Smart Energy

I gotz methane comin out both enz, LOL.

This is weird; a U.S. dairy “sustainability” study says that production of fluid milk contributes a mere two percent to the total of U.S. emissions. That’s a good thing? That seems shockingly high to me, considering that all the cars in the world contribute less than 20 percent.

Dairy farmers have focused on sustainable practices on their farms for many generations because it makes good economic sense, and now a new fluid milk carbon footprint study shows those efforts have been effective.

The carbon footprint study measured the greenhouse gas emissions associated with a gallon of milk in the U.S. It showed the total U.S. dairy greenhouse gas emissions are 2 percent of the total U.S. emissions.

The report says efforts at sustainability have been effective but there is no mention of what the impact of fluid milk production was at any time in the past. In other words, no effort at a comparison is made.

Indeed, the news release (link below) resorts to the human interest angle in lieu of actual information:

“My dad started the dairy in the ‘50s, and now the next generation is continuing it,” Clauss noted.

via AgriNews – Livestock – Livestock.

I just finished this video for work. It features CIRCUL8 Systems’ Gary Wegner talking about the power of poop and nutrient recovery. Instead of treating manure as “waste,” Wegner demonstrates that instead manure is an essential source of nutrients. If we waste manure, he says, we risk running out of the nutrients essential to growing plants, animals and ourselves.

For more information on why Gary’s work is so important, check out this article in Scientific American on a critical and rapidly diminishing resource: “Phosphorus Famine: The Threat to Our Food Supply.”