USDA Northeast Climate Hub and Cornell University will hold 3 online Understanding and Reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions in Agriculture & Forestry presentations on Tuesday, April 12th from 9 to 11 am.
These presentations will discuss how land use affects greenhouse gases (consider what area is ‘idle’ and consider how a land owner might manage such lands by afforestation, bioenergy feedstocks, solar, new food production, to provide climate change benefits.
9:00-9:50 am Using former agricultural land to help meet climate goals
More than 1.7 million acres of former agricultural land in New York State could be available for many purposes, including increasing livestock grazing, installing solar panels, growing biomass for bioenergy, or planting trees. Planting trees is a critically important strategy to help meet New York’s ambitious climate goals, because it is a natural and proven way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which will be required to achieve the State mandate of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by year 2050.
In this presentation, Peter Woodbury and Jenifer Wightman from Cornell will discuss how much land is available, limitations of that land, the potential for greenhouse gas mitigation, and some other competing uses.
9:50-10:40 am Solar and Agriculture, from Competition to Co-Location
According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Futures Study, solar energy could require as much as ten million acres nationwide by 2050 if we are to meet our climate goals. While there is sufficient land in the United States to realize this development, competition for prime land area (close to transmission, favorable climate, relatively flat) is likely to be expected and could pose an issue for realizing decarbonization goals. Various options to address this include deploying solar on brownfields, mine lands, and water bodies.
In this talk, Zachary Eldredge from the U S. Department of Energy, will describe work at DOE to advance the practice of agrivoltaics, the combined use of land for both solar and agriculture.
10:40-11am Land use implications of more circular and sustainable food systems
A large proportion of the world’s arable land is used to produce food (crops or livestock) that is never eaten. By reducing food waste, it is possible to conserve forested land and reduce GHG emissions associated with agricultural production.
Lori Leonard from the Department of Global Development will discuss how keeping excess food, including food scraps, in the human food chain is vital to reducing the pressure on land from agriculture and reducing the food-feed competition. This means encouraging some recycling strategies such as diverting food waste for animal feed.
To take part in these presentations, register at https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7UUXLgMcSOWGQLkKK6Ci5A