Trevor Davies abstract

							                           Pathways to Carbon Reduction

                                    Trevor Davies
                       University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

The ways in which CRed (community carbon reduction programme) and Carbon
Connections at the University of East Anglia works with farmers and land-based
businesses is surveyed. CRed assists individuals and organisation to identify low
carbon pathways, and Carbon Connections supports innovative partnerships between
universities and businesses, including land-based organisations. CRed has worked
with 200 farms in the East of England to provide the first greenhouse gas emissions
benchmark of farms and farm types, using the existing CALM (Carbon Accounting
for Land Managers) support tool, and has identified mid-term (5 years) action plans
for the farms to reduce emissions as well as suggestions for longer term (decades)
strategies. At the same time, there is collaboration at the operational level with a 280
hectare mixed farm to identify low cost carbon reduction measures, in order to
provide an exemplar case study. A programme related to CRed and Carbon
Connections is InCrops, which is working with land-based businesses and others to
develop low carbon supply chains for the use and exploitation of crop-derived
renewable raw materials. Amongst other examples of applied research in the low
carbon pathway area, is a collaboration with a brewery which has led to a successful
‘low carbon’ beer product. Greenhouse gas emissions were calculated for all
processes and procedures, associated with production and delivery, including
agricultural production. Changes in agricultural practices, together with other
changes, led to the successful production of an award-winning (for taste) beer which,
has a very low carbon footprint.