Vergleich von Treibhausgasemissionen unterschiedlich wirtschaftender Modellbetriebe im Alpenvorland

Summary

About 8.8 % (UBA 2010) of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Austria are caused by agricultural practices. Besides the release of climate relevant gases, C-sequestration occurs depending on the natural conditions and farming system.
The focus of the project was to describe the GHG-emissions and sinks of the most relevant farming types, both organic and conventional, within the main production areas in Austria. Results of an intensively cultivated region in the North-West are presented. Based on the input data, six model-farms were created with the programme REPRO, whereby forage production, cash crops and refinement systems were considered.
All systems had a positive humus balance and sequestered carbon in the soil, especially forage production systems. Due to the use of mineral fertilizers, a higher N-balance occurred in all conventional systems. Organic systems on the other hand were able to utilize nutrients to a wider extent. The GHG-potential related to area was at least 29 % higher at conventional compared to organic systems, whereby N2O-emissions, calculated according to IPCC 1997, were most relevant. Differences were reduced and results even reversed calculating the GHG-potential per product unit. When calculating the N2O-Emissions with an increased N2O emission factor of 2.5 % of N input in a scenario, the emissions increased almost proportionally.