Paludiculture is widely recognised for its ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional agriculture and is a potential solution to minimising the 1.5% of total UK emissions from lowland peat. However, with trials in their infancy in the UK, the extent of any emissions savings offered by a transition to paludiculture in the Lowlands is unknown.
This latest report by Katy Ross, the Paludiculture Fellow in Defra’s Lowland Peat Team has aimed to address some of this uncertainty by developing an emission factor for paludiculture. This initial estimate is based on the published emissions from paludiculture crops and trials across Europe. In time, this number will be developed and refined, based on results from the ongoing paludiculture trials in the UK. Until then, this report sets out the likely emissions we can expect from paludiculture systems, factors that influence these and approaches that can be taken to reduce emissions further.
If widescale paludiculture is to become a reality in the UK, we need to know the effect it will have on peatland emissions. Therefore, this report will play a valuable role in setting out the likely emissions we can expect from paludiculture systems, factors that influence these and approaches that can be taken to reduce emissions further, until such time as we have a more substantial evidence base.
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