Australia – Major Life Cycle Assessment study helps dairy farmers aim for GHG emissions reduction

Dairy Australia worked closely with the Australian dairy industry to measure the carbon footprint of producing a number of dairy foods. This initiative was one of the first carbon footprinting projects to report the emissions of dairy farming on a country level and following the International Dairy Federation sector specific guidelines “A common carbon footprint approach for dairy” (IDF, 2010).

This major Life Cycle Assessment study, carried out by PE INTERNATIONAL, measured the GHG emissions emitted from the production of a number of dairy products to identify the industry’s overall carbon footprint.  An industry cross section of primary data has been analysed from 140 farms across Australia, the life cycle inventory data collection for this project was extensive. A key project objective was to develop a customised software platform which ensures transparency and high data quality during data collection and modelling, which is auditable and can be used by the industry and expanded in future.

This was achieved by developing a linked software platform, combining the benefits of PE’s  SoFi software system including web-based data collection functionality, and the GaBi Life Cycle Assessment software and database package.


Dairy farmers and processors in Australia have a strong track record of working to improve financial, environmental and social outcomes. They understand that sustainability and industry profitability are interdependent. The large number of sustainability initiatives the industry currently undertakes demonstrates this. Dairy Australia invests in a number of key programs and initiatives aimed at helping farmers and processors with GHG emission reduction strategies. One of these initiatives is the Life Cycle Assessment study.

A summary of the final project report is available for download here

Insights from the CarbonExpo

Opportunity or threat for the food and agriculture sector?

Identifying opportunities related to a well-designed carbon price rather than dwelling on potential negative implications were discussed in a panel at last week’s Carbon Expo in Melbourne. Deborah Kerr, Manager for Natural Resource Management from Australia's National Farmers Federation, talked about their members looking for opportunities to increase productivity based on carbon management. Initiatives leading to better soil health and therefore higher productivity and less cost for fertiliser, such as increasing soil carbon, are popular with farmers. Overall, she sees a great opportunity for farmers in the Carbon Farming Initiative.

“More food – fewer emissions” was the key message from Jack Holden, Sustainability Strategy Manager at Fonterra. To achieve this, Fonterra is working closely with their farmers to identify profitable options to reduce the “on farm” contribution. Jack explained how Fonterra supports its farmers in identifying energy savings options in the milking shed and how results from the Dairy Australia carbon footprinting project that was undertaken by PE INTERNATIONAL will help them move beyond on their emissions reductions journey.

Olivia Tyler from Treasury Wine Estates explained their holistic approach to carbon management both locally in Australia and globally across the sixteen countries in which it operates. While Treasury Wine Estates are not liable under Australia’s carbon tax, they put great effort in reducing carbon in their products by using a full life cycle approach. They successfully communicate their efforts through voluntary Carbon and Water Disclosure Project reporting, as well as having achieved the carboNZero certification for one of their wines.
Summarising the session, Barbara Nebel from PE INTERNATIONAL commented, “It is good to see a positive attitude towards the carbon price and that industry focuses on the related opportunities.”

One of the other highlights of the conference was when Australian’s Climate Change Minister, Greg Combet, announced that Australia will sign up for a second commitment to the Kyoto Protocol which is to be discussed at global climate talks in Doha in December.  In his view the protocol, which covers less than 15 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and only from developed nations, was not enough on its own. Therefore, Australia will push for a broader deal which will be concluded by 2015. Without taking action to reduce emissions, the Australian economy would face a "severe economic shock" beginning in the year 2020 and so it was better to tackle it now, said Greg Combet.

New Zealand’s Climate Change Minister Tim Groser announced at the same time that New Zealand will not be following Australia but will instead make voluntary pledges under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, meaning that New Zealand will no longer have a legal obligation to reduce emissions.