Fig. 2
From: The greenhouse gas impacts of converting food production in England and Wales to organic methods
GHG emissions per unit production under conventional and organic farming methods. a Crops. b Livestock, including emissions in feed production. N2O = nitrous oxide, CH4 = methane, CO2 = carbon dioxide. Production is expressed in tonnes (t) of total metabolised energy. Data are means ±1 standard deviations from the uncertainty analysis (Methods). Emissions due to land use change overseas to compensate for shortfalls in home production, and enhanced soil carbon sequestration under organic methods, are not allowed for. Organic dairy, beef and sheep production have lower total GHG emissions per tonne of product, although greater forage intake increases CH4 emission. Less N fertiliser use in organic farming gives N2O and fossil energy use savings per tonne of product. Exceptions are crops receiving less N fertiliser in conventional farming (beans, oats), organic crops requiring flame weeding (carrots) and organic vegetable crops with lower marketable yields (potatoes, onions). Source Data are provided as a Source Data file
