Abstract

Carbon calculators are programs for calculating greenhouse gas emissions (a carbon footprint) from agricultural production on the farm scale. They are created on the base of the IPCC methods but have not been used in Russia yet. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of their application to assess emissions from livestock production and to develop recommendations for their reduction. The four most common calculators, i.e., the Cool Farm Tool, the AgRE-Calc, the Farm Carbon Calculator, and Ex-Act, were selected as the study objects. Among them, the Cool Farm Tool is recognized as the most convenient and effective, while the AgRE-Calc and the Farm Carbon Calculator do not fully present the technological features of animal husbandry. Ex-Act is ill-suited for the livestock sector because it is based on changes of land use. According to model experiments, the most efficient type of farming in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions is full grazing, in which manure is left in the fields, and there are no expenses for production of additional feed. In this case, the emissions are reduced by 2.45 and 0.84 t СО₂-eq./head-yr for cows and horses, respectively (the Cool Farm Tool); as well as by 0.53 and 0.42 t СО₂-eq./head-yr for cows and horses, respectively (the Farm Carbon Calculator). However, this leads to extensive farm management. The second variant is changing the diet, including expenses for feed production: exclusion of green crops from the diet in case of keeping in stalls will reduce emissions by 0.05 (the AgRE-Calc) to 0.14 (the Cool Farm Tool) t СО₂-eq./head-yr, and exclusion of silage will lead to a decrease by 0.96 t CO₂-eq./head-yr, although such decisions may worsen the diet balance. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production, it is recommended that the number of domestic animals be gradually decreased. The Farm Carbon Calculator, the AgRE-Calc, and Ex-Act significantly overestimate the intensity of greenhouse gas sequestration by forests. Because of the discrepancy in the estimates between the calculators, they should be used comprehensively.

中文翻译：

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碳计算器作为评估牲畜温室气体排放的工具

摘要

碳计算器是用于以农场规模计算农业生产中的温室气体排放量（碳足迹）的程序。它们是根据IPCC方法创建的，但尚未在俄罗斯使用。这项研究的目的是分析其应用的有效性，以评估畜牧生产产生的排放并提出减少排放的建议。选择了四个最常用的计算器，即“凉爽农场工具”，“ AgRE-Calc”，“农场碳计算器”和“实际”作为研究对象。其中，“凉爽农场工具”被认为是最方便，最有效的工具，而AgRE-Calc和“农场碳计算器”却没有充分体现畜牧业的技术特征。Ex-Act不适合畜牧业，因为它基于土地用途的变化。根据模型实验，就减少温室气体排放而言，最有效的耕作方式是完全放牧，其中将粪便留在田间，而且没有生产额外饲料的费用。在这种情况下，排放量减少了2.45和0.84 tСО牛和马分别为₂当量/头年（凉爽农场工具）；以及由0.53和0.42吨СО ₂ -eq./head-yr分别用于牛和马，（农场碳计算器）。但是，这导致了广泛的农场管理。第二变型是改变的饮食，包括用于进料生产费用：从饮食绿色作物的排斥在档位保持将由0.05（所述AGRE-CALC）排放量减少到0.14（酷农场工具）tСО的情况下₂ - eq./head-yr，并且不包括青贮饲料，将导致0.96 t CO ₂的减少-eq./head-yr，尽管这样的决定可能会恶化饮食平衡。为了减少畜牧生产产生的温室气体排放，建议逐渐减少家畜的数量。农场碳计算器，AgRE-Calc和Ex-Act大大高估了森林吸收温室气体的强度。由于计算器之间的估计差异，因此应综合使用它们。