DEFRA has commissioned a number of studies, some of which are ongoing, to assess the environmental impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from several agricultural commodities throughout their lifecycle. This includes assessment of commodities produced in different farming systems (including organic). The most relevant studies are listed as follows:
Project AC020: A study of the scope for the application of research in animal genomics and breeding to reduce nitrogen and methane emissions from livestock based food chains—published in April 2008.
Project AC020: Developing technologies to improve the fertility of dairy cows—published in January 2008.
Project AC0206: Agriculture and climate change: turning results into practical action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—A review—published in July 2007.
Project AC0207: The translation of existing research outputs into actions that reduce pollution gas emissions from agriculture—due for imminent completion.
Project AC0208: The limits to a sustainable livestock sector in the UK—due for imminent completion.
Project AC0209: Ruminant nutrition regimes to reduce methane and nitrogen emissions—due for completion in March 2010.
Project IS0205: Determining the environmental burdens and resource use in the production of agricultural and horticultural commodities—published in August 2005.
Project IS0222: Developing and delivering environmental Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) of agricultural systems—due to be completed in September 2010.
Project AC0210: Economic and environmental impacts of livestock production in the UK—due to be completed in July 2010.
Project AC0214: Roadmaps integrating RTD in developing realistic GHG mitigation options from agriculture up to 2030—due for imminent completion.
Project AC0216: Review of the Marginal Abatement Cost Curves for Agriculture produced for the Committee on Climate Change—due for imminent completion.
Project AC0219: Methane emissions by individual dairy cows under commercial conditions—due to be completed in March 2010
Project AC0310. Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation—a Risk Based Approach—due for completion in April 2010.
Project AC0406: The optimisation and impacts of expanding biogas production—due for completion in January 2010.
Project WQ0106: Quantitative Assessment of Scenarios for Managing Trade-Off Between Economics, Environment and Media—completed 2009.