Greenhouse gas emissions from the cultivation of canola oilseed in Australia

[摘要] Australia is a major supplier of canola1 into the European Union biodiesel market, with over1.7 million tonnes exported annually to European countries. The European Commission’sRenewable Energy Directive (RED) sets a mandated target of 35% greenhouse gas (GHG)savings, compared to fossil fuels, for biofuels entering the EU transportation fuel market. InJanuary 2018, this target will increase to 50% for biofuel installations in operation at 5October 2015. For installations commissioned since this date, the savings target is now 60%.Currently, an international total default value of 38% savings in GHG emissions applies tocanola, relative to emissions from the use of mineral diesel, and this has allowed Australiancanola to enter the European Union (EU) biodiesel market without the need to verify GHGemissions. However, there is now a need to independently verify emissions associated withcanola production, and to meet this need Australia has prepared an equivalent “CountryReport” to those produced by EU Member states. This “Australian Country Report” has beenprepared by the Australian Government Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial ResearchOrganisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national research agency, to document the GHG emissionsassociated with the cultivation of canola (to the farm gate), for submission to the EuropeanCommission (EC). This resource will enable grain importers to ascertain if they can sourcecanola from Australia and still meet the revised GHG savings target, in a similar way to howthe EU Country Reports are now widely being used.Estimates of GHG emissions were undertaken at the State level as these regions withinAustralia are the most similar to NUTS2 regions in Europe. At a national level, GHGemissions associated with canola cultivation were 0.468 tonne CO2-eq/tonne canola seedharvested. When converted to a dry matter (DM) basis, by adjusting for moisture content,the emissions were 0.497 tonne CO2-eq/tonne canola seed DM. GHG emissions on a Statebasis ranged from 0.439 to 0.967 tonne CO2-eq/tonne canola seed DM (expressed as tonneCO2-eq per tonne of harvested grain at the farm-gate on a dry matter basis).The greatest emissions from canola cultivation came from the manufacture of fertiliser,followed by N2O from crop residues and CO2 from fuel use, with direct + indirect N2Oemissions from soil also making a significant contribution. Variation in GHG emissionsbetween the States was largely driven by climate variables such as rainfall andevapotranspiration, while high rainfall and irrigated systems, although having higher cropyields, had higher emissions largely associated with greater nitrogen inputs and N2Oemissions.This report and the emissions calculations have been reviewed by three independentorganisations – University of Melbourne (Australia), SGS Germany GmbH (Germany) and Deutsches Blomasseforschungszentrum DBFZ (Germany). The final report incorporates thereview feedback as an Appendix.

[发布机构] CSIRO

[学科分类] 地球科学(综合)