Environmental life cycle assessment of cow milk in a conventional semi-intensive Brazilian production system

Abstract Purpose Global food production needs to increase to provide enough food for over 9 billion people living by 2050. Traditional animal production is among the leading causes for climate change and occupation of land. Edible insects might be a sustainable protein supply to humans, but environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) studies on them are scarce. This study performs an LCA of a small-scale production system of yellow mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) in Central Europe that are supplied with organic feedstuff. Methods A combined ReCiPe midpoint (H) and CED method is used to estimate the potential environmental impacts from cradle-to-gate. Impact categories include global warming potential (GWP), non-renewable energy use (NREU), agricultural land occupation (ALOP), terrestrial acidification potential (TAP) and freshwater eutrophication potential (FEP). The robustness of the results is tested via sensitivity analyses and Monte Carlo simulations. Results and discussion Impacts related to the production of 1 kg of edible mealworm protein amount to 20.4 kg CO2-eq (GWP), 213.66 MJ-eq (NREU), 22.38 m2 (ALOP), 159.52 g SO2-eq (TAP) and 12.41 g P-eq (FEP). Upstream feed production and on-farm energy demand related to the heating of the facilities are identified as environmental hot-spots: Depending on the impact category, feed supply contributes up to 90% and on-farm heating accounts for up to 65% of overall impacts. The organic mealworm production system is contrasted with a selected Austrian organic broiler production system, to which it compares favourably (18–72% lower impacts per category), with the exception of freshwater eutrophication (6% higher impacts). Conclusions This case study shows that the Austrian mealworm production system compares favourably to traditional livestock systems. Compared to LCAs from large-scale T. molitor rearing facilities in France and in the Netherlands, however, the Austrian production system cannot compete for the reasons of production scale, feed conversion efficiency and type of production system. Nevertheless, the investigated mealworms represent a sustainable protein alternative that should be added to the Western diet.

Download Full-text

Environmental life cycle assessment of methanol and electricity co-production system based on coal gasification technology

The Science of The Total Environment ◽

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.08.188 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 574 ◽

pp. 1571-1579 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Anna Śliwińska ◽

Dorota Burchart-Korol ◽

Adam Smoliński

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Production System ◽

Coal Gasification ◽

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Gasification Technology

Download Full-text

Case study of a water bioengineering construction site in Austria. Ecological aspects and application of an environmental life cycle assessment model

International Journal of Energy and Environmental Engineering ◽

10.1007/s40095-021-00419-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

M. von der Thannen ◽

S. Hoerbinger ◽

C. Muellebner ◽

H. Biber ◽

H. P. Rauch

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Energy Demand ◽

Assessment Model ◽

Construction Site ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment ◽

The Impact ◽

Soil And Water

AbstractRecently, applications of soil and water bioengineering constructions using living plants and supplementary materials have become increasingly popular. Besides technical effects, soil and water bioengineering has the advantage of additionally taking into consideration ecological values and the values of landscape aesthetics. When implementing soil and water bioengineering structures, suitable plants must be selected, and the structures must be given a dimension taking into account potential impact loads. A consideration of energy flows and the potential negative impact of construction in terms of energy and greenhouse gas balance has been neglected until now. The current study closes this gap of knowledge by introducing a method for detecting the possible negative effects of installing soil and water bioengineering measures. For this purpose, an environmental life cycle assessment model has been applied. The impact categories global warming potential and cumulative energy demand are used in this paper to describe the type of impacts which a bioengineering construction site causes. Additionally, the water bioengineering measure is contrasted with a conventional civil engineering structure. The results determine that the bioengineering alternative performs slightly better, in terms of energy demand and global warming potential, than the conventional measure. The most relevant factor is shown to be the impact of the running machines at the water bioengineering construction site. Finally, an integral ecological assessment model for applications of soil and water bioengineering structures should point out the potential negative effects caused during installation and, furthermore, integrate the assessment of potential positive effects due to the development of living plants in the use stage of the structures.

Download Full-text

Environmental life cycle assessment based on the retrofitting of a twentieth-century heritage building in Spain, with electricity decarbonization scenarios

Building Research & Information ◽

10.1080/09613218.2021.1952400 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-19

Author(s):

D. González-Prieto ◽

Y. Fernández-Nava ◽

E. Marañón ◽

M. M. Prieto

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Heritage Building

Download Full-text

Environmental life cycle assessment of the incorporation of recycled high-density polyethylene to polyethylene pipe grade resins

Journal of Cleaner Production ◽

10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128580 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 128580

Author(s):

Ioan-Robert Istrate ◽

Rafael Juan ◽

Mario Martin-Gamboa ◽

Carlos Domínguez ◽

Rafael A. García-Muñoz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

High Density Polyethylene ◽

High Density ◽

Polyethylene Pipe ◽

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment

Download Full-text

Estimation of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from a Traditional Nutrient-Rich Cambodian Diet Food Production System Using Life Cycle Assessment

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13073660 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 3660

Author(s):

Rathna Hor ◽

Phanna Ly ◽

Agusta Samodra Putra ◽

Riaru Ishizaki ◽

Tofael Ahamed ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Co2 Emissions ◽

Production System ◽

Agricultural Production ◽

Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽

Food Production ◽

Carbon Dioxide Co2 ◽

Food Production System

Traditional Cambodian food has higher nutrient balances and is environmentally sustainable compared to conventional diets. However, there is a lack of knowledge and evidence on nutrient intake and the environmental greenness of traditional food at different age distributions. The relationship between nutritional intake and environmental impact can be evaluated using carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from agricultural production based on life cycle assessment (LCA). The objective of this study was to estimate the CO2 equivalent (eq) emissions from the traditional Cambodian diet using LCA, starting at each agricultural production phase. A one-year food consumption scenario with the traditional diet was established. Five breakfast (BF1–5) and seven lunch and dinner (LD1–7) food sets were consumed at the same rate and compared using LCA. The results showed that BF1 and LD2 had the lowest and highest emissions (0.3 Mt CO2 eq/yr and 1.2 Mt CO2 eq/yr, respectively). The food calories, minerals, and vitamins met the recommended dietary allowance. The country’s existing food production system generates CO2 emissions of 9.7 Mt CO2 eq/yr, with the proposed system reducing these by 28.9% to 6.9 Mt CO2 eq/yr. The change in each food item could decrease emissions depending on the type and quantity of the food set, especially meat and milk consumption.

Download Full-text