The process of distilling whisky creates by-products
that can be a feed source for sheep and cattle.

This report looks at the entire lifecycle impacts of using some forms of these by-products in renewable energy, traditional animal feed or concentrated dark grains animal feed.

The initial report was published in November 2017, and shared with key stakeholders. We were asked what happened when only draff was produced (i.e., no pot-ale), which prompted a further analysis.

We found a negligible difference between the renewable energy and animal feed scenarios. However, when draff was used to produce renewable energy to replace heavy fuel oil, this had a significant benefit over its use as an animal feed.

Key findings

• All three scenarios were found to have a net beneficial climate change impact, offsetting GHG emissions by avoiding the production of energy, animal feeds and/or fertilisers by other means.
• The renewable energy scenario offset the largest amount of GHG emissions overall.
• While the two animal feed scenarios perform better in certain life-cycle phases, such as capital burdens and material use, the generation of renewable energy avoids a significant amount of carbon through the offsetting of grid electricity and heat.
• The sensitivity of these results to some underlying assumptions was tested during the study:
  • it was found that switching the offset cattle feedstock from rape meal to soya bean meal slightly increases the GWP benefits for the two animal feed scenarios;
  • including woodchip co-firing significantly increases the GWP benefits for the renewable energy scenario;
  • assuming that any heat produced would offset heavy fuel oil (rather than natural gas) improved the GWP results for all three scenarios to varying amounts.
• However, the overall positioning of the three scenarios was unaffected by the sensitivities modelled; the renewable energy scenario remained the most favourable.

Blog by Ricardo https://ee.ricardo.com/lca-for-policy

Scottish Natural Heritage’s Trend Notes series are summaries based on research data relating to trends and changes in our natural heritage.

Key findings in the trend note on breeding farmland birds are:

• Estimates of trends in abundance are presented at national and 100km square scale for ten species of birds that are strongly associated with farmland.
• Four of the five wader species assessed (curlew, lapwing, oystercatcher and redshank) show significant declines, with only snipe showing an increase.
• The farmland seed-eaters all show stable (skylark, yellowhammer) or increasing (linnet and tree sparrow) long-term trends. In the short term, only skylark has a decreasing trend.
• Targeted management at an appropriate scale can benefit farmland birds. Past declines in corn bunting have been reversed, reflecting the success of targeted management for this species.

Read the Trend Note on the SNH website

Soil carbon, or the content of carbon housed within soil, plays a significant role in the release and absorption of global greenhouse gas emissions. Changes in land use contribute to release of this carbon, and Scottish Government is interested in the potential implications of such change across several policy areas.

It is important to know where peatland has been drained in the past when prioritising areas for restoration.

No comprehensive data exists, so ClimateXChange carried out a scoping study on whether the presence of drainage could be modelled using remote sensing data presented in the report ‘Detection of peatland drainage with remote sensing’.

The results were promising, and a second phase of work, ‘Comparison of remote sensing approaches for detection of peatland drainage in Scotland’, has refined how this might be taken forward in future.

This evidence assessment looks at the current state of knowledge on the impact of muirburn on peatland and peat soils.

Prescribed burning of moorlands has been used for centuries as a land management tool to remove less productive vegetation, mainly heather, and to encourage new growth. Originally used to increase productivity for sheep and cattle grazing, it is also now widely used to improve the habitat for red grouse. In Scotland, this is referred to as muirburn.

Carrying out muirburn as a land management tool, known as ‘prescribed burning’, is tightly regulated in Scotland, summarised in The Muirburn Code which was last revised in 2011.

Key findings:

• During burning there is a clear loss of vegetation (carbon). However this is replaced as the vegetation recovers during the burn cycle. What is not clear is whether there is a loss of carbon from peat soils.
• The evidence for a net loss of carbon dioxide is unclear.
• The timing of muirburn on peatland is critical, in that the vegetation should be dry enough for it to burn well while at the same time the ground should still be wet enough to prevent combustion of the ground litter and the peat itself.
• There is not enough evidence to judge the impact of vegetation type or age on greenhouse gas emissions.
• The main factor affecting the rate of carbon sequestration post-muirburn is the nature of the recovering vegetation and whether it is grazed or not.

Since 2012 the Peatland Action Programme has supported restoration of over 10,000 ha of peatland in Scotland.

ClimateXChange researchers in the James Hutton Institute studied the information that was gathered through the process, and captured lessons that could be learned as Scottish Government sets new challenges for restoration under the draft Climate Change Plan.

Further details on the Scheme can be found on the SNH website.

Integrating woodlands or forests with forage and livestock production systems can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Agroforestry systems can also provide other benefits like diversification of farm income, shelter for livestock, fuelwood, carbon sequestration, nutrient management, reductions in soil erosion and leaching, biodiversity enhancement, and amenity value.

This policy brief explores the potential for carbon savings from agroforestry options in Scotland. There have been challenges in delivering the annual target of 10,000 ha new planting, and the report discusses the potential for silvo-pasture – those in which trees are planted at wide spacing into grazed, permanent pastures – and the multiple benefits it can deliver.

This report looks at options for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from Scottish Farms. It analyses a range of options across changes in management of fertiliser, soil and manure, livestock feeding and energy use. Some of these changes require an investment in new tools, equipment or other installations on farm.

The analysis indicates that the 20 technology options considered could reduce emissions by between 9 and 150 kt CO₂e GHG annually if they were implemented to their fullest potential across Scotland. Doing this would also have other positive environmental effects (e.g. with regards to soil or water quality).

The report recommends use of complementary incentive mechanisms to encourage uptake of the technologies. These could include:

• increased emphasis on these technologies in extension services or mechanisms;
• support for collaborative implementation of the technologies;
• foot printing/accounting schemes for validating and signalling on-farm and supply chain progress; and
• a comprehensive approach to each stage of the supply chain.

Methane emissions from livestock are responsible for approximately 50% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with agriculture in Scotland. Reducing the emissions is key to reducing agricultural emissions in Scotland. 

We have looked at this issue from different perspectives:

1. Review of options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions via cattle slurry management
   explores how to reduce the greenhouse gases from storing and use of slurry at Scottish farms
2. Livestock Health & Greenhouse Gas Emissions– looking at how emissions intensity could be reduced through control measures relating to
   • milk yield and cow fertility rates (dairy systems),
   • cow/ewe fertility and abortion rates, calf/lamb mortality and growth rates (beef and sheep systems), and
   • feed conversion ratios, FCR (all systems)
3. Benchmarking the emissions intensity of Scottish livestock – making recommendations for benchmarking cattle milk and meat, and sheep meat within the boundary of cradle to farm-gate, in the first instance.
4. Nutritional strategies to reduce enteric methane emissions –  finding that three of the 12 nutritional strategies evaluated could be effective in reducing enteric methane  emissions. Based on this work, we were asked to explore the practical feasibility of including lipids and nitrates in livestock diets and concluded that this option has limited potential due to the complex connection between feeding regime and emissions.
5. Farmyard Manure and Slurry Management, and Anaerobic Digestion in Scotland – Practical Application on Farm: this report examines the market potential for anaerobic digestion technologies as a tool to manage slurry and farmyard manure arising from Scottish livestock farming, focusing on how greenhouse gas emissions might be reduced.
6. Slurry Storage on Scottish Farms –  A Feasibility Study – This work assesses the relative value of different slurry management options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production.  It examines key sectors where there are significant emissions considers the opportunities for mitigation.

Scotland’s Land Use Strategy enables informed decision making about how Scotland can make the most of its land’s potential now and into the future.

ClimateXChange reviewed the existing research evidence to help Scottish decision makers identify the best land use options for climate change mitigation and adaptation in the second Land Use Strategy.