The power of regenerative agriculture in a NetZero world

How important is agriculture and the food industry in achieving a Net Zero world?

About 45% of land is devoted to some form of agricultural use and 31% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the agri-food sector, according to FAO – the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. By rethinking the way land is farmed, the sector could not only stop emitting greenhouse gases, but also act as an environmental regenerator.

So says Julie Sigles, director of sustainability at the Cambridge Blockchain Society and independent consultant on ESG criteria, who, together with Christopher Upton, co-founder of Zerodig, explain the agricultural sector’s challenges and solutions for tackling climate change.

In their joint presentation at the Future Trends Forum Buiding a net zero world, Julie Sigles and Christopher Upton discuss the importance of agriculture in achieving a Net Zero world:

Below, we summarize the insights presented by Julie Sigles and Christopher Upton about regenerative agriculture’s role in carbon sequestration and environmental sustainability:

Agriculture’s contribution to climate change

Many of us are shocked by the fact that about one third of the greenhouse gases emitted by humanity come from the agri-food sector.

Well, that’s right: agri-food systems generate 21 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, 53 percent of methane emissions and 78 percent of nitrous oxide emissions globally (according to FAO data from 2019).

It is estimated that 135 billion tons of carbon have been emitted into the atmosphere over the course of human history due to agricultural practices that remove carbon from the soil. These practices include plowing the land and burning crop residues, rather than allowing them to disintegrate through the work of soil microorganisms.

By using regenerative agricultural practices, the soil can remove 65 to 75 parts per million of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. That would mean that in 25 to 50 years, the 135 billion tons of carbon that have been emitted into the atmosphere could be returned to the soil. These are data provided by Julie from a study conducted by Rattan Lal, a pioneering soil restoration scientist.

How is this possible? Plants take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, incorporating carbon into the plant and soil through photosynthesis. In addition, the more carbon in the soil, the more fertile it is for plants.

Fungi in regenerative agriculture to achieve net zero

Christopher Upton has researched the composition of soils and the needs of plants and he advocates a regeneration of soils where natural microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, protozoa, etc.) are recovered. These bacteria and fungi produce enzymes and all the nutrients that plants require.

Should this be achieved, the need for ammonia-based fertilizers would no longer exist. It should be noted that ammonia has been used in agriculture since the beginning of the 20th century. More than 70% of the world’s industrially produced ammonia is used as a base for agricultural fertilizers. With ammonia production being largely dependent on fossil fuels, global ammonia production today accounts for about 2% of the total energy produced by mankind, according to the International Energy Agency. Not only that, direct emissions from ammonia production currently amount to 450 million tons of CO2.

Christopher Upton’s proposal is to completely eliminate fertilizers (ammonia, phosphorus, potassium based) from the agricultural sector, replacing them with micro fungi.

The regenerative agriculture equation towards net zero

Replacing fertilizers and intensive agriculture with regenerative agriculture based on natural balance increases food security by increasing the resilience of soils and also opens up the opportunity to capture carbon from cultivated soils and reward farmers for it.

Farmers are in a challenging situation due to rising electricity and fossil fuel prices, coupled with low margin prices for the sale of their products. On top of this, there is soil degradation, lack of water availability due to droughts, and a generational problem. For example, the average age of farmers in Spain is 61 years.

The proposed transformation from traditional to regenerative agriculture requires new incentive policies and changes in education. Julie Sigles illustrates this type of initiative with the action taken in Australia with its Carbon Farming and Land Restoration Program, initially endowed with 15 million Australian dollars. 

Regenerative agriculture sustainable business model

Carbon capture should be recognized and compensated to farmers. As Julie Sigles explains, the agricultural sector in Spain could capture up to 34 million tons of CO2 per year (equivalent to 15% of the country’s total annual emissions).

With a carbon offset price ceiling set by the EU of 100 euros per captured ton of CO2, the potential of the agricultural sector is 3.4 billion euros per year. Thus, by reforming the agricultural sector towards regenerative agriculture and making use of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), a new and very interesting source of income for farmers would emerge.

On a global scale, Christopher Upton asserts that regenerative agriculture can convert the sector from a greenhouse gas emitter to a greenhouse gas sequestrator. He provides an astonishing figure: If 15% of cultivated land were converted to regenerative agriculture, 30% of all the CO2 emitted since the Industrial Revolution could be captured.

According to this expert, at 50 euros per ton of CO2 captured, farmers could make the necessary financial resources to transform their farming model.

In order to implement a fair carbon offsetting system, blockchain platforms such as Climate Trade and others more focused on agriculture, such as Indigo Agriculture, have been developed.

Other benefits of this agriculture

1.- Vegetables produced with regenerative agriculture are of a much higher quality than those produced with current agriculture.

2.- According to Upton, with regenerative agriculture the profitability of crops increases up to 120€ per hectare.

3.- Unlike other carbon capture solutions[an1] , once regenerative agriculture is implemented, it does not require sophisticated maintenance or operating costs. We could say that it is self-sustainable, to quote Julie Sigles. 

4.- Consequently, it is also a scalable solution that requires little investment and is applicable to vast areas of land.

5.- Regenerative agriculture leverages up to 5 of the 17 SDGs: 2-Zero hunger, 9-Industry, innovation and infrastructure, 12-Responsible production and consumption, 13-Climate action, 15-Life of terrestrial ecosystems and 17-Partnerships to achieve the goals.

As a summary, the agricultural sector is a critical asset for any country and can be reconverted, bringing all the above-mentioned benefits.

For more information on regenerative agriculture, Regeneration International has several resources. You can also check out The Regenerative Agriculture Revolution page.