Carbon Emissions

Facts on Carbon Emissions:

• Agriculture lands occupy 37% of the earths surface and are responsiple for a large quantity of greenhouse gases, i.e. 52% methane gas, 84% Nitrous oxide, and a portion of CO2 emmissions.
• Our mission is to find a solution to limit CO2 production in agriculture practices.
• Crops being are able to mitigate pollution, but the net flux is so minimal that it is ineffectual.
• We propose a sollution to agriculture practices: Our standards, if they gain momentum, would greatly reduce carbon emissions in the next decade.

Solutions:

3 big things farmers need to do to lower their Carbon emissions: Conversion of cropland to perennial grasses, switching to conservation tillage (no-till), and practice afforestation

• According to the Organic Trade Association, data from pasture trials and farming systems show that we could sequester more than 100% of current annual CO2 emissions with a switch to regenerative organic agriculture. This practice works to maximize carbon fixation while lessening the loss of that carbon once returned to the soil.

• As stated by “Economics of Sequestering Carbon in the U.S Agricultural Sector” by USDA, Soil scientists have estimated that increased adoption of conservation tillage has the potential to sequester up to 107 million metric ton additional carbon.

• Also noted by the USDA is that “for grazing lands, afforestation ranks highest in both per acre carbon sequestration and total potential carbon sequestration.

• Not only that, but biofuels can be used to replace diesel fuels in machinery. The average per acre reduction in net carbon emissions associated with biofuel crops at 1.42 metric tons for fuel substitution and 0.4 metric tons in additional soil carbon.

• So, to cut carbon emissions and to increase carbon storage in the soil, organic farmers need to switch to conservation tillage, practice afforestation, convert cropland to perennial grasses, and consider using more biofuel instead of diesel.