The Manitoba Sustainable Energy Association suggests the production and use of renewable energy has a role to play in meeting the greenhouse gas reductions being targeted by the world’s meat producers.
The Manitoba Sustainable Energy Association will host its Conference and Annual Meeting Wednesday in Brandon.
In December the Paris based International Meat Secretariat reaffirmed its commitment to tackling climate change by focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
ManSEA Secretary Treasurer Wayne Digby suggests, if we can substitute sustainable energy methods for fossil fuel produced energy, we should be able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
We’re not naive enough to think that this can happen over night or that all greenhouse gas emissions can be eliminated in the short term. People are still going to drive cars, trucks are still going to transport produce and people are still going to fly in planes. However, by modifications to some of these, some impact can be made on greenhouse gas emissions. For example we understand in the trucking industry that they are looking at adopting some changes in tires and truck designs that will decrease fuel consumption. That will decrease greenhouse gas as well as offer a cost saving.
The same, I think, can be said for the use of sustainable energy. If we can substitute sustainable energy to decrease fossil fuels, this will have an impact on greenhouse gas emissions. We also see the potential for the production of sustainable energy in Manitoba being exported to offset energy being produced from coal plants in other jurisdictions in order to help them drop their greenhouse gas emissions.
Digby says there is a lot of interest in the pork industry in producing energy and using energy in the most efficient manner.
He notes we have hog producers that are using or looking at using solar and there’s a lot of interest in the use of anaerobic digestion.
