforms should limit price increases and not be the cause of higher electricity bills, REA chief executive Gaynor Hartnell said. Go to www.decc.gov.uk for more.

The UK dairy processing industry has cut its carbon emissions by over a quarter since 2000, equivalent to 75,000t a year, figures from Dairy Energy Savings show.

The company, which was set up by Dairy UK to operate the dairy sector Climate Change Agreement, says that in the past year alone UK dairy processors have cut carbon emissions by 2% and improved energy efficiency by the same amount.

DES chairman Gerry Sweeney said the government’s recent decision to extend the CCA scheme was good news for the industry and while some details of the scheme were still under review, he was confident the scheme would speed up further improvements.

Want to find out how to save money for your farm business by improving energy use and cutting greenhouse gas emissions? If so, then head to Oxfordshire next Monday (27 February) for the “Save money…saving emissions” conference.

The practical event will outline the pressures facing farmers and show how simple and strategic changes can improve your business. It will feature speakers from the industry, plus workshops led by farmers outlining what actions they have taken on their own farms.

Tickets cost £35 for farmers. See www.farmcarboncuttingtoolkit.org or call Adam Twine on 01367 700 616 for more information.

For every litre of milk produced, 1,309g of carbon dioxide equivalent is created, according to research carried out by DairyCo.

The report covers the first year of the three year research project which examines the impact of milk production on the environment.

A total of 415 dairy farms of various sizes, systems and geographical locations in the UK took part in the study which was part-funded by levy payers and match-funded by a number of participating milk processors.

“We are now able to provide the dairy industry with a point of reference for the carbon footprint of milk production from British dairy farms, based on current industry performance. This means we can benchmark any year-on-year improvements. This point of reference will also supply factual information to cross reference with other data sets being generated within the industry,” said Ray Keatinge head of research and development at DairyCo.

The carbon footprinting model has been verified by the Carbon Trust.

A £3m farm-based anaerobic digestion plant in Lancashire has been officially “switched on”.

The Carr Farm plant, near Warton, will produce biogas from silage and energy crops grown on surrounding land to generate 800kW of electricity, enough to power more than 1,000 homes.

Marks & Spencer has signed a five-year contract to buy the energy generated from the plant at a fixed price as part of its ‘Plan A’ commitment to procure more renewable energy from small-scale energy sources.

Carr Farm is the first in a series of farm-based AD plants being set up across the UK by developer Farmgen. The company is building a second plant near Silloth in Cumbria and has submitted planning applications for two others in Cumbria as part of its £30m investment programme.

Road fuel supplier Greenergy has started producing biofuel using oil and fats extracted from waste food.

In partnership with edible oil recycling specialist Brocklesby, oils are extracted from unsaleable fatty food such as crisps, pies and pastries, and then purified and converted to biodiesel at Greenergy’s Immingham facility.

The firm says only food that is not fit for sale is used, either because it is misshapen, overcooked or past its sell by date. Food is sourced from a variety of manufacturers nationally and other suitable foods include taramasalata and oil from fish frying containing high quantities of breadcrumbs.

Any food solids that remain after processing are dried and either composted or fed into an anaerobic digestor.

“The quantities of biodiesel that we’re currently producing from solid food waste are small, but we’re expecting to scale up so that this soon becomes a significant proportion of our biodiesel,” Greenergy chief executive Andrew Owens said.

“We’ve always tried to find ways of reducing the environmental impact of our fuel and as oil prices continue to rise, it’s obviously important to develop alternative sources of fuel.”

Northamptonshire based Weetabix Food Company is committing to using 100% British wheat for its Weetabix product, also to sourcing it from within 50 miles of the firm’s Burton Latimer production facility to keep food miles down.

Supplying Weetabix is financially attractive for growers, according to David Elderkin of Openfield. Volumes were increasing substantially year on year in a three year agreement. Growers are restricted to seven varieties and must be part of the Entry Level Scheme. Maize must not have been grown on the wheat land in the past three years.

Defra will have its budget cut by almost one-third, after chancellor George Osborne unveiled his spending review at lunchtime today.

The department faces cuts of about £240m a year over the next four years, reducing its overall budget by 29% to almost £1bn.

It’s still unclear how this will actually affect farmers and as with all these things, the devil will be in the detail that emerges over the next few days.

What we do know is that environmental schemes (namely ELS and HLS) and ‘green’ energy should escape relatively unscathed...

Ambitious plans to improve the environmental performance of the Welsh dairy industry over the next decade have been published.

The Dairy Roadmap for Wales has been created by a range of stakeholders including producers, milk processors and supermarkets, and sets out a number of environmental targets across the supply chain.

For producers, it aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from dairy farming by 20-30% by 2020, use 40% of energy from renewable sources and recycle 70% of non-natural on-farm waste.

The Roadmap identifies a number of practical areas where environmental performance can be improved, “without threatening the economic viability of the industry”.

PepsiCo UK has announced bold plans to cut the carbon emissions and water usage across its farmer suppliers by 50% over the next five years.

The parent company of Walkers, Quaker, Tropicana and Copella is one of the largest buyers of British potatoes, oats and apples, working with 350 British farmers.

Its Sustainable Farming Report details how the company will work with suppliers to reach its “50 in five” aim.

Measures include: The use of a computerised carbon calculator that allows farmers to analyse carbon use during farming practices and make effective changes; a trial of a novel low-carbon fertiliser; a new web-based crop management system that allows growers to maximise yield and quality; and a series of workshops where growers can learn how technology can reduce their carbon footprint.