2020
6000 Selling
Daily calories per capita
5000
Transporting Packaging
4000
Processing Farming
3000
2000
1000
0 Pet food
Cereals
Dairy
Meat & Eggs
Oils, sugars, snacks, baking
Figure 2. Daily per capita energy input to the US food system, by food group and production phase, excluding household energy use. Source: Beyond food miles by Michael Bornford.
the Garnaut report contributes 16 per cent to the economy’s total emissions and is the main source of both methane (67 per cent) and nitrous oxide (77 per cent). While agricultural production is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, agriculture also provides untapped opportunities for GHG mitigation (reducing emissions). These opportunities fall into two categories: reducing methane and nitrous oxide emissions from animal and plant systems, and sequestering carbon in soil and vegetation. Global research undertaken by Peter Smith has shown that if there were a carbon price of US$100 then the market potential for agriculture to undertake the above practices of reducing emissions and/or increasing soil carbon storage would be US$420 billion per
144
year. With a carbon price of US$20, the market potential for agriculture would be worth US$32 billion per year. This is a potentially significant additional source of income for agriculturalists. Our dilemma is that in future the agricultural industry will be expected to reduce emissions. However, emissions from agriculture are presently increasing and are expected to increase further due to increased demand for food from population growth and shifts in consumption patterns. Can agriculture meet this challenge of doubling food production to feed the growing population and concurrently deliver steep reductions in GHG emissions?