Thursday, 18 August 2022 12:25

Do the math!

Written by  The Hound

OPINION: The Hound would be a rich canine if he got a dollar for every time he's heard multi-national, fundraising organisation Greenpeace claim the answer to NZ's climate change challenge is to ban synthetic fertiliser.

However, according to the latest figures of NZ's greenhouse gas inventory, published in April this year, banning synthetic fertiliser won't make much difference.

It shows that while ag emissions make up 50% of the country's GHGs, nitrous oxide from synthetic fertilisers only makes up 4% of these ag emissions and therefore just 2% of NZ's total GHG emissions.

So, banning synthetic fertilisers in NZ would make a negligible reduction in our country's GHG output.

Perhaps Greenpeace should spend more time doing the maths on what actually might have made a real difference to our emissions profile than making up silly claims that just don't add up.

More like this

NZ's handbrake

OPINION: Your old mate gets the sinking feeling that no matter who we vote into power in the hope they will reverse the terminal slide the country is in, there will always be a cohort of naysayers determined to hold us back.

Witchunt?

OPINION: Newsroom is running a series of articles looking into the influence of lobbying and has kicked it off with agriculture.

Wrong focus

OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is now showing how underemployed she is as a minister by initiating an investigation into whether young children should be banned from collecting eggs on farms and feeding animals.

Burn the village

OPINION: There's an infamous term coined by a US general during the Vietnam war, specifically in reference to the battle of Ben Tre: "We had to burn the village to save it."

Featured

'One more push' to eliminate FE

Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on farmers from all regions to take part in the final season of the Sheep Poo Study aiming to build a clearer picture of how facial eczema (FE) affects farms across New Zealand.

Winston Peters questions Fonterra divestment plan

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Quid prod quo?

OPINION: Ageing lefty Chris Trotter reckons that the decision to delay recognition of Palestinian statehood is more than just a fit…

Deadwood

OPINION: A mate of yours truly recently met someone at a BBQ who works at a big consulting firm who spent…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter