The Greenhouse Gas Situation in Thailand
With about 6.1 mt CO2eq per person per year, Thailands Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGs) emissions are high.
While more then 80% of all emissions are coming from the Energy and Industry sectors, Agriculture contributes about 15%.
More then half are from rice agriculture.
More then half are from rice agriculture.
While 7-8% of total emissions may be considered “not so much” the rice sector is our home, therefore our focus lies here.
Methane contributes about 25% of all GHGs and half of those are from rice agriculture. The heating effect of methane is the highest within the first 10-20 years. It is 80-fold compared to CO2 over 20 years. Methane reductions in the rice industry bring strong and quick environmental benefits.
Low GHG rice production is also good for business.
More then 50% (in value) of all rice produced in Thailand is exported. A big part of this are Premium Rice Products sold to the rich countries. These countries are also the homes of many environmentally active consumers with high buying power. If they decide “we will eat less rice because rice is bad for the climate” we here in Thailand will have a major problem. Remember, 30% of all employment in Thailand is in the agricultural sector.
It makes good business sense to produce “lower carbon rice” and keep also the environmentally aware consumers happy.
Beside focusing on organic and fair agricultural practices, we are engaged in sustainable and environmentally sound practices.
For Rice there are two important pathways:
- Alternative Wetting and Drying, our “Keep it Cool” project – AWD has great potential for all 1.5 Mio hectar of irrigated rice
- Application of methanotrophic microbes with “CleanRise” – this has massive potential for all Thai rice fields, all 11 Mio hectar of them.
