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 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 land use of oat and faba bean protein concentrates using a life cycle assessment approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 242 ◽  
pp. 118376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannele Heusala ◽  
Taija Sinkko ◽  
Nesli Sözer ◽  
Eemeli Hytönen ◽  
Lisbeth Mogensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Faba Bean ◽  
Protein Concentrates ◽  
Assessment Approach ◽  
Bean Protein

A life cycle assessment approach to quantifying greenhouse gas emissions from land-use change for beef production in eastern Australia

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beverley K. Henry ◽  
D. Butler ◽  
S. G. Wiedemann
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
New South ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Beef Production ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Direct Land Use Change

In life cycle assessment studies, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from direct land-use change have been estimated to make a significant contribution to the global warming potential of agricultural products. However, these estimates have a high uncertainty due to the complexity of data requirements and difficulty in attribution of land-use change. This paper presents estimates of GHG emissions from direct land-use change from native woodland to grazing land for two beef production regions in eastern Australia, which were the subject of a multi-impact life cycle assessment study for premium beef production. Spatially- and temporally consistent datasets were derived for areas of forest cover and biomass carbon stocks using published remotely sensed tree-cover data and regionally applicable allometric equations consistent with Australia’s national GHG inventory report. Standard life cycle assessment methodology was used to estimate GHG emissions and removals from direct land-use change attributed to beef production. For the northern-central New South Wales region of Australia estimates ranged from a net emission of 0.03 t CO2-e ha–1 year–1 to net removal of 0.12 t CO2-e ha–1 year–1 using low and high scenarios, respectively, for sequestration in regrowing forests. For the same period (1990–2010), the study region in southern-central Queensland was estimated to have net emissions from land-use change in the range of 0.45–0.25 t CO2-e ha–1 year–1. The difference between regions reflects continuation of higher rates of deforestation in Queensland until strict regulation in 2006 whereas native vegetation protection laws were introduced earlier in New South Wales. On the basis of liveweight produced at the farm-gate, emissions from direct land-use change for 1990–2010 were comparable in magnitude to those from other on-farm sources, which were dominated by enteric methane. However, calculation of land-use change impacts for the Queensland region for a period starting 2006, gave a range from net emissions of 0.11 t CO2-e ha–1 year–1 to net removals of 0.07 t CO2-e ha–1 year–1. This study demonstrated a method for deriving spatially- and temporally consistent datasets to improve estimates for direct land-use change impacts in life cycle assessment. It identified areas of uncertainty, including rates of sequestration in woody regrowth and impacts of land-use change on soil carbon stocks in grazed woodlands, but also showed the potential for direct land-use change to represent a net sink for GHG.

scholarly journals Environmental impact of primary beef production chain in Colombia: Carbon footprint, non-renewable energy and land use using Life Cycle Assessment

2021 ◽  
Vol 773 ◽  
pp. 145573
Author(s):  
Ricardo González-Quintero ◽  
Diana María Bolívar-Vergara ◽  
Ngonidzashe Chirinda ◽  
Jacobo Arango ◽  
Heiber Pantevez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Beef Production ◽  
Production Chain

scholarly journals The Role of Embodied Carbon Databases in the Accuracy of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Calculations for the Embodied Carbon of Buildings

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7988
Author(s):  
Golnaz Mohebbi ◽  
Ali Bahadori-Jahromi ◽  
Marco Ferri ◽  
Anastasia Mylona
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Unit Weight ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Carbon Reduction ◽  
Embodied Carbon ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
The Uk

Studies conducted by major national and international scientific bodies have indisputably concluded that the increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) since the mid-20th century has led to irreversible changes in the climate. Data has shown that the contribution of the building sector accounts for 39% of these emissions. Reducing GHG emissions associated with the construction phase of buildings, or embodied carbon (EC), will prevent GHG emissions from entering the atmosphere earlier, reducing the negative impacts. However, to achieve any meaningful reduction, there is a need for consistency and accuracy in the calculations. The accuracy of these calculations is primarily tied to the accuracy of embodied carbon factors (ECF) used in the calculations, values determining the environmental impact of a product or procedure per unit weight. The emissions of any product can be calculated by performing a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). While the requirements for carrying out an LCA have been standardised in ISO14044, the lack of a definitive national ECF database in the UK means that EC calculations can vary drastically based on the chosen database. An LCA has been carried out on a standard Lidl supermarket design within the A1–A3 boundary. For the calculation, the ECFs were sourced from two different databases, using the GHG conversion factor data published in 2020 by the UK Department of Energy & Climate Change and data published in 2019 by the Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE). The latter is currently accepted as the most consistent database for carbon factors in the UK. This study showed that using a more detailed database compared to using a more general database could result in a 35.2% reduction of embodied carbon, while using more detailed data from a single database can reduce it by a further 5.5%. It is necessary to establish the most accurate baseline for embodied carbon so that any carbon reduction attempts can be as effective as possible.

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 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, non-renewable energy and land use of dual-purpose cattle systems in Colombia using a life cycle assessment approach

2020 ◽  
pp. 104330
Author(s):  
Ricardo González-Quintero ◽  
Troels Kristensen ◽  
María Solange Sánchez-Pinzón ◽  
Diana María Bolívar-Vergara ◽  
Ngonidzashe Chirinda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Dual Purpose ◽  
Assessment Approach ◽  
Dual Purpose Cattle ◽  
Cattle Systems
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