Paying the price for carbon dioxide

Would you pay more in order to have glyphosate residues in your pint?

Putting a price on carbon makes people pay for carbon dioxide that they add to the atmosphere (ouch!) and rewards behaviour that reduces atmospheric carbon dioxide (yes, please).

So why not just make people who emit carbon pay for that carbon dioxide and give the same amount of money, the ‘carbon price’, to people who take it out of the atmosphere?

A lot of people make money out of carbon emissions. Oil companies are the main subjects of hatred, but it is the rest of us who actually burn the fossil fuels that keep our homes warm, our cars on the road and planes in the air. The biggest beneficiary is the Government, which gets 53p per litre of petrol, plus another 10p of VAT. It’s like the situation with cigarettes: the Government knew for decades that fags were killing people but the tax per packet was a vitally important source of income, so it was challenging for the powers-that-be to crack down on smoking. Even palm oil, most of which gets mixed with diesel fuel, gets taxed at 53p per litre, but the food industry takes the flak when it’s in a biscuit. Palm oil has replaced hydrogenated fat, which is why heart disease rates are falling.

Organic versus non-organic

Organic farmers increase soil carbon every year: they compost green waste and crop residues; they add manure to the soils instead of chemical fertilizer; they do crop rotations that naturally boost soil nitrogen; they encourage a resilient soil microbiome that also increases soil carbon; they let the land go fallow so natural fertility is rebuilt, which means more soil carbon. An organic farm can capture and store about seven tonnes of carbon dioxide per hectare per year.

Non-organic farmers use chemical fertilizers that wipe out the soil micobiome and cause nitrous oxide pollution that is a much worse greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Intensive animal rearing of cattle and pigs leads to higher methane emissions, another potent greenhouse gas. Herbicides and pesticides are made from fossil fuels and end up as more global warming. Farming is responsible for one third of our annual increase in greenhouse gas levels. Organic farming could cancel out that increase and bring greenhouse gas levels down by a similar amount and we could stop stressing about climate change.

Powerful stuff

So how can we encourage organic farming? How do you encourage anything? Money. Powerful stuff. Farmers love it.

The EU carbon price is just over £90 per tonne of CO2. An organic farmer can capture at least seven tonnes. If they got paid for it, that would be an extra income of £630 per hectare.

A non-organic farmer emits at least two tonnes of CO2 per hectare per year from fertilizer and soil organic matter breakdown. If they had to pay for that (a tax on fertilizers and pesticides) it would cost them at least £180 per hectare.

Every crop is different, but let’s take a look at barley. Let’s say that a barley farmer - whether organic or not - wants to make £1630 per hectare.

An organic farmer gets four tonnes of barley per hectare and can sell it at £250 per tonne; that’s £1000 per hectare. With a CO2 payment of £700 per hectare that adds up to £1700 per hectare gross income. Bingo!

A non-organic farmer gets a higher yield (thanks to chemicals) of six tonnes per hectare. At £250 per tonne that generates £1500 per hectare gross income. But the farmer must pay for two tonnes of CO2 emissions - £180 - so that brings it down to £1320. So to make as much as the organic farmer, the non-organic farmer would have to charge £305 per tonne for barley, an extra £55 per tonne. What brewer will pay a £55 a tonne premium for non-organic barley?

Much barley ends up in beer. If you’re down the pub and a pint of organic bitter is £3.30 and a pint of non-organic is £3.90 would you be prepared to pay more in order to have glyphosate residues in your pint?

 

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

Today’s Observer - granddaughter Saba’s writing described as “sensual, witty, audacious, belligerent dangerous brilliance.”
Today’s Observer - granddaughter Saba’s writing described as “sensual, witty, audacious, belligerent dangerous brilliance.”
We’re going in - please support! Link in bio to donate to the tireless work of @hastingsrnli
We’re going in - please support! Link in bio to donate to the tireless work of @hastingsrnli
The ‘doctrine of signatures’ states that you can tell the benefit of something from its appearance. This Jerusalem artichoke looks like food for strength
The ‘doctrine of signatures’ states that you can tell the benefit of something from its appearance. This Jerusalem artichoke looks like food for strength
Zion, Illinois 1915. A mere 100 years later and we no long inhale secondhand smoke from the few remaining smokers
Zion, Illinois 1915. A mere 100 years later and we no long inhale secondhand smoke from the few remaining smokers
Walk in the woods- nice timber oak standing in a sea of wood anemones
Walk in the woods- nice timber oak standing in a sea of wood anemones
Before the omelette au fines herbes featuring thyme, sage, parsley, rosemary, chives, marigold leaf and blossom. Plus a big endive. All fresh picked, ultra hyper local
Before the omelette au fines herbes featuring thyme, sage, parsley, rosemary, chives, marigold leaf and blossom. Plus a big endive. All fresh picked, ultra hyper local
In 1967 I drove an Austin 12, modified with gold paint on the chrome and white fenders
In 1967 I drove an Austin 12, modified with gold paint on the chrome and white fenders
Executing a commission to cut and prep some parsley, I was struck by its colour and form. #ilovethegulfstream
Executing a commission to cut and prep some parsley, I was struck by its colour and form. #ilovethegulfstream
At the Carbon Gold Christmas lunch the crackers contained pink eyebrow combs. Well, what would any sensible person do in the circumstances?
At the Carbon Gold Christmas lunch the crackers contained pink eyebrow combs. Well, what would any sensible person do in the circumstances?
Before the assembled ‘chocoloscenti’ from around the world Jo and I were inducted into the Chocolate Legends Hall of Fame last night in NY. “Without these two, none of us would be here tonight” said Alexandra Leaf, announcing
Before the assembled ‘chocoloscenti’ from around the world Jo and I were inducted into the Chocolate Legends Hall of Fame last night in NY. “Without these two, none of us would be here tonight” said Alexandra Leaf, announcing the award. Sniff, sniff.
Today’s Observer - granddaughter Saba’s writing described as “sensual, witty, audacious, belligerent dangerous brilliance.” We’re going in - please support! Link in bio to donate to the tireless work of @hastingsrnli The ‘doctrine of signatures’ states that you can tell the benefit of something from its appearance. This Jerusalem artichoke looks like food for strength Zion, Illinois 1915. A mere 100 years later and we no long inhale secondhand smoke from the few remaining smokers Walk in the woods- nice timber oak standing in a sea of wood anemones Before the omelette au fines herbes featuring thyme, sage, parsley, rosemary, chives, marigold leaf and blossom. Plus a big endive. All fresh picked, ultra hyper local In 1967 I drove an Austin 12, modified with gold paint on the chrome and white fenders Executing a commission to cut and prep some parsley, I was struck by its colour and form. #ilovethegulfstream At the Carbon Gold Christmas lunch the crackers contained pink eyebrow combs. Well, what would any sensible person do in the circumstances? Before the assembled ‘chocoloscenti’ from around the world Jo and I were inducted into the Chocolate Legends Hall of Fame last night in NY. “Without these two, none of us would be here tonight” said Alexandra Leaf, announcing