Holos is a whole-farm model and software program that estimates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions based on information entered for individual farms. The main purpose of Holos is to test possible ways of reducing GHG emissions from farms and is available at no cost to users.
Holos: a tool to estimate and reduce greenhouse gases from farms
Users can select scenarios and farm management practices that best describe their operation and then adjust these practices to see the effect on emissions. Examples of these adjustments include changing livestock feed, reducing tillage or including perennial forages in rotation.
Once information is entered into the program, Holos estimates carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane emissions. The sources of emissions include enteric fermentation and manure management, cropping systems and energy use. Carbon storage and loss from lineal tree plantings and changes in land use and management are also estimated. The result is a greenhouse gas emission estimate for the whole farm that can help the user identify ways to reduce farm emissions.
We welcome feedback from researchers, farmers and industry to help us improve this software. For more information on Holos, please contact [email protected].
See CONTRIBUTING.md
There is a Holos 4 Training Guide for the graphical user interface (GUI) available. This guide can be used as a step-by-step tutorial on how to set up a farm and calculate emissions in the GUI.
Note that the Holos 4 GUI is not open source at this time.
The GUI for Holos 4 is available to download and use from the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada webpage.
Unless otherwise noted, the source code of this project is covered under Crown Copyright, Government of Canada, and is distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPLv3).
The Canada wordmark and related graphics associated with this distribution are protected under trademark law and copyright law. No permission is granted to use them outside the parameters of the Government of Canada's corporate identity program. For more information, see Federal identity requirements.