Despite objections and tendencies towards derision, the Støre government announced last year that methane inhibitors in the cow’s feed will reduce emissions by 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030. The cow is notorious for sending the “worst gas” methane into the atmosphere when it burps . Storting representative for Venstre, Alfred Bjørlo, characterized the climate gain as wishful thinking and a “magical invention” with no documented effect that the government “pulled out of the hat”. Criticism that the government pushed the ruminants ahead of your and my renunciations also came from MDG and SV. One year later, the government acknowledges that the climate benefit from the power plant is not as great as they first assumed. “Changes in calculation methods and framework conditions for some of the planned measures have led to the climate plan from last year being weakened”, writes the government in the Green Book. Specifically, they refer to “weak effect of methane-inhibiting additive in feed for livestock”. In pure numbers, this means that the government writes down the total kurap gain from 1.4 to 0.7 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent by 2030. “Green book” is the name of the climate budget in which the government counts carbon emissions as they count money in “the yellow » the national budget. During the climate summit in Glasgow in 2021, the world agreed to reduce global methane emissions by 30 percent from 2020 to 2030. Agriculture must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 5 million tonnes by 2030. But the goal is far away, and the distance has been greater. The Paris Agreement obliges the countries of the world to limit the rise in temperature on earth to less than 2 degrees – preferably 1.5 degrees. The aim is to prevent the heating from causing irreparable damage. – Caught with the climate pants down – The government has been caught with the climate pants down, says Alfred Bjørlo (V). He recommends that the government read up on the moral allegory of not selling the skin before the bear has been shot. – The moral is simple: Do not build climate cuts on measures that are still in the trial stage and have not been documented. Storting representative for the MDGs, Rasmus Hansson, characterizes the methane inhibitors as “a meat strategy, not a climate strategy”. – Fiddling with the extremely complex biochemistry in the gut of the cow has never had the potential for more than a completely marginal climate measure. – Now the Minister of Agriculture must come up with climate measures for agriculture that will actually work. State Secretary in the Ministry of Climate and Environment, Sigrunn Aasland (Ap), replies that it is normal to adjust the effect of various measures. – We learn along the way all the time, she says. – And next year we will come back with new calculations and even more climate measures. See extended answer below. The government: – This is not a “magic invention” Sigrun Aasland, State Secretary in the Ministry of Climate and Environment – Adding methane-inhibiting substances to feed is not a “magic invention”. It has been researched for several years. – International research indicates that methane inhibitors can reduce emissions by 25-50 per cent. Preliminary tests under Norwegian conditions indicate that the emissions will be slightly reduced less than what the international studies have shown. – We think it will take a little longer before methane inhibitors can be put into use, and that it will not be equally appropriate to give them to all animal groups. We have therefore adjusted down the total effect of this measure in the plan this year. – It is not just methane inhibitors that have led to changes in the projections of greenhouse gas emissions. It also comes from a growing population and economic growth. – We are better than ever at measuring the effects of climate measures. Nevertheless, there will always be some uncertainty, and it takes time from the time the policy is adopted until we see the results of it. The longer the climate policy is allowed to work, the greater the effect he will have. – Now they are at it again with the quota stuff In the Hurdalsplattforma, the Støre government sets itself the goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030. On Monday, the same government announced that Norway is on track to cut 26.4 percent by 2030, and that it “it will be demanding to reach the target with national emission cuts alone”. About the methane inhibitors As of today, the food safety authority in the EU (EFSA) has approved one methane inhibitor for use in Norwegian barns. The patent is about “turning off” the enzyme that forms methane gas in the rumen. Studies abroad show that the amount of methane can be reduced by 10–50 per cent, but the results could not easily be transferred to Norwegian conditions. In the Norwegian Environment Agency’s “climate road map”, which was published in 2023, it is stated that “as of today, the feed measure cannot be recorded in the emissions accounting”. Corresponding wording is repeated in Klimakur 2030, which is a “practical guide” to show how Norway can cut emissions by 2030. In total, 60 different climate measures are counted, but not methane inhibitors. The explanation is that the basis for specifying specific numbers is not good enough. As part of the Agricultural Agreement in 2023, the Storting granted NOK 10 million to the MetanHUB project for 2024, a 4-year project with a total framework of NOK 40 million. The aim of the project is to update the knowledge base for methane inhibitors under Norwegian conditions. In the long term, the goal is for all ruminants to get it in their feed by 2027. In Belgium, methane inhibitors are included in official climate calculations. The Netherlands is considering doing the same. Instead, the government announces that it plans to use “flexible mechanisms” to reach the climate targets. In practice, this means that Norway will pay other EU countries to cut parts of our emissions. – Now they are at it again with the quota stuff, sighed Sveinung Rotevatn when he visited the Politisk kvarter on Tuesday morning. Climate and Environment Minister Tore Sandvik clarifies that “we are on the right track”. – Last year, greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 4.7 per cent compared to the previous year. That is as much as the entire decline from 1990 to 2022. Emissions will probably continue to decline in the years to come, but the pace must increase. Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB Geir Jørgensen, Raudt It is bordering on comedy that the oil and gas nation Norway is going wild on the cow farm to reduce emissions. Of course, agriculture must play its part, but we must not forget that the cow also has its place in the natural cycle. We at Raudt hope that the research on methane inhibitors can prove promising, but that emissions from open field grazing should also be investigated more.Rasmus Hansson, MDG Believing that methane inhibitors will save the climate threat in agriculture has never been a climate strategy, but a meat strategy. What works is to reduce meat production. With the agricultural policy advocated by the MDG, which prioritizes land and grass over one-sided intensive production, lower meat production and consumption will be good for both Norwegian agriculture and Norwegian self-sufficiency. Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB Alfred Bjørlo, VenstreWe know what is needed to cut climate emissions from food production: It is to produce and consume a little less red meat and a little more fruit, vegetables and grains. Now I expect the government to crawl to the cross and do what we know works. Jonas Been Henriksen / news Harald Volden, professor at NMBUD It is true that it is said that the effect is less than what has previously been assumed. The previous figures are based on a number of international studies where, on average, a 30% reduction in methane production has been arrived at. When drawing up the first climate agreement between agriculture and the state, there were no other figures to start from than the international studies. NRF Oda Smeby ChristensenAvl is the most powerful measure to reduce methane emissions from livestock production. Continuation of the current breeding work at Norsk Raudt Fe can help to reduce 650,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in the period 2021–2030. Through targeted breeding for reduced methane and better feed efficiency, this can increase to 1.55 million tonnes by 2035. This corresponds to a doubling of what we will deliver by 2030! TYR Ole Kristian Haagenrud, TYRI Norway we feed with silage grass which in many cases is late autumn with increased fiber content compared to many other countries in the south of Europe which use a lot of maize with more starch and less fiber in the ration. You can see in the Norwegian trials that we have had a somewhat lower effect of Bovaer due to the increased fiber content in the ration, compared to international statistics. Nibio Vibeke Lind, researcher at the Nibio Project MetanHUB is in its first of 4 years. It is in the nature of research that we test and test different methods, and this is thorough work that must be undertaken over time. Only when that is done, we can give advice and guidance. We do not know what the outcome of our work will be, but we work systematically to ensure that this results in knowledge that can be useful. Jon Petrusson / news Christian Anton Smedshaug, day-to-day manager of AgriAnalyseOne must start from the knowledge one has at any given time and then adjust accordingly. This applies to the entire climate change issue and we also see continuous adjustments and changes over time in various countries in many areas. Biological production has particular challenges and in this case it is the case that the rumen and the function of methane inhibitors can change over time in a biological adaptation. – Completely undramatic Last year the Government assumed that 80 per cent of ruminants could have methane inhibitors by 2026, with 20 per cent effective. It is this gain that has now been halved. – Completely undramatic, says Egil Hoen, who is deputy manager of the Farmers’ Association. – It turns out that it takes a little longer than we thought. But in the long run, this is a good measure, and the payoff is high. The new effect is based on figures from the research project MetanHub, which studies methane emissions from Norwegian food production. – It is important to be open about what we get as a result, says Harald Volden, who rents the project. He points out that earlier forecasts of up to 30 per cent kurap gain were based on international studies, but that the effect will be somewhat lower (18-20 per cent) with Norwegian cows as a Norwegian feed. – It is much better to acknowledge that the effect is lower than previously thought, and adjust down the contribution for the use of methane inhibitors, he says. – At the same time, a measure that provides a 20 per cent reduction will be one of the most important measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Norway’s emission sources 1990–2023 Select year 19901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142 01520162017201820192020202120222023 Million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents? Press for explanation of CO₂ equivalents Extraction of oil and gas11.5 Go to news’s Climate Status Published 09.10.2024, at 18.49
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The government halves expected emissions cuts – news Vestland
