Assessing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption from 15 sugar cane farms in Karvir taluka, India using the cool farm tool

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption of sugarcane farms in Karvir, India, and the potential reductions achieved by switching to diammonium phosphate (DP) fertilizer instead of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) fertilizer, and by using hydropower electricity instead of diesel for energy requirements. We employed the Cool Farm Tool to evaluate the aforementioned issues. The research incorporated data from 15 farms, agricultural centers, sugarcane industries, and laboratory analyses. The findings indicated that the existing output of 740,000 metric tons of sugarcane from 8500 hectares y⁻¹ resulted in total greenhouse gas emissions of 79 kilotons of CO₂ eq annually. Hydropower generation demonstrated a 27% (average) decrease in emissions compared to diesel (p < 0.01). Furthermore, DP exhibited a decline of 12% on average in emissions in comparison to NPK. We categorized GHG emissions from sources such as residue, soil fertilizer, energy consumption, cattle dung, pesticides, and off-farm transportation, with CO₂ being the most significant, followed by CH₄ and N₂O. The outputs show the necessity for low-emission and energy-efficient alternatives to crop residue burning, a shift to hydropower instead of diesel, and a transition from NPK to DP when feasible.