Towards Net Zero in Agriculture?
At the Energy Stories Lab, we think that some of Canada's most interesting energy stories are coming from the field of agriculture! When most people think of energy, agriculture doesn't necessarily come to mind first. We want to share some of the work-in-progress at our lab!
Did you know? 10% of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions are from crop and livestock production, excluding emissions from the use of fossil fuels or from fertilizer production (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2023).
Dr. Perić (co-PI) and Dr. Bettini are working with Dr. David Lobb (PI, UManitoba) on a large interdisciplinary project that will make substantive progress towards net-zero emissions for agriculture in Canada. This project proposes to bring together the challenges of soil erosion and carbon sequestration in order to better understand how Canada can both achieve its climate change goals, and also create sustainable agricultural systems. Canada’s agriculture sector plays an important role in the commitment to combat climate change, especially through AAFC’s forthcoming Sustainable Agriculture Strategy (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2023), which will contribute to the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act (2021). The path towards net-zero and meaningfully reducing GHG emissions includes both the innovation of new techniques, technologies, and also understanding the economic, social and cultural pathways to net zero.
As as a part of the Energy Stories Lab mandate, Drs. Perić and Bettini will be working with farmers across Canada to document how they work innovatively to improve carbon sequestration and further energy transitions. This project will be our submission to the joint NSERC-SSHRC Sustainable Agriculture Research Initiative Grant Competition.
As a part of this competition, we were already awarded Preparatory Funding by NSERC-SSHRC to prepare the final submission. Congratulations!!
Canada's Pathway to 2030
Photo credit: canada.ca
