Valorization of CO2 reductions in the dairy industry
Brief description
The raw milk produced in Schleswig-Holstein - that is around 3 billion kg per year and thus 9.5% of the total raw milk produced in Germany (BLE, 2024) - causes around 3.3 million tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per year. This means that the dairy industry accounts for a significant proportion of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. It is a declared goal to reduce CO2e emissions. Both within the framework of international climate protection measures and through German federal regulations. In this HAW Kiel project, a concept is being developed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the dairy industry. The plan is to valorize the avoidance of emissions in order to create a financial incentive for dairy farms to reduce their CO2e emissions in milk production in a certification model. The team wants to answer the following questions: How high are the CO2e emissions on individual farms in Schleswig-Holstein? What reduction options exist? What avoidance costs per kg CO2e are associated with this? What financial incentive does the dairy farm need to implement a CO2e reduction measure? What is the willingness to buy and demand for voluntary carbon certificates in the dairy industry in order to provide financial incentives for dairy farms to reduce CO2e emissions? And finally: What could a concept for the valorization of CO2e emission avoidance and reduction for the dairy industry look like? The implementation could then be tested as a model project within the framework of a European Innovation Project (EIP).
Results
The following results will be presented at the “Agrarforum Special 2026” on Thursday, September 3, 2026, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at the Claus-Heller-Haus, Department of Agricultural Sciences in Osterrönfeld.
As part of the project, the CO2e footprints of a total of 250 Schleswig-Holstein dairy farms were recorded and evaluated using the LfL Climate Check Tool—the standard instrument established in Germany for CO2e accounting in dairy farming. Based on this data, the farms’ reduction potentials were analyzed in model calculations and evaluated from an economic perspective.
CO2e Footprints in Schleswig-Holstein Dairy Production
The farms studied have an average CO2e footprint of 1.02 kg CO2e per kg of milk. The values range from 0.76 to 2.12 kg CO2e per kg of milk—a considerable range that highlights just how varied the farms’ initial conditions are and, consequently, their individual reduction potentials. To contextualize this structural diversity, the farms were classified into six model farm types that collectively represent the full spectrum of dairy farming in Schleswig-Holstein—from extensive pasture-based systems to highly intensive barn systems.
Mitigation Potential and Avoidance Costs
Based on the model farms, nine mitigation measures relevant to Schleswig-Holstein were identified and evaluated for each farm type in terms of their GHG reduction potential, their economic costs, and their marginal abatement costs. These include, among others, switching from soy to rapeseed feed, the use of silage additives to improve forage quality, increasing the grazing duration or switching to pasture-based management, reducing the culling rate, the use of milk replacers in calf rearing, methane-reducing feed additives (e.g., 3-NOP), switching to green electricity, and the use of calcium cyanamide in manure storage.
Overall, CO2e emissions per kilogram of milk can be reduced by up to 15 percent based on calculations. Particularly noteworthy: A significant portion of these measures—including, in particular, extending the grazing period, using silage additives, and reducing the culling rate—have negative marginal abatement costs. These so-called win-win measures therefore not only reduce emissions but also improve the farm’s profitability. Under certain conditions, climate protection and farm profitability are thus not mutually exclusive in dairy farming.
Concept for Valuing Climate Protection Benefits
A central component of the project was the question of how CO₂e reductions achieved by farms can be made visible and rewarded within the dairy industry in the future. To this end, an initial concept for valuing CO₂e reduction measures was developed and discussed with the three project partners.