The Agriculture and Land Use Greenhouse Gas Inventory (ALU) software guides an inventory compiler through the process of estimating greenhouse gas emissions and removals related to agricultural and forestry activities.

Greenhouse gas emissions inventories are conducted by governments to quantify the influence of anthropogenic activity on emissions and removals of several gases, particularly CO₂, N₂O and CH₄.  Emissions occur due to activity related to energy use, industrial production, waste management, agricultural production, and land use and forestry management.

Developing a GHG inventory that quantifies anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and removals at a national scale is a challenge for most countries. However, an accounting of emissions and removals is important for informing policy decisions, and also required for reporting to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by countries who are signatory parties to the treaty agreement.

The ALU software simplifies the process of conducting the inventory by dividing the inventory analysis into steps to facilitate the compilation of activity data, assignment of emission factors and completion of the calculations.

The software also has internal checks to ensure data integrity. Furthermore, the software program is designed to support an evaluation of mitigation potentials using the inventory data as a baseline for projecting emission trends associated with management alternatives.

Key questions addressed:

• What are the emissions associated with my land use practices?
• How can I report my land use emissions to the IPCC?
• What is the impact of different mitigation policies?

Sample data inputs:

• Type of agriculture or livestock management practice
• Qualifying information about practice (e.g., hectares managed, amount of fertilizer, percent nitrogen)
• Amount of product imported or exported

Sample quantitative outputs:

• Emissions associated with land use change
• Area converted annually
• Net change in biomass diversity
• Annual loss of biomass
• Baseline GHG emissions
• Mitigation GHG emisisons

Access the Agriculture and Land Use Greenhouse Gas Inventory (ALU) software.

Resources:

Watch an introductory video to the software.