Member Article

On April 29, 2008, the Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, Line Beauchamp, announced the adoption of new measures to improve water quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. An amount of $16.4 million has been allocated to enable agricultural operations to intensify their actions favouring the preservation and improvement of water quality.

As regards the problem of greenhouse gas emissions, the government has set aside a $24 million budget over the next six years to enable the agricultural sector to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 300 kilotons. The new measures will also reduce the inconvenience related to odours from agricultural activities. The measures provide for: (1) the installation of airtight roofs on structures for storing farm manure in order to capture biogas; (2) the replacement of heating systems powered by fossil energy by systems using biomass or geothermal energy to heat greenhouses and livestock production buildings; (3) the replacement of evaporators for producing maple syrup powered by fossil energy by equipment using biomass energy; (4) the reclamation of energy from residual agricultural biomass; (5) the raising of the awareness of agricultural producers concerning the technological, environmental, social and economic aspects associated with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; and (6) the carrying out of major projects by groups of agricultural operations or agri-businesses to acquire or customize production systems so as to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions.