Nature Communications (Oct 2019)

The greenhouse gas impacts of converting food production in England and Wales to organic methods

  • Laurence G. Smith,
  • Guy J. D. Kirk,
  • Philip J. Jones,
  • Adrian G. Williams

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12622-7
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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The greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential of organic methods is poorly understood. Here, the authors assess the GHG impact of a 100% shift to organic food production in England and Wales and find that direct GHG emissions are reduced with organic farming, but when increased land use abroad to allow for production shortfalls is factored in, GHG emissions are elevated well-above the baseline.