Microbial production and consumption of greenhouse gases (GHG) is influenced by temperature and nutrients, especially during the first few weeks after agricultural fertilization. The effect of fertilization on GHG fluxes should occur during and shortly after application, yet data indicating how application timing affects both GHG fluxes and crop yields during a growing season are lacking. We de...

BACKGROUND Claims about the environmental benefits of charring biomass and applying the resulting "biochar" to soil are impressive. If true, they could influence land management worldwide. Alleged benefits include increased crop yields, soil fertility, and water-holding capacity; the most widely discussed idea is that applying biochar to soil will mitigate climate change. This claim rests on th...

The goal of this review was to analyze published data on animal management practices that mitigate enteric methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from animal operations. Increasing animal productivity can be a very effective strategy for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per unit of livestock product. Improving the genetic potential of animals through planned cross-breeding or se...

On-farm activities that reduce GHG emissions or sequester carbon from the atmosphere to compensate for anthropogenic emissions are currently being evaluated by the Australian Government as carbon offset opportunities. The aim of this study was to examine the implications of establishing and grazing Kikuyu pastures, integrated as part of a mixed Merino sheep and cropping system, as a carbon offs...

Perennial bioenergy crops have significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contribute to climate change mitigation by substituting for fossil fuels; yet delivering significant GHG savings will require substantial land-use change, globally. Over the last decade, research has delivered improved understanding of the environmental benefits and risks of this transition to pere...

Within the broad set of climate change issues, one that is growing in controversy and potential importance is the ancillary benefits and costs of policies to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs). Ancillary benefits and costs are externalities arising from GHG abatement policies that are achieved jointly with the reduction of GHGs in the atmosphere. Analysts have attempted to identify and in some case...

Several problems exist in accurately quantifying the greenhouse gases (GHG) which result from the production, transportation, usage, and recycling of products. We review in this paper the current attempts at measuring GHG emissions and investigate the potential of UbiComp technologies in improving the state of the art in carbon footprint calculation and in communicating the result to consumers....

This work analyzes the environmental impacts of milk production in an intensive dairy farm situated in the Northern Italy region of the Po Valley. Three manure management scenarios are compared: in Scenario 1 the animal slurry is stored in an open tank and then used as fertilizer. In scenario 2 the manure is processed in an anaerobic digestion plant and the biogas produced is combusted in an in...

Given increased interest by all stakeholders to better understand the contribution of animal agriculture to climate change, it is important that appropriate methodologies be used when measuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from animal agriculture. Similarly, a fundamental understanding of the differences between methods is necessary to appropriately compare data collected using different appr...

PREFACE The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiated preparation of this Protocol as part of its commitment to assist the PFC Emissions Reduction/Climate Partnership for the Semiconductor Industry (the Partnership) to achieve its voluntary fluorinated greenhouse gas (F-GHG) emission reduction and reporting goals. F-GHGs include the most powerful and often persistent greenhouse gase...