We are not safe yet | aquaponiasdevzla

Oscar Palacios

Presidente

WE ARE

NOT SAFE YET

By Oscar Palacios

...even if we were to get rid of fossil fuels immediately, but continue to use traditional methods for animal agriculture (livestock and their byproducts) at the current scale, by 2030 we may still significantly exceed the 44 GtCO2 limit of carbon dioxide need to stay below the 2 °C target at which dangerous climate change can be avoided.

Over the past decades global GHG emissions have been increasing steadily, with small variations around a longer term trend. However on December 12th, 2015, representatives from 196 countries emerged victorious with the first ever world accord in the fight against global warming. All 196 nations agreed to decrease the use of fossil fuels that generate heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions like methane and carbon dioxide as soon as possible in order to avoid an increase in atmospheric temperatures of more than 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, that would lock the planet into a future of catastrophic impacts, such as rising sea levels, more devastating floods and droughts, widespread food and water shortages and more powerful storm.

Staying below 2 °C global temperature rise implies that CO2 emissions are reduced to net zero by 2060-2075. The median emission level scenario of 42,000 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (42 GtCO2e) in 2030 has over 66% chance of keeping global temperature increase below 2 °C by the end of the century, while with a much stronger action the similar level for a 1.5 °C pathway is 39 GtCO2. To achieve such goals, countries should reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and undertake rapid reductions thereafter, sending a clear message to the fossil-fuel industry that much of the world’s remaining reserves of coal, oil and gas must stay in the ground and cannot be burned. However we are not safe yet, even if we were to get rid of fossil fuels immediately, but continue to use traditional methods for animal agriculture (livestock and their byproducts) at the current scale, by 2030 we may still significantly exceed the 44 GtCO2 limit of carbon dioxide need to stay below the 2 °C target at which dangerous climate change can be avoided.

Indeed agriculture, through livestock production is the largest source of two of the most potent greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide. Methane results from digestion in ruminant animals such as cows, sheep and goats. Nitrous oxide is produced from manure and from fertilizers used to grow feed crops. As per Henry Jansen, PhD, Scientist Researcher at the Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Food of Canada, this changes includes stresses such as deforestation, desertification, excretion of polluting nutrients, oceans dead zones, overuse of freshwater, inefficient use of energy, diverting food for use as feed and emission of GHGs. Recent estimates concerning animal agriculture’s share of total global GHG emissions range mainly between 18 and 25 per cent which in any case is higher than the emissions from all the world’s cars, trucks, trains, boats and planes combine (13%). However an analysis in 2009 by Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang shows that livestock and their byproducts actually account for at least 32.564million tons of CO2e per year, or 51% of the annual worldwide GHG emissions. Robert Goodland retired as lead environmental adviser at the World Bank Group after serving there for 23 years. In 2008 he was awarded the first Coolidge Memorial Medal by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for outstanding contributions to environmental conservation. Jeff Anhang is a research officer and environmental specialist at the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation and member of the WorldWatch Institute.

In their analysis, Goodland and Anhang thoroughly review the direct and indirect sources of GHG emissions from livestock. They considered that some of these are obvious but underestimated, some are simply overlooked, and some are emissions sources that are already counted but have been assigned to the wrong sectors. In their analysis they show that 25,048 million tons of CO2e attributable to livestock have been undercounted or overlooked. Of that subtotal, 3,000 million tons are misallocated and 22,048 million tons are entirely uncounted.

For example, FAO excludes livestock respiration from its estimate because they considered as been part of a rapidly cycling biological system, where the plant matter consumed by the animals was itself created through the conversion of atmospheric CO2 into organic compounds, and since the emitted and absorbed quantities are considered to be equivalent, livestock respiration is therefore not considered to be a net source under the Kyoto Protocol. But this is a flawed way to look at the matter, mainly because while over time an equilibrium of CO2 may exist between the amount respired by animals and the amount photosynthesized by plants, such equilibrium has never been static and today, tens of billions more livestock are exhaling CO2 than in preindustrial days, while Earth’s photosynthetic capacity (its capacity to keep carbon out of the atmosphere by absorbing it in plant mass) has declined sharply at a time when most experts agree that we are losing and significantly degrading upwards of 64,751 hectares of tropical rainforest every day.

Goodland and Anhang agreed that in fact FAO counts emissions attributable to changes in land use due to the introduction of livestock, but only the relatively small amount of GHGs from changes each year. Strangely, it does not count the much larger amount of annual of GHG from the reductions of photosynthesis that are foregone by using 26 percent of land worldwide for grazing livestock and 33 percent of arable land for growing feed, rather than allowing it to regenerate forest.

It is tempting to exclude one or another anthropogenic source of emissions from carbon accounting according to one’s own interests on the grounds that it is offset by photosynthesis. The percentage of contribution by livestock production on the total GHG emissions can be disputable but in any case they still represent a hefty portion of emissions that merits serious scrutiny and by keeping GHGs attributable to livestock off GHG balance sheets, it is predictable that they will not be managed and their amount will increase as in fact is happening.

Already millions of tons of CO2e are been released in to the atmosphere and if we project next chart from FAO/UN (2012) to the years 2030-2050 we can expect a dangerously exponential increase of animal agriculture thus GHG emissions increase induce by an increasing global consumption of meat and dairy that by 2050 can be expected to have risen by 65 per cent and 76 per cent respectively against a 2005-07 baseline.

In fact, a new report from the Policy Institute Chatham House, in the UKdetermined that the average person in industrialized countries consumes around twice as much as experts deem to be healthy, and the average American consumes three times as much and as income rise in the

developing world, so does meat consumption. There is no doubt that there is an insatiable appetite for meat that makes understandable that for many analysts reducing or even eliminating livestock products consumption is the closest thing to a magical solution that one can find to bring to 50% the emissions reductions needed to meet the two-degree target at which dangerous climate change can be avoided and the reason of the growing pressure on governments to take action to enforce a reduction of meat consumption, since individuals are not changing their habits quickly enough.

But if this is the case, why no one (including spokesmen from important international environmentalist’s organizations such as Green Peace, Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, Oceana, Rainforest Action Network or Amazon Watch) are talking about this issue, avoiding comments, ignoring or hiding it on purpose? In an interview for the shocking documentary “Cowspiracy” directed by Kip Andersen y Keegan Kuhn, Bruce Hamilton, Deputy Executive Director of Sierra Club assure that the leading cause of climate change was burning all kind of fossil fuels and its derivatives, however when asked about livestock and animal agriculture hi surprisingly answered “what about it” and when explained the facts he agreed that it was a big issue and needed to be address as well but did not know how to explain why it wasn’t given the required priority. On the other hand Green Peace, previously knowing that the interview was for a documentary about animal agriculture and GHG emissions declined to give the interview and when in the same documentary Kip Andersen asked Emily Meredith from Animal Agriculture Alliance, a Pro-Livestock Lobby Group, if they ever supported environmental non-profits groups, she declined to comment about it while Kay Smith, President & CEO of the organization (in the room but not in camera) confirmed such answer.

Indeed, despite the scale of the challenge ahead, governments are not taking any action regarding a key piece of the climate action puzzle. But the problem is not that simple and in fact is much complex than calling for dietary change that would be too politically sensitive, and a difficult policy avenue to pursue. On one side we have economic factors where just in the US, as per the North American Meat Institute, the meat and poultry industry's economic ripple effect generates US$ 864.2 billion annually to the U.S. economy, or roughly 6% of the entire GDP. In 2013 all the companies involved in meat production, along with their suppliers, distributors, retailers and ancillary industries employed 6.2 million people in the U.S. with jobs that totaled $200 billion in wages. Through direct taxes paid, these companies and their employees provided $81.2 billion in revenues to federal, state and local governments and the consumption of meat and poultry generated $2.4 billion in state sales taxes. The impact of enforcing a reduction or even the elimination of livestock products consumption would simply be devastating for economies worldwide finding governments trapped in a cycle of inertia with no viable solution and no possibility to pledge any significant reduction of this type of GHG emissions at international forums such as the Climate Change Paris Conference. However without a significant reduction of GHGs emissons from animal agriculture, keeping global warming below two degrees will be nearly impossible.

On the other side we have health issues to consider because beside an increase in GHGs emissions, over consuming meat is also contributing to a global obesity crisis and to the rise of chronic diseases in industrialized and emerging economies. However we can't avoid the fact that eating meat have been a crucial element of human evolution at least one million years before the dawn of humankind enabling the brains of our pre-human ancestors to grow dramatically over a period of a few million years. It had a synergistic relationship with other key attributes that have made us human, with larger brains, smaller guts, bipedalism and language. Our digestive tract is not one of obligatory herbivores; our enzymes evolved to digest meat whose consumption aided higher encephalization and better physical growth. As per Dr. Drew Ramsey M.D. an assistant clinical professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, current epidemiological data support the need for animal-derived nutrients to provide optimal brain health, in particular. For example, B12 and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids essential for the development of a healthy brain are concentrated only in animal products. But Dr. Ramsey also consider that how we raise and eat animals today leaves much to be desired and the answer to the ethical question of eating animals is that we should limit our intake, but eat a higher quality of meat and fish that are ethically, efficiently and sustainably raised without damaging the environment.

Accordingly, the Vertical Aquaponics Agroindustry Complex developed by the Aquaponias de Venezuela Foundation works as a single block where10 vertical aquaponics units (in side two Solar Aquapiramides Naves), will produce various organic vegetables and fish (tilapia) for human consumption as the production core of the Complex. Simultaneously, in two separately environment controlled enclosures, small amounts of water coming from the close, perpetual recirculation between the fish rearing tanks and the deep flow hydroponic channels of the vertical aquaponics system inside the Solar Aquapiramides Naves, will be diverged to an also close recirculating loop through an NFT hydroponic channels system for livestock organic forage production, and the deep flow hydroponic channels described before, or/and through a similar recirculating loop with bio-filter gravel media plant bed flood and drain hydroponic channels for organic Yucca production, (also known as Cassava, and an excellent gluten free substitute of wheat for humans and animal consumption).

This way we will be able to provide organic feed for up to more than 5,600 milking goats and/or lambs (2000 cows and/or meat cattle and many other livestock) in sealed close environment controlled units for the production of up to 1800 tons of goat cheese per year (or about 800 tons of bovine meat per year). Inside these livestock rearing units clean air will be circulated and CO2 enriched air from the animals’ respiration and methane gas from this ruminants belching and flatulence’s will be extracted and separated so CO2 is discharged inside the hydroponic component of the Solar Aquapiramides, the NFT forage production units and the bio-filter gravel media plant bed hydroponic channels units, to ensure an optimal and fast plants growth and the methane gas is integrated for its use in the power generation system (biogas power generating units or oxidative fuel cells). No CO2 or methane gas will be released to the atmosphere from livestock rearing.

Meanwhile all the animals urine and excretions will be drained to an anaerobic digester together with all the sewage and organic waste generated in the complex, for its transformation into clean water, bio-carbon (a by-product that can reduce GHG global emissions, with positive effects on crops farmed in poor nutrient and depleted soils), and methane gas which with the combination of bio-gas power generators (or oxide fuel cells) and compress air engines power generation units we will obtain unlimited green energy that, will keep all the complex’s systems running, including the processing and valued added manufacturing lines that will increase and ensure the extraordinary profitability of the operation, gasless AC for all required enclosures and cold air for the water harvesting system from humid air.

This net zero waste operation uses no chemical fertilizers or pesticides, close to 0% of the water needed in traditional agriculture and it doesn’t generates GHG emissions from human and animal agriculture. Obtain its required water without invading the natural and man-made fresh water sources, and recycles its sewage and industrial food processing waters to obtain clean water while solid wastes are turned into new useful, eco-friendly by-products and its own endless green energy. This new Agroindustry Complex will eliminate waste, protect our natural resources and reduce the current 70% water consumption for agriculture from the world fresh water available for humanity, down to less than 30%.

The profound impact of this new initiative represent a real and practical solution for governments and industries to the issue of animal agriculture and GHG emissions. It has the potential to reduce to one digit the percentage of all the global greenhouse gas emissions generated by animal agriculture (livestock and their byproducts), and reach a median level of carbon dioxide equivalent way below the 42 GtCO2e required to keep temperature increase below the 2 °C target at which dangerous climate change can be avoided by the end of the century, without having to impose new dietary habits. Furthermore, this new technology means for industries the capacity to diversify their production and significantly increase their profits, encouraging the investment to reconvert their traditional practices into a more sustainable ones that will reach a profound change in the way we produce our food, eliminating the leading consumption of resources and most important, reversing the environmental degradation in our planet, adapting food production to new extreme climate conditions in order to produce in less than 10% of the total world cultivated land all the food that will be needed by 2050 and beyond.