scholarly journals Carbon Footprint and Related Production Costs of System Components of a Field-Grown Cercis canadensis L. ‘Forest Pansy’ Using Life Cycle Assessment

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewayne L. Ingram ◽  
Charles R. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Production System ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emission ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
System Component ◽  
Cercis Canadensis

Life cycle assessment (LCA) was utilized to analyze the global warming potential (GWP), or carbon footprint, and associated costs of the production components of a field-grown, spade-dug, 5 cm (2 in) caliper Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ in the Lower Midwest, U.S. A model production system was determined from interviews of nursery managers in the region. Input materials, equipment use and labor were inventoried for each production system component using international standards of LCA. The seed-to-landscape GWP, expressed in kilograms of carbon dioxide emission equivalent (CO2e), was determined to be 13.707. Equipment use constituted the majority (63%) of net CO2-e emissions during production, transport to the customer, and transplanting in the landscape. The model was queried to determine the possible impact of production system modifications on carbon footprint and costs to aid managers in examining their production system. Carbon sequestration of a redbud growing in the landscape over its 40 year life, weighted proportionally for a 100 year assessment period, was calculated to be −165 kg CO2e. The take-down and disposal activities following its useful life would result in the emission of 88.44 kg CO2e. The life-cycle GWP of the described redbud tree, including GHG emissions during production, transport, transplanting, take down and disposal would be −63 kg CO2e. Total variable costs associated with the labor, materials, and equipment use incurred in the model system were $0.069, $2.88, and $34.81 for the seedling, liner, and field production stages, respectively. An additional $18.83 was needed for transport to the landscape and planting in the landscape and after the 40 year productive life of the tree in the landscape, another $60.86 was needed for take-down and disposal activities.

scholarly journals Carbon Footprint and Related Production Costs of Pot-in-Pot System Components for Red Maple Using Life Cycle Assessment

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewayne L. Ingram ◽  
Charles R. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Acer Rubrum ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Red Maple ◽  
Bare Root ◽  
The Impact

Component input materials and activities of a model pot-in-pot (PIP) production system were analyzed using life cycle assessment methods. The impact of each component on global warming potential (GWP; kilograms of CO2-equivalent), or carbon footprint, and variable production costs was determined for a 5 cm caliper Acer rubrum L. ‘October Glory’ in a #25 container. Total greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of inputs and processes at the nursery gate for a defined model system were 15.317 kg CO2e. Carbon sequestration weighted over a 100-year assessment period was estimated to be 4.575 kg CO2, yielding a nursery gate GWP of 10.742 kg CO2e. The major contridbutors to the GWP at the nursery gate were the substrate, production container, the 1.8 m (6 ft), branched, bare root liner, PIP system installation, and fertilization while the liner and production container also contributed significantly to the variable costs. Input materials and labor constituted about 76 and 21% of variable costs, respectively. Unlike field production systems, equipment use in PIP production accounted for only 13% of GHG emissions and 2% of variable costs.

scholarly journals Modeling Container-grown Euphorbia pulcherrima Production System Components: Impacts on Carbon Footprint and Variable Costs Using a Life Cycle Assessment

HortScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 262-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewayne L. Ingram ◽  
Charles R. Hall ◽  
Joshua Knight
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Best Management Practices ◽  
Production System ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
The United States ◽  
Model System ◽  
Euphorbia Pulcherrima

A model production system for a 15.2-cm poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) in the north Atlantic region of the United States was developed through grower interviews and best management practices and analyzed using a life cycle assessment (LCA). The model system involved direct sticking of unrooted cuttings. The propagation phase was 4 weeks, followed by 9 weeks of irrigation using a boom system and 4 weeks of flood-floor irrigation. The carbon footprint, or global warming potential (GWP), for the plant was calculated as 0.474 kg carbon dioxide equivalent (kg CO2e), with a variable cost of $1.030. Major contributors to the GWP were the substrate and filling pots, fertilization, the container, irrigation, and overhead electricity. The major contributors to variable costs were the unrooted cuttings and labor to prepare and stick ($0.471). Furthermore, the substrate and filling containers and irrigation were notable contributors. Material inputs accounted for 0.304 kg CO2e, whereas equipment use was estimated to be 0.163 kg CO2e, which comprised 64.2% and 35.8% of total GWP, respectively. Material inputs accounted for $0.665 (64.6%) of variable costs, whereas labor accounted for 19.6% of variable costs for this model. Water use per plant was 77.2 L with boom irrigation for the 9 weeks during production spacing (32.8 plant/m2) and represented 64% of the total water use. LCA was an effective tool for analyzing the components of a model system of greenhouse-grown, flowering, potted plants. Information gained from this study can be used by growers considering system alterations to improve efficiency.

Life cycle assessment of horticultural production on UK lowland peat soils.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Freeman ◽  
David Styles ◽  
Christopher Evans ◽  
David Chadwick ◽  
David Jones
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Efficient Production ◽  
Peat Soils ◽  
Responsible Management ◽  
The Uk

<p>Global peatlands store >600 Gt of Carbon (C) but are highly vulnerable to degradation following drainage for agriculture. The extensively drained East Anglian Fens include half of England’s most productive agricultural land, produce ~33% of England’s vegetables and support a food production industry worth approximately £3 billion GBP.  However under arable management, these fen peat soils produce ~37.5 t CO<sub>2</sub> eq ha<sup>-1</sup> of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually. This is likely to be the largest source of land use GHG emissions in the UK per unit area and there is interest in developing responsible management approaches to reduce emissions whilst maintaining economically productive systems. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is amongst the UK’s most valuable crops and a substantial proportion of UK production occurs in the Fens. We undertook a life cycle assessment to compare the carbon footprint of UK Fen lettuce with alternative sources of lettuce for the UK market. We also examined the potential for responsible peat management strategies and more efficient production to reduce the carbon footprint of Fen lettuce. It is hoped this study will help to inform land use decision making and encourage responsible management of UK lowland peat resources.</p>

scholarly journals Analysis of Production System Components of Container-grown Chrysanthemum for Their Impact on Carbon Footprint and Variable Costs Using Life Cycle Assessment

HortScience ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (8) ◽  
pp. 1139-1142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewayne L. Ingram ◽  
Charles R. Hall ◽  
Joshua Knight
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Production System ◽  
The United States ◽  
The North ◽  
System Components ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Consumptive Water

Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to analyze the production system components of a 20-cm Chrysanthemum grown for the fall market in the north Atlanta region of the United States. The model system consisted of 2 weeks of mist in a greenhouse followed by 9 weeks on an outdoor gravel bed equipped with drip irrigation. The carbon footprint, or global warming potential (GWP), was calculated as 0.555 kg CO2e and the variable costs incurred during the modeled production system (from rooting purchased cuttings to loading the truck for shipment) totaled $0.846. Use of plastics was important in terms of GWP and variable costs with the container contributing 26.7% of the GWP of the product and 12.2% of the variable costs. The substrate accounted for 44.8% of the GWP in this model but only 12.1% of the variable costs. Consumptive water use during misting was determined to be 3.9 L per plant whereas water use during outdoor production was 34.8 L. Because propagation is handled in various ways by Chrysanthemum growers, the potential impact of alternative propagation scenarios on GWP and variable costs, including the purchase of plugs, was also examined.

scholarly journals Production Costs of Field-grown Cercis canadensis L. ‘Forest Pansy’ Identified during Life Cycle Assessment Analysis

HortScience ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 622-627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles R. Hall ◽  
Dewayne Ingram
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Labor Costs ◽  
Post Harvest ◽  
Cercis Canadensis ◽  
Transport Distance ◽  
Short Run

University researchers have recently quantified the value of carbon sequestration provided by landscape trees (Ingram, 2012, 2013). However, no study to date has captured the economic costs of component horticultural systems while conducting a life cycle assessment of any green industry product. This study attempts to fill that void. The nursery production system modeled in this study was a field-grown, 5-cm (2-in) caliper Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ in the Lower Midwest. Partial budgeting modeling procedures were also used to measure the sensitivity of related costs and potential benefits associated with short-run changes in cultural practices in the production systems analyzed (e.g., transport distance, post-harvest activities, fertilization rates, and plant mortality). Total variable costs for the seedling and liner stages combined amounted to $2.93 per liner, including $1.92 per liner for labor, $0.73 for materials, and $0.27 per liner for equipment use. The global warming potential (GWP) associated with the seedling and liner stages combined included 0.3123 kg of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) for materials and 0.2228 kg CO2e for equipment use. Total farm-gate variable costs (the seedling, liner, and field production phases combined) amounted to $37.74 per marketable tree, comprised of $9.90 for labor, $21.11 for materials, and $6.73 for equipment use, respectively. However, post-harvest costs (e.g., transportation, transplanting, take-down, and disposal costs) added another $33.78 in labor costs and $27.08 in equipment costs to the farm-gate cost, yielding a total cost from seedling to end of tree life of $98.60. Of this, $43.68 was spent on labor, $21.11 spent on materials, and $33.81 spent on equipment use during the life cycle of each marketable tree. As per an earlier study, the life cycle GWP of the described redbud tree, including greenhouse gas emissions during production, transport, transplanting, take-down, and disposal, would be a negative 63 kg CO2e (Ingram et al., 2013). These combined data can be used to communicate to the consuming public the true (positive) value of trees in the landscape.

scholarly journals Carbon Footprint and Production Costs Associated with Varying the Intensity of Production Practices During Field-grown Shrub Production

HortScience ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 402-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles R. Hall ◽  
Dewayne L. Ingram
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Rooted Cutting ◽  
Entire Life ◽  
Entire Life Cycle ◽  
Potential System ◽  
Production And Distribution ◽  
Production Practices

This research uses a life cycle analysis and economic engineering approach to determine the costs and global warming potential (GWP) of production and post-production practices associated with Taxus ×media ‘Densiformis’, which is often grown using a more capital-intensive regime during the propagative and harvesting stages than the typical field-grown shrub. Total variable costs incurred during the rooted cutting stage were slightly over $0.24 per marketable rooted cutting. This was made up of $0.1966, $0.032, and $0.0127 for labor, materials, and equipment operating costs, respectively. The GWP of materials and equipment used during the rooted cutting stage of production was 0.0097 and 0.2762 kg CO2 equivalent (CO2e), respectively. Equipment costs in this phase were predominantly from heating the greenhouse (92%) and the greenhouse heating functions comprised 95% of the rooting cutting GWP. GWP during the post-farm gate stage was 2.4506 kg CO2e per marketable shrub but was offset by 12.5522 kg CO2 being sequestered in the shrub during its time in the landscape and weighted over the 100-year assessment period, leaving a net GWP of –8.1824 kg CO2e per marketable shrub by the end of the life cycle. Total takedown and disposal costs (labor) after an assumed 50-year life in the landscape were $9.0610. During the entire life cycle from cutting to landscape to takedown and disposal, total variable costs incurred were $17.9856 per shrub. These findings are consistent with previous studies in that the GWP is positive when considering the entire life cycle of the shrub from propagation to eventual removal from the landscape. Knowing the carbon footprint of production and distribution components of field-grown shrubs will help nursery managers understand the environmental costs associated with their respective systems and evaluate potential system modifications to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

scholarly journals Carbon Footprint Study of Tesla Model 3

2019 ◽  
Vol 136 ◽  
pp. 01009
Author(s):  
Gensheng Gui
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Power Consumption ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
High Power ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Unit Distance ◽  
High Power Consumption ◽  
Assessment Standard

With the application of life cycle assessment method, according to the life cycle assessment standard, the Tesla Model 3 life cycle GHG emissions are accounted applying the CALCM and GREET in this paper obtaining the following conclusions: firstly, the GHG emissions value per unit distance of Tesla Model 3 is 376gCO2e/km, 17% higher than the average GHG emissions of B class ICEV in China, attributing mainly to the high power consumption during driving.

scholarly journals Carbon Footprint and Related Production Costs of System Components for a Field-Grown Viburnum × juddi Using Life Cycle Assessment

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 175-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewayne L. Ingram ◽  
Charles R. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Model System ◽  
Model Material ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
System Components ◽  
Co2 Equivalent ◽  
Field Production

Life cycle assessment was used to analyze the global warming potential (GWP) and variable costs of input materials, equipment use and labor of a model system for field production of a balled and burlapped, 0.9 m (36 in) Judd viburnum (Viburnum × juddi Rehder) shrub in the lower Midwest. The model system was defined using information obtained through interviews with nursery managers in the region. The propagation-to-gate GWP of the shrub was determined to be 0.705 kg CO2 equivalent (CO2e), after subtracting 0.916 kg CO2e, the weighted impact of carbon sequestered during production. Estimates for propagation-to-landscape GWP (3.156 kg CO2e) and variable costs ($9.19) were also calculated for the model. Material inputs during field production contributed 1.063 kg CO2e to the propagation-to-gate GWP and $0.89 of the variable costs while equipment use contributed 0.558 kg CO2e and $0.32 to variable costs.

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