Farm-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions’ Decision Support Systems †
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Evaluation Based on Descriptive Criteria
3.2. Checklists
3.2.1. Inputs of DS Tools
3.2.2. Outputs of DS Tools
3.3. DS Tools’ Evaluation
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Criterion | Sub-Criteria |
---|---|
Degree of accessibility | Availability. Registration required. Complexity in access. |
User Friendliness | Level of expertise. Degree of information provision—website and user interface. Provision of manuals/guidance. Degree of simplicity. Presentation of results. Availability of results for downloading or saving. Error management. Design of user interface. |
Stakeholders | Agriculture sub-sector represented. Target group. Stakeholders’ involvement. |
Methodology of sustainability | Level of sustainability assessment. Types of gas emissions (farm level). Estimation methodology. Decision support approach. |
Modeling aspects | Software. Type of modeling. Modeling method transparency. |
Input Categories | Types of Inputs |
---|---|
Soil-related | Soil type. Year of soil analysis. Soil organic matter content. Soil pH. Soil drainage. Soil component percentages (clay, sand, silt). |
Crop-related | Crop type. Crop diversity. Crop rotation. Residue management. Use of fertilizers. Composition of fertilizers. Use of pesticides. Cutting frequency. Irrigation type. Irrigation frequency. |
Climate-related | Country of tool’s validity. Agro-ecological zone. Climate type. |
Livestock-related | Livestock species. Livestock breed. Livestock Age. Stage in livestock development. |
Manure management-related | On-farm manure management. Manure field application. |
Livestock feed management-related | Livestock ration. Cost of feed. |
a/a | DS Tool | Evaluation |
---|---|---|
1 | Cool Farm Tool v2.0 | Online. Quantitative modeling approach. Includes the majority of inputs. Various Livestock systems. GHG emissions and farm costs. It does not provide NH3 emissions and consulting. |
2 | FarmAC | Emission calculator. Quantitative modeling approach. Focus on cattle GHG emissions. Majority of soil inputs not included. Provides NH3 and herd energy requirements estimations. |
3 | Overseer | Country-specific license purchased online tool. Quantitative modeling approach. Includes almost all inputs. Provides feed consulting and management functions, N-balance and GHG emissions. |
4, 5 | Carbon Navigator—Beef and Dairy | Developed for the Irish beef and dairy production systems. Quantitative modeling approach. Focus on beef and Dairy GHG emissions. It includes economic analysis. |
6 | KSNL | A questionnaire-form online multi-pillar tool made for German agricultural production systems. Semi-quantitative approach. Provides a multi pillar sustainability assessment with various multi pillar indicators. |
7 | SMART | A sustainability assessment tool based on SAFA indicators. Semi-quantitative approach. It is not freely accessible. Provides a sustainability assessment with various multi pillar indicator. |
8 | SAFA | A free educational, sustainability assessment tool (FAO). Semi-Quantitative approach. Three indicators for GHG emissions |
9 | RISE 3.0 | A free informative multi-pillar sustainability assessment tool which estimates GHG and NH3 emissions. Both online and offline functionality. Semi-quantitative modeling approach. |
10 | BEK | MS Excel spreadsheet tool. For German agricultural production systems. Semi-quantitative modeling approach. Provides a template for GHG emissions’ calculations for various processes. |
11 | AgBalance® | An LCA-based tool. Quantitative modeling approach. Contribution analysis. Refers to crop production processes (no livestock-related inputs). Provides GHG and NH3 emissions’ estimation. |
12 | DLG | A sustainability assessment tool developed for German agricultural production systems. Semi-quantitative modeling approach. Includes the GHG emissions in the sustainability assessment. |
13 | HOLOS | A tool for Canadian livestock systems. Quantitative modeling approach. Does not include many of the soil-related inputs. Provides GHG and NH3 emissions’ estimates and a feed estimation report. |
14 | EX-ACT (version 8.0) | A freely accessible MS Excel spreadsheet tool (FAO). Quantitative modeling approach. Does not include the majority of soil related inputs and the majority of livestock inputs. Estimates GHG emissions. |
15 | GLEAM 2.0 (GLEAM-I): | A freely accessible MS Excel spreadsheet tool (FAO). LCA-based. Quantitative modeling approach. Provides GHG estimates for various livestock systems based on three input categories herd, feed and manure. |
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Alexandropoulos, E.; Anestis, V.; Bartzanas, T. Farm-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions’ Decision Support Systems. Eng. Proc. 2021, 9, 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/engproc2021009022
Alexandropoulos E, Anestis V, Bartzanas T. Farm-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions’ Decision Support Systems. Engineering Proceedings. 2021; 9(1):22. https://doi.org/10.3390/engproc2021009022
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlexandropoulos, Evangelos, Vasileios Anestis, and Thomas Bartzanas. 2021. "Farm-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions’ Decision Support Systems" Engineering Proceedings 9, no. 1: 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/engproc2021009022