Individual calculations of the climate footprint of rapeseed cultivation and a new national emission factor can help facilitate the work, according to Emmelev A/S and the industry organization Dakofo.
There is interest among farmers in having an individual CO2 calculation made of the cultivationof rapeseed at the single-farm level.
This stated by Morten Simonsen, co-owner of Emmelev A/S, which this year has offered the calculation to the suppliers, and last week the calculations were presented to the Minister for Trepart, Jeppe Bruus, when he visited Emmelev on Nordfyn.
At the meeting was Lars Langskov Nielsen, Lykkeslund, who is a supplier to Emmelev and talked about some of the levers that can be turned on to climate-optimize the cultivation of rapeseed. Calculation examples from Lars Langskov Nielsen'srapeseed fields for the 2025 harvest were shown, where cultivation has emitted 62 grams less CO₂e compared to the standard values.
It was agreed that Jeppe Bruus would later visit him at home on the property to familiarize himself even more with the calculations and the challenges of implementing the Trepart.
At the meeting with Jeppe Bruus, another topic was the set-aside of agricultural land, where Nordfyn will also be affected. Nationwide, more than 140,000 hectares are to be set aside, and work is being done at full speed to make it all come together. Thus, the work can be intensified into next year, so that they are finished as promised in 2027.
Jeppe Bruus acknowledged the challenge that Lars Langskov Nielsen pointed out by saying that there can be a distortion, so that some farmers have to give more and some less. On the other hand, Lars Langeskov Nielsen pointed out that many farmers are willing to participate in the work if the compensation is fair based on the consideration that the alternative is worse.
At the meeting, Jeppe Bruus was also presented with the memorandum that Dakofo has prepared on the consequences of the lack of the Danish national emissionfactor. It was director Emil Dalsgaard Hansen who presented the memo.
Based on minutes by Jens Briand Thomsen and Kent Gordon
Article f4rom the press about emission factors:
Old climatefigures cost Danish plant breeding dearly
Climate emissions from plant breeding are almost 20 percent lower than the official figure shows. But Aarhus University is reluctant to use the new knowledge, andit costs dearly in international trade in crops.
The climate emissions from Danish plant breeders' use of fertilizer are actually about 20 percent less than the official theoretical figures indicate.
This isshown by figures from Aarhus University, which already two years ago presentedreal data on how large emissions actually are in the real world.
Nevertheless, it is still the theoretically high value that is also used internationally, and it costs Danish plant breeding dearly. Because emissions play a role in the value of the crops, explains director Emil Dalsgaard Hansen from Dakofo, which is the trade association for grain and feed companies, among others. The lower the emissions, the higher the price of the product.
Denmark has not yet adopted and implemented a national emission factor for nitrous oxide (N₂O) from manure in the official climate reporting (National InventoryDocument – NID).
Aarhus Universitet and Seges Innovation have data for the new lower national emissions, but Aarhus Universitet believe that they must be published in scientific journals before they can beused. It is Aarhus Universitet that makes the decision as to whether the new data basis is good enough to be used.
However, we do not have time to wait for this, because it costs Danish agriculture more and more money as climate emissions affect the value of the crops, says Emil Dalsgaard Hansen.
In fact, ina report from 2023, Aarhus University has shown that the direct N₂O emission for commercial fertilizers should be set at 0.3 percent and for livestock manure at 1.17 percent. Overall, the real climate emissions from the fertilizer are thus a lot less than the international standard value of 1 percent, and if you choose to use the real figure, the climate emissions from plant breeding will fall by almost 20 percent.
"This will be a new basis for calculations for estimating the total climate impact of agriculture, and it turns out that it is decreasing," says Emil Dalsgaard Hansen.
"There will be an ongoing regulation thanks to the fact that we get more and more data and knowledge in the area. In Denmark, we have a goal of reducing the climate impact by 70 percent compared to the level in 1990, and when we change the assumptions, we also change the calculation and get a more accurate picture ofthe situation.
This is beneficial for everyone and ensures that we get closer to what is actually happening in agriculture. It is fairer to be regulated according to facts, he says.
"This has concrete and increasing business economic consequences for Danish plant-based value chains, which are increasingly assessed and priced according to their climate impact. In Germany, a national emission factor has been introduced and therefore has a competitive advantage, and we at Dakofo are of course aware of this. We want equal competition in the market, and right now weare in a bad position compared to Germany, says Emil Dalsgaard Hansen.
A considerable part of the total climate emissions from the cultivation of the fields is made up of N₂O or nitrous oxide.
Forexample, they account for 60 percent of the total emissions from the cultivation of rapeseed. If you use the real figures to calculate the climate impact of rapeseed cultivation, biodiesel alone will have an increase indisplacement of almost five percent and thus become more valuable. It isestimated that the added value for biodiesel will be 25 US dollars per tonne,and thus the Danish rapeseed crop will be worth DKK 35 million more than it is today, according to a memo prepared by Dakofo.
Dakofo.
Represents grain and feed companies broadly as well as a number of food companies. It ranges from service industry, coarse goods companies, processing and trade.
