About Greenhouse Gas Inventory Research funding
The Greenhouse Gas Industry Research (GHGIR) fund aims to improve the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, forestry, and other land use.
It supports the Ministry for Primary Industry’s (MPI's) component of the New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Inventory. MPI compiles and calculates greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration from agriculture, forestry, and other land use. This is reported to:
- New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Inventory
- United Nations under the Paris Climate Agreement.
Find out about greenhouse gas reporting
The fund also supports the development of land-use projections, including afforestation and deforestation. These projections show how carbon accounting rules lead to changes in land use.
The GHGIR fund was established in the early 2000s and was independently reviewed in 2020.
Independent review of GHGIR fund [PDF, 436 KB]
Aims of the GHGIR fund
The GHGIR fund supports research to improve:
- MPI’s component of the New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Inventory
- reporting of emissions from agriculture, forestry, and other land use.
This research helps inform policy decisions. It also helps the agriculture and forestry sectors manage their greenhouse gas emissions.
The research includes work to:
- review and update how emissions are calculated for items in the inventory
- calculate emissions from items that aren't in the inventory
- account for new forms of mitigation
- support policymakers
- help the agriculture and forestry sectors manage their greenhouse gas emissions.
The GHGIR fund has over $500,000 of funding available for new projects in the 2022–23 financial year. Over $1 million is available in following financial years.
Find out how to apply for GHGIR funding
Examples of GHGIR research
GHGIR has funded over 80 projects since the early 2000s. Most of these have been related to agriculture, although nearly 30 have focused on forestry.
List of reports from some previous GHGIR projects
Greenhouse Gas Inventory Research fund 2021 priorities [PDF, 503 KB]
Projects approved from the 2021 funding round
| Project | Research organisation | Funding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Native forests – barriers and enablers |
Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research |
$159,400 |
Combining a desktop review of data, both held by Manaaki Whenua and publicly available, with an additional survey to quantify landowner intentions, barriers, and drivers in afforesting and regenerating native forest. |
|
Improving Organic Soil emissions accounting |
Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research |
$206,000 |
Providing a pathway for implementation of the IPCC 2013 Wetland Supplement methodology by reviewing existing information, recommending specific emission factors, and recommending priority areas for future research. |
|
Improved data on harvested wood products |
University of Canterbury |
$120,000 |
Identify the end-use products, half-life values, and the associated uncertainty values for harvested wood products made from roundwood logs harvested and processed in New Zealand, so that wood product carbon stock estimates are based on country specific values. |
|
Information on dairy farming systems |
Dairy New Zealand |
$80,000 |
Estimate the number of dairy cattle in different farm systems and the likely timing and differences in diets between 1990 and present. |
|
Sheep and cattle birth and slaughter dates |
AgResearch |
$100,000 |
Reviewing the birth and slaughter dates for NZ sheep and beef cattle, and evaluate the suitability of current assumptions for these in the New Zealand inventory model. |
|
Methane from supplemented dairy cows |
AgResearch |
$955,300 |
Determine CH4 emissions from early-mid lactation dairy cows grazing pasture and supplemented with graded levels of concentrate. New data will be combined with relevant existing data from New Zealand and international databases on methane emissions from dairy cows to determine if CH4 emissions differ between cattle fed pasture alone or with concentrate supplementation. |
|
Quantifying N2O emissions from eutrophic lakes |
Massey |
$81,341 |
This project will attempt to map potential emissions of N2O from eutrophic lakes, and will investigate two aquatic ecosystems over one year. |
|
The impact of pasture Kikuyu content on enteric methane emissions |
AgResearch |
$62,000 |
Assess the composition and methane yield potential of Kikuyu based pasture based on chemical analysis, in vitro fermentation and modelling. Compare Kikuyu composition against the default values used in the national GHG inventory and estimate how the management of this pasture affects methane production potential. |
|
Updating Pork Industry Emissions Inventory |
New Zealand Pork |
$40,000 |
Updating country-specific inventory data for the swine industry, to account for changes in the industry since the previous update in 2010. |
|
N2O emission factors for fertilisers |
AgResearch |
$340,000 |
Undertake seasonal N2O emission measurements to evaluate the values used in the inventory for urea, ammonium sulphate, and diammonium phosphate. |
|
Modelling pasture data at farm-scale |
Massey |
$299,902 |
Undertake a proof-of-concept to illustrate the utility of mapping farm-scale pasture quality data. |
Who to contact
If you have questions about the GHGIR fund, email funding@mpi.govt.nz
