Processing & Products

S OF PAPERS 205 The tool was designed using International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emission factors and equations and estimates GHG emissions that occur within the boundaries of the poultry farm that are under the control of the poultry producer. The carbon footprint estimation tool converts farm inputs into carbon footprint equivalents (CO2e). These farm inputs include energy bills such as kilowatt hours of electricity used, gallons of liquid petroleum gas (LPG), and gallons of diesel fuel used. These emissions are classified as “mechanical sources.” Other inputs include number of houses on the farm, number of birds raised each year and the number of days they are alive and number of flocks raised each year. These inputs are used to estimate emissions from manure storage and handling and are classified as “non-mechanical sources.” The tool does not calculate emissions from enteric fermentation due to the lack of emission factors for poultry. A GHG inventory is generated when the calculations are completed, giving the user a summary of the total emissions and where the emissions are coming from. Although we observed differences in the carbon footprint from the poultry companies in the three different regions in the state, these differences were not significant statistically. The majority of the emissions from all three complexes were from LPG use (typically used for heating and incineration). Liquid petroleum gas was responsible for 83.4% of the total emissions from company A, while LPG represented 82.7% of the total emissions from company B and 80.9% from company C. Company C had the highest total emissions per house (523.9 T CO2e), while company A having the lowest levels (383.3 T CO2e) and company B (405.5 T CO2e) was in the middle. The user can utilize the tool to see projected emissions based on suggested changes or improvements to his/her operations. This could include; use of energy efficient light bulbs, installation of circulating fans, sealing/ tightening or adding insulation to the houses, installing insulated tunnel inlet doors, etc. Such changes would have an impact on GHG emissions by reducing the overall carbon footprint of the farm.