Ensave, Ecology and Environment Launch Farm Energy Audits

EnSave and partner Ecology and Environment have launched an audit service for farm energy uses including tillage, harvesting, and waste management.

The Landscape Agricultural Energy Management Plan quantifies farm energy use and provide specific, cost-effective recommendations to achieve farm production goals while utilizing energy more efficiently, the companies say. EnSave President and CEO Craig Metz says the audits help customers tap into federal programs, such as the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which help underwrite plan implementation.

The service will be available in a limited number of states initially, but the companies plan to expand it to most U.S. states and the Caribbean basin.

David Weeks, E&E’s project manager for landscape agricultural energy management planning, says standards to conduct such energy audits were created a few years ago, but such services have not been widely available.

As manufacturers and retailers widen environmental monitoring and reporting to include scope 3 impacts, they are increasingly examining their agricultural suppliers. In December, Kraft Foods announced results of a multi-year footprinting project, revealing that nearly 60 percent of its carbon output comes from farm commodities. The company said that it aims to increase sustainable sourcing of agricultural commodities by 25 percent.

Last month, a World Bank methodology for estimating the emission reductions of sustainable agricultural practices was approved under the Verified Carbon Standard, with the assessment conducted by Scientific Certification Systems.

The new methodology allows project developers to estimate GHG emissions reductions due to sustainable land management practices, including practices such as manure management, use of cover crops, crop residual management and the introduction of trees to the landscape. This will allow small farmers to enter the carbon market, SCS said.

EnSave describes itself the United States’ leading provider of farm energy audits and farm energy management plans, with 20 years of experience. E&E is an environmental management company with 40 years of experience and 59 offices around the world.