SUSTAINABILITY 78 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE December 2024 and the banking sector for evaluating financing activity using Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria. NATURAL CARBON CYCLE IN FOOD PRODUCTION Food production involves a natural (referred to as ‘green’) carbon cycle. Put simply: in agricultural and grassland production, naturally occurring carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and converted into plant biomass. This biomass is either consumed directly by humans or converted by farm animals into meat, milk, and eggs. This carbon dioxide is exhaled back into the atmosphere, continuing the cycle. However, to sustain this cycle, we often rely on fossil fuels, which emit additional (referred to as ‘black’) carbon dioxide that does not originate from the natural cycle, leading to an atmospheric increase in greenhouse gases. These emissions come from the operation of machinery, production of fertilizers refrigeration, transportation, and retail. The carbon footprint of food includes only the ‘black’ carbon, while the ‘green' carbon dioxide is not contributing to climate change. COMPONENTS OF CARBON EMISSIONS ‘Black’ carbon dioxide comes from various sources: • Fossil emissions: These result from diesel, gasoline, natural gas, and oil consumption, both directly on the farm and in the production of machinery and inputs (e.g., fertilizers). In dairy and beef production, this can constitute 30% to 50% of total emissions. • Biogenic emissions: These include other climate-relevant gases such as methane and nitrous oxide from enteric fermentation and manure storage and application. These gases trap more heat than CO2, but fades from the atmosphere in about a decade, in comparison to the century of CO2. In dairy and beef production, biogenic emissions account for 20% to 40% of total emissions, mainly due to methane from natural fermentation in the animal’s rumen. Methane can be significantly reThe green and black carbon cycle:
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