CO2e, or carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent, is a standard unit for measuring carbon emissions. It expresses the impact of each different greenhouse gas in terms of the amount of CO2 that would create the same amount of warming. That way, a carbon footprint consisting of lots of different greenhouse gases can be expressed as a single number.
In DecipherAg, the amount of CO2e is calculated based on the amount and type of CSBP fertiliser applied to a paddock in a given season and is related back to the amount of yield within that paddock. The result is a figure of the amount of CO2e per Tonne.
Emissions have been calculated for each CSBP product using the Primary industries G-GAF (v10.7) framework. This framework is aligned with the Australian National Greenhouse Gas Inventory method used to predict Farm Level Greenhouse Gasses.
The factors are used to calculate Scope 3 and Scope 1 emissions:
- Scope 3, being the emissions embedded in the manufacturing of the product
- Scope 1, being the expected emissions from the application of the product.
The Scope 1 emissions calculations use two inputs to estimate the amount of emission that may have resulted from an application of fertiliser.
Is the annual rainfall for the area (farm) High or Low? This is based on if the rainfall was above or below 600mm
Was the fertiliser applied to a crop or pasture?
In DecipherAg there are a number of crop and pasture types.
The following have been classified as crops:
Wheat, Barley, Canola, Oats Grain and Oaten Hay, Lupin/Pulse Crop, Field Pea, Chick Pea, Faba Bean, Maize, Sorghum
The following have been classified as pastures:
Volunteer Pasture, Ryegrass, Lucerne, Kikuyu, Medic, Sub. Clover.
Learn how to review Co2e in DecipherAg here.