Dairy farmers praised for surpassing climate targets
© Tim Scrivener UK dairy farmers are being commended for achieving an 18.05% improvement in energy efficiency since 2008, beating two industry targets.
Latest Environment Agency results reveal how the 2020 Climate Change Agreement and Dairy Roadmap targets of 13.6% and 15% energy efficiency improvements have been beaten.
Dairy UK said a 23% increase in water efficiency and a 30% increase in waste either recovered or recycled since 2008 have been key in the achievement.
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Dr Judith Bryans, chief executive of Dairy UK, said: “These are incredibly positive results, which demonstrate the effective steps taken by the UK dairy industry to reduce its environmental footprint and meet the targets of the Dairy Roadmap.”
How have farms passed targets?
- 18% increase in primary energy efficiency (kWh/tonne)
- 23% increase in water efficiency (m3/tonne)
- 17.5% increase in raw effluent efficiency (m3/tonne)
- 56% decrease in COD (chemical oxygen demand) per m3 raw effluent
- A 30% shift in the destination of waste away from landfill and towards recovery or recycling
Source: Dairy UK Environmental Benchmarking report