A first step in building resilience into your business is to understand what will happen with a changing climate and how this will affect your unique business. Climate change is happening and is already impacting on a wide range of industries, with those reliant on temperature and water the most vulnerable. To help ensure the survival of your business, a networked and combined effort is important to reduce carbon emissions by reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

‍At Rory Allardice Environmental, we help you transition your business to a low carbon economy. Here's how:

a. By marketing your product produced under a low carbon methodology. By contributing to the global reduction in greenhouse gasses while being mindful of your own unique development objectives. By identifying those plants that benefit from higher carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and higher temperatures, and then defining the benefits and/or problems they may cause.Here is an example of how one would go about reducing your carbon footprint.

‍In a Low Carbon Economy:

- All waste should be minimised

- reduce, re-use and recycle;

- Energy should be produced using low carbon energy sources and methods

- renewable and alternative energy sources must be researched and priced;

- Fuel consumption should be reduced by planning the use of vehicles better;

- The business can, where possible, turn waste into charcoal through pyrolosis (heating of material in the absence of oxygen) and sequestrate it into the soil. The heat generated in this way may be useful energy;

- All resources (in particular energy) should be used efficiently

- more efficient energy conversion devices, combined heat and power, etc;

- Buy locally-produced goods where practical and support local manufacturers. The cost to the atmosphere of transport is mostly higher than to your pocket. Food, materials and energy should all be produced and supplied locally;

- Promote awareness and compliance with environmental and social responsibility initiatives.

In the larger scheme of things, the aim of a low carbon economy (LCE) is to integrate all aspects of business (its manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, and power-utilisation, etc.) around technologies that efficiently reduce the use of non-renewable products and at the same time produce energy and materials with little greenhouse gas (GHG) emission.In the field of agriculture it's not so easy to achieve a neutral carbon rating because of the reliance on agricultural equipment burning tons of fossil fuels and the application of fertilizers.

However, by investigating more efficient machines, generating your own electricity and through the use of compost and biochar, significant savings can be made.The research done on biochar or agri-carbon applications to a number of crops have shown wonderful results, leading to a 30% increase and more in production (barley). With the addition of compost, significant savings in organophosphates and the subsequent leaching of pollutants into surface and underground water sources are made.

The storage of carbon in this way off-set the carbon emissions made during normal farming practices.Recycling further reduces the carbon footprint and minimises the output of greenhouse gasses (GHG's). Agriculture offers marvellous opportunity for recycling, from water recycling to plastics, glass and manure. Recycling viability assessments and recycling management planning are two relatively specialised fields but often lead to simple implementation and obvious returns for the farmer.

At Rory Allardice Environmental, our attitude is one of accepting the present status quo and working on it to give the client maximum benefit. This can be achieved simply by reducing the use of herbicides and establishing designated equipment cleaning sites.