1. Outline
The Climate Change Committee (CCC) commissioned the Scottish Rural College (SRUC) to update the abatement potential from a range on-farm measures covering behavioural practices and technological options.
Agriculture currently accounts for around 11% of UK emissions. Based on current understanding, it is not possible to reduce agricultural emissions to zero due to the biological processes inherent in crop and livestock production. However, there are a range of measures and practices that farmers can deploy to reduce emissions from the management of soils, livestock and their wastes and manures.
This report reflects the views of SRUC and does not represent the views of the CCC.
2. Key messages
- This report provides the annual abatement potential between 2025 and 2050 from the uptake of 29 measures that cover livestock feed and diets, livestock health, livestock breeding, management of waste and manures, robotic milking, faster finishing beef, and management of arable and grassland soils.
- The measures were selected for their efficacy to reduce emissions, low probability of negative co-effects, and for being cost-effective against assumed carbon values.
- Under the Balanced Pathway, these measures deliver emissions savings for the UK of around 4 MtCO2e in 2040, which is the middle of the Seventh Carbon Budget period.
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