The greenhouse gas impacts of converting food production in England and Wales to organic methods

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dc.contributor.authorSmith, Laurence G.
dc.contributor.authorKirk, Guy J. D.
dc.contributor.authorJones, Philip J.
dc.contributor.authorWilliams, Adrian G.
dc.date.accessioned2019-10-24T09:27:49Z
dc.date.available2019-10-24T09:27:49Z
dc.date.issued2019-10-22
dc.description.abstractAgriculture is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and must feature in efforts to reduce emissions. Organic farming might contribute to this through decreased use of farm inputs and increased soil carbon sequestration, but it might also exacerbate emissions through greater food production elsewhere to make up for lower organic yields. To date there has been no rigorous assessment of this potential at national scales. Here we assess the consequences for net GHG emissions of a 100% shift to organic food production in England and Wales using life-cycle assessment. We predict major shortfalls in production of most agricultural products against a conventional baseline. Direct GHG emissions are reduced with organic farming, but when increased overseas land use to compensate for shortfalls in domestic supply are factored in, net emissions are greater. Enhanced soil carbon sequestration could offset only a small part of the higher overseas emissions.en_UK
dc.identifier.citationSmith LG, Kirk GJD, Jones PJ and Williams AG. The greenhouse gas impacts of converting food production in England and Wales to organic methods. Nature Communications, Volume 10, 2019, Article number 4641en_UK
dc.identifier.cris24518059
dc.identifier.issn2041-1723
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12622-7
dc.identifier.urihttp://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/14634
dc.language.isoenen_UK
dc.publisherNature Publishing Groupen_UK
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.subjectAgroecologyen_UK
dc.subjectEnvironmental Impacten_UK
dc.subjectAgricultureen_UK
dc.titleThe greenhouse gas impacts of converting food production in England and Wales to organic methodsen_UK
dc.typeArticleen_UK

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