IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agisys/v110y2012icp142-151.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Greenhouse gas emission intensities and economic efficiency in crop production: A systems analysis of 95 farms

Author

Listed:
  • Bonesmo, Helge
  • Skjelvåg, Arne Oddvar
  • Henry Janzen, H.
  • Klakegg, Ove
  • Tveito, Ole Einar

Abstract

To increase food production while mitigating climate change, cropping systems in the future will need to reduce greenhouse gas emission per unit of production. We conducted an analysis of 95 arable farms in Norway to calculate farm scale emissions of greenhouse gases, expressed both as CO2 eq per unit area, and CO2 eq per kg DM produced and to describe relationships between the farms’ GHG intensities and their economic efficiencies (gross margin). The study included: (1) design of a farm scale model for net GHG emission from crop production systems; (2) establishing a consistent farm scale data set for the farms with required soil, weather, and farm operation data; (3) a stochastic simulation of the variation in the sources of GHG emission intensities, and sensitivity analysis of selected parameters and equations on GHG emission intensities; and (4) describing relationships between GHG emission intensities and gross margins on farms. Among small seed and grain crops the variation in GHG emissions per kg DM was highest in oilseed (emission intensity at the 75th percentile level was 1.9 times higher than at the 25th percentile). For barley, oats, spring wheat, and winter wheat, emissions per kg DM at the 75th percentile levels were between 1.4 and 1.6 times higher than those at the 25th percentiles. Similar trends were observed for emissions per unit land area. Invariably soil N2O emission was the largest source of GHG emissions, accounting for almost half of the emissions. The second largest source was the off farm manufacturing of inputs (∼25%). Except for the oilseed crop, in which soil carbon (C) change contributed least, the on farm emissions due to fuel use contributed least to the total GHG intensities (∼10%). The soil C change contributed most to the variability in GHG emission intensities among farms in all crops, and among the sensitivity elasticities the highest one was related to environmental impacts on soil C change. The high variation in GHG intensities evident in our study implies the potential for significant mitigation of GHG emissions. The GHG emissions per kg DM (intensity) decreased with increasing gross margin in grain and oilseed crops, suggesting that crop producers have economic incentives to reduce GHG emissions.

Suggested Citation

  • Bonesmo, Helge & Skjelvåg, Arne Oddvar & Henry Janzen, H. & Klakegg, Ove & Tveito, Ole Einar, 2012. "Greenhouse gas emission intensities and economic efficiency in crop production: A systems analysis of 95 farms," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 142-151.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:110:y:2012:i:c:p:142-151
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2012.04.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X12000595
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agsy.2012.04.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin, Philip L., 2007. "Immigration and Agriculture (PowerPoint)," Agricultural Outlook Forum 2007 8037, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Outlook Forum.
    2. Richardson, James W. & Klose, Steven L. & Gray, Allan W., 2000. "An Applied Procedure For Estimating And Simulating Multivariate Empirical (Mve) Probability Distributions In Farm-Level Risk Assessment And Policy Analysis," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 32(2), pages 1-17, August.
    3. Huang, Jikun & Rozelle, Scott & Martin, William J. & Liu, Yu, 2007. "Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in China," Agricultural Distortions Working Paper Series 48478, World Bank.
    4. Charles Raux, 2010. "The potential for CO2 emissions trading in transport: the case of personal vehicles and freight," Post-Print halshs-00566195, HAL.
    5. Beauchemin, Karen A. & Henry Janzen, H. & Little, Shannan M. & McAllister, Tim A. & McGinn, Sean M., 2010. "Life cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from beef production in western Canada: A case study," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(6), pages 371-379, July.
    6. Hardaker, J. Brian & Lien, Gudbrand D., 2005. "Towards some principles of good practice for decision analysis in agriculture," 2005 Conference (49th), February 9-11, 2005, Coff's Harbour, Australia 137925, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    7. Chen, Suyin & Zhang, Xiying & Sun, Hongyong & Ren, Tusheng & Wang, Yanmei, 2010. "Effects of winter wheat row spacing on evapotranpsiration, grain yield and water use efficiency," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(8), pages 1126-1132, August.
    8. Kym Anderson & Will Martin, 2009. "Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Asia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2611, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bonnin, Dennis & Tabacco, Ernesto & Borreani, Giorgio, 2021. "Variability of greenhouse gas emissions and economic performances on 10 Piedmontese beef farms in North Italy," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    2. Korsaeth, Audun & Henriksen, Trond Maukon & Roer, Anne-Grete & Hammer Strømman, Anders, 2014. "Effects of regional variation in climate and SOC decay on global warming potential and eutrophication attributable to cereal production in Norway," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 9-18.
    3. Wen Wang & Liping Guo & Yingchun Li & Man Su & Yuebin Lin & Christian Perthuis & Xiaotang Ju & Erda Lin & Dominic Moran, 2015. "Greenhouse gas intensity of three main crops and implications for low-carbon agriculture in China," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 57-70, January.
    4. Banaszuk, Piotr & Wysocka-Czubaszek, Agnieszka & Czubaszek, Robert & Roj-Rojewski, Sławomir, 2015. "Skutki energetycznego wykorzystania biomasy," Village and Agriculture (Wieś i Rolnictwo), Polish Academy of Sciences (IRWiR PAN), Institute of Rural and Agricultural Development, vol. 4(169).
    5. Wang, Wen, 2015. "Intégrer l'agriculture dans les politiques d'atténuation chinoises," Economics Thesis from University Paris Dauphine, Paris Dauphine University, number 123456789/14999 edited by Perthuis, Christian de.
    6. Tang, Kai & Hailu, Atakelty & Kragt, Marit E. & Ma, Chunbo, 2018. "The response of broadacre mixed crop-livestock farmers to agricultural greenhouse gas abatement incentives," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 11-20.
    7. Özkan Gülzari, Şeyda & Åby, Bente Aspeholen & Persson, Tomas & Höglind, Mats & Mittenzwei, Klaus, 2017. "Combining models to estimate the impacts of future climate scenarios on feed supply, greenhouse gas emissions and economic performance on dairy farms in Norway," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 157-169.
    8. Samsonstuen, Stine & Åby, Bente A. & Crosson, Paul & Beauchemin, Karen A. & Bonesmo, Helge & Aass, Laila, 2019. "Farm scale modelling of greenhouse gas emissions from semi-intensive suckler cow beef production," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Torres, Carlos M.M. Eleto & Kohmann, Marta M. & Fraisse, Clyde W., 2015. "Quantification of greenhouse gas emissions for carbon neutral farming in the Southeastern USA," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 64-75.
    2. Jones, Curtis D. & Fraisse, Clyde W. & Ozores-Hampton, Monica, 2012. "Quantification of greenhouse gas emissions from open field-grown Florida tomato production," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 64-72.
    3. Cheng, Kun & Ogle, Stephen M. & Parton, William J. & Pan, Genxing, 2013. "Predicting methanogenesis from rice paddies using the DAYCENT ecosystem model," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 261, pages 19-31.
    4. Huang, Hsin & von Lampe, Martin & van Tongeren, Frank, 2011. "Climate change and trade in agriculture," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 9-13, January.
    5. Rallo, Giovanni & González-Altozano, Pablo & Manzano-Juárez, Juan & Provenzano, Giuseppe, 2017. "Using field measurements and FAO-56 model to assess the eco-physiological response of citrus orchards under regulated deficit irrigation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 180(PA), pages 136-147.
    6. Lomax, Guy & Workman, Mark & Lenton, Timothy & Shah, Nilay, 2015. "Reframing the policy approach to greenhouse gas removal technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 125-136.
    7. Harris, Paul G. & Chow, Alice S.Y. & Symons, Jonathan, 2012. "Greenhouse gas emissions from cities and regions: International implications revealed by Hong Kong," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 416-424.
    8. Kristiina Regina & Jatta Sheehy & Merja Myllys, 2015. "Mitigating greenhouse gas fluxes from cultivated organic soils with raised water table," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 20(8), pages 1529-1544, December.
    9. Johnson, Kris A. & Polasky, Stephen & Nelson, Erik & Pennington, Derric, 2012. "Uncertainty in ecosystem services valuation and implications for assessing land use tradeoffs: An agricultural case study in the Minnesota River Basin," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 71-79.
    10. Nilsson, Måns & Persson, Åsa, 2012. "Reprint of “Can Earth system interactions be governed? Governance functions for linking climate change mitigation with land use, freshwater and biodiversity protection”," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 10-20.
    11. Nilsson, Måns & Persson, Åsa, 2012. "Can Earth system interactions be governed? Governance functions for linking climate change mitigation with land use, freshwater and biodiversity protection," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 61-71.
    12. Kathryn Bowen & Kristie Ebi & Sharon Friel, 2014. "Climate change adaptation and mitigation: next steps for cross-sectoral action to protect global health," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 19(7), pages 1033-1040, October.
    13. Conrad, Yvonne & Fohrer, Nicola, 2016. "Simulating impacts of silage maize (Zea mays) in monoculture and undersown with annual grass (Lolium perenne L.) on the soil water balance in a sandy-humic soil in Northwest Germany," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 52-65.
    14. B. Henderson & A. Falcucci & A. Mottet & L. Early & B. Werner & H. Steinfeld & P. Gerber, 2017. "Marginal costs of abating greenhouse gases in the global ruminant livestock sector," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 199-224, January.
    15. Glenk, Klaus & Shrestha, Shailesh & Topp, Cairstiona F.E. & Sánchez, Berta & Iglesias, Ana & Dibari, Camilla & Merante, Paolo, 2017. "A farm level approach to explore farm gross margin effects of soil organic carbon management," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 33-46.
    16. Hashimoto, Hidenori & Yamaguchi, Tsutomu & Kinoshita, Takahiro & Muromachi, Sanehiro, 2017. "Gas separation of flue gas by tetra-n-butylammonium bromide hydrates under moderate pressure conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 292-298.
    17. Roland Barthel & Tim Reichenau & Tatjana Krimly & Stephan Dabbert & Karl Schneider & Wolfram Mauser, 2012. "Integrated Modeling of Global Change Impacts on Agriculture and Groundwater Resources," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(7), pages 1929-1951, May.
    18. Garnett, Tara, 2011. "Where are the best opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the food system (including the food chain)?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(S1), pages 23-32.
    19. Jikun Huang & Yu Liu & Will Martin & Scott Rozelle, 2010. "Agricultural Trade Reform and Rural Prosperity: Lessons from China," NBER Chapters, in: China's Growing Role in World Trade, pages 397-423, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Jinzhao Chen, 2015. "Interprovincial Competitiveness and Economic Growth: Evidence from Chinese Provincial Data (1992–2008)," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 388-414, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:110:y:2012:i:c:p:142-151. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agsy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.