Contact Dr Adrian Williams

Areas of expertise

  • Carbon, Climate and Risk
  • Digital Agriculture
  • Energy and the Environment
  • Natural Capital
  • Soil
  • Soil Resources
  • Sustainable Land Systems
  • Waste Management and Resource Efficiency

Background

Adrian’s career started with research into waste management and progressed into a wide range of experimentally-based agri-environmental research including: biological treatment systems, silage conservation, gaseous emission measurement and control, and improved manure management methods. He later concentrated on mathematical modelling, initially using process models, leading to work in whole-farm agri-environmental and systems modelling, and environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

After moving to Cranfield, he developed the systems-based LCA work, which expanded rapidly. This addressed subjects from individual commodity production, packaging to extend product life and consumption to livestock health national dietary change. He is part of the team that improved and delivers the UK agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. More recent work focussed on the LCA of GHG removal (or net emissions technology – NET), particularly soil management, along with contributing to multi criteria assessments of agriculture and the valuation of the environmental impacts of scientific activities.

Current activities

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and systems modelling of diverse cattle product systems.

PI on NERC funded project Soils Research to deliver Greenhouse Gas REmovals and Abatement Technologies (Soils-R-GGREAT)

Delivery and enhancement of the UK Agricultural GHG inventory with responsibility for the beef and crop sectors.

Valuation of the benefits of research into atmospheric chemistry by the FAAM

Interests include:

Development and application of Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for agricultural and horticultural commodities and the food system

Whole system agri-environmental modelling

Effects of dietary change on the environment

More environmentally benign waste management

Modelling and measuring ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from agriculture

Multi stakeholder and ecosystem services evaluation

Water use and impacts in agriculture and food.

Clients


Defra
BBSRC
NERC
FAO
The Committee on Climate Change
EU
The Welsh Government
The Austrian Government
NCAS
WRAP
AHDB
RAFT Solutions
IDF
Article 13

Publications

Articles In Journals

Conference Papers

  • Williams AG, Leinonen I & Dominguez H (2014) A simple approach to land use change emissions for global crop commodities reflecting demand. In: 9th International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-Food Sector (LCA Food 2014), San Francisco, CA, 8-10 October 2014.
  • Williams AG & Mekonen S (2014) Environmental performance of traditional beer production in a micro-brewery. In: 9th International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-Food Sector (LCA Food 2014), San Francisco, CA, 8-10 October 2014.
  • Leinonen I, Williams AG & Kyriazakis I (2014) Comparing UK turkey production systems using analytical error propagation in uncertainty analysis. In: 9th International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-Food Sector (LCA Food 2014), San Francisco, CA, 8-10 October 2014.
  • Chatterton JC, Williams AG, Hateley G, Curwen A & Elliott J (2014) A systems-LCA approach to modelling the impact of improvements in cattle health on greenhouse gas emissions. In: 9th International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-Food Sector (LCA Food 2014), San Francisco, CA, 8-10 October 2014.
  • Leinonen I & Williams AG (2014) Evaluating methods to account for the greenhouse gas emissions from land use changes in agricultural LCA. In: 9th International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-Food Sector (LCA Food 2014), San Francisco, CA, 8-10 October 2014.
  • Chandaria J, Hunter J & Williams A (2011) The carbon footprint of watching television, comparing digital terrestrial television with video-on-demand. In: 2011 IEEE International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology (ISSST), Chicago, IL, 16-18 May 2011.
  • Williams AG Audsley E, Chatterton JC, Murphy-Bokern D & Brander M (2010) Greenhouse gas emissions from UK food and drink consumption by systems LCA: current and possible futures.
  • Audsley E, Williams AG, Webb J & Pearn KR (2010) Using Life Cycle Inventory systems modelling to determine the limits to sustainable livestock production.. In: 7th International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-Food Sector , Bari, 22 September 2010.
  • Williams AG, Sandars DL & Audsley E (2007) Sustainability and environmental burdens of milk and beef production. In: British Cattle Conference, Weston-under-Redcliff, Shropshire, 22 January 2007.