Who am I?
Who are you?
 Post
P
d at Aarhus
doc
A h University
U i
i
LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA)
OF ORGANIC FOOD
 PhD study: Life Cycle Assessment of imported
organic
i products
d t
 Brazil: Organic orange production
 China: Organic soybean production
 Working for ICROFS
 USA
B Marie
By
M i Trydeman
T d
Knudsen
K d
 MSc agronomy: Intercropping of legumes and cereals
 Indonesia: Agroforestry
Today’s
Today
s programme
Increasing market for organic food
 Life Cycle Assessment: a tool to assess environmental impacts
 How to do a Life Cycle Assessment?


Your own case study…
A case study on orange juice
 Life cycle assessment of organic and conventional food
Revenu
ues in billion US dollars
 Growing market and demands for organic products
50
51
40
30
33
20
10
23
15
0
 Challenges
Ch ll
f life
for
lif cycle
l assessments
t
y LCA of organic
g
soybean
y
from China
 A case study:
1999
2003
2005
2008
Production of organic food
Organic food from all over the world
Organic food from all over the world
Eksport af landbrugsprodukter fra Afrika
What concerns organic consumers?
Market demand for producers
 Documentation
What are the environmental implications
when I buy imported organic products?
How much does the transportation mean
with regard to global warming?
Are the organic
g
systems
y
more
environmentally friendly than the
conventional systems in those countries?
Today’s
Today
s programme
 Growing market and demands for organic products
 Organic certifications
 Other
 Improvements
p
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – a tool
 What is the environmental impact of a product?
 Life Cycle Assessment: a tool to assess environmental impacts
 How to do a Life Cycle Assessment?


Your own case study…
A case study on orange juice
 Life cycle assessment of organic and conventional food
A product-oriented tool to assess the ressource use and
environmental impact through a product’s life cycle
 Challenges
Ch ll
f life
for
lif cycle
l assessments
t
transport
y LCA of organic
g
soybean
y
from China
 A case study:
Production
off inputs
i
t
transport
Agricultural
production
d ti
transport
Processing
plant
transport
Packaging
S
Supermarket
k t
What are the environmental impacts?
What are the environmental impacts?
Global warming
Nutrient enrichment
Acidification
Ozone depletion
Photochemical smog
Land use
Biodiversity
Toxicity
Smell
Noise
<Udfyld sidefodoplysninger her>
Today’s
Today
s programme
How to use an LCA approach?
 Growing market and demands for organic products
Emissions to air (N2O, NH3, CO2 etc.)
 Life Cycle Assessment: a tool to assess environmental impacts
transport
 How to do a Life Cycle Assessment?


Your own case study…
A case study on orange juice
Input
production
transport
Production
of oranges
transport
Juice
concentrate
factory
transport
Juice
factory
 Life cycle assessment of organic and conventional food
 Challenges
Ch ll
f life
for
lif cycle
l assessments
t
Emissions to soil and water (NO3-, pesticides etc.)
y LCA of organic
g
soybean
y
from China
 A case study:
Import to
Denmark
INVENTORY
Production of
inputs
Emissions to air (N2O, NH3, CO2 etc.)
INVENTORY
RESULTS
INPUT
OUTPUT
Materials
Orange
Fertilizer
Etc.
Crop yield
Eutrophication potential
transport
Residues or co-product
Energy
D t collection
Data
ll ti
Agricultural
production
Fuel
via
Electricity
questionnaire
Etc.
production
Chemicals
E
Energy
use
Global warming potential
Acidification potential
transport
Pesticides
Etc.
y potential
p
Ecotoxicity
gp
plant
Processing
Other
Land use
Emissions to soil and water (NO3-, pesticides etc.)
Etc.
transport
Packaging
transport
Production
of inputs
transport
Agricultural
production
transport
Processing
transport
Packaging
transport
Supermarket
Consumer
How to use an LCA approach?
Goal and scope definition
• Objective?
Life cycle assessment framework
Life cycle assessment framework
• Comparative or hotspot
analysis?
• Intended application?
Goal and scope
definition
Goal and scope
definition
• Functional unit?
• Per farm,
farm per ha
ha, per kg
product?
Inventory
analysis
Intrepretation
Inventory
analysis
Intrepretation
• Impact
p
categories?
g
• Which are relevant?
Impact
assessment
Impact
assessment
• Which can be covered by
LCA?
• System boundaries and
allocation?
• Are there several
products from one
process? Allocation…
Life cycle assessment framework
Example:
p
Goal and scope
definition
Objective
LCA of organic orange juice
Inventory
analysis
Intrepretation
Impact
assessment

To compare the environment impacts in the production of organic
oranges at small-scale farms with organic large-scale farms and or
small-scale conventional farms in Brazil.

To identify the environmental hotspots in the product chain of
organic orange juice from small-scale Brazilian farms imported to
Denmark.
transport
transport
Input
production
Production
of oranges
transport
Juice
concentrate
factory,
Brazil
transport
Juice
factory,
Germany
Life cycle assessment framework
Functional unit
Goal and scope
definition
Inventory
analysis
Intrepretation
Life cycle assessment framework
Goal and scope
definition
Impact categories
Inventory
analysis
Impact
assessment


One tonne of oranges produced in the State of São Paulo, Brazil leaving
farm gate
One litre of organic orange juice grown and processed to concentrate in
Brazil, reconstituted and imported to retail distribution centre in Denmark
Brazil
Import to
Denmark
Impact
assessment
Global warming
Eutrophication
Non-renewable
energy use
Acidification
Biodiversity
Land use
Intrepretation
Life cycle assessment framework
System boundaries and allocation
Inventory analysis
Goal and scope
definition
Inventory
analysis
Intrepretation
Impact
assessment
• Collect information
Life cycle assessment framework
• Where and how?
TRANSPORT STAGE
28 t
90 km
(for manure)
Production
of inputs
Production
of oranges
16 t
16 t
120 km
320 km
Reefer
10040 km
28 t
40 t
530 km
896 km
Frozen
concentrated
orange juice
production
Reconstitution
of orange juice
Orange
residue
pellet
production
INPUT STAGE
FARM STAGE
Goal and scope
definition
Retail
distribution
centre in
Denmark
Inventory
analysis
• Emissions?
• Which are important
for the impact
categories?
Intrepretation
• How to estimate
them?
Avoided
barley
production
Impact
assessment
JUICE PROCESSING STAGE
In Brazil
In Germany
INVENTORY
Emissions to air (N2O, NH3, CO2 etc.)
INVENTORY – farm studies
INPUT
OUTPUT
Materials
Orange
Fertilizer
Seeds or seedlings
ORGANIC
ORGANIC
Number of farms
Farm area (ha)
CONVENTIONAL
5
33
2
5817
Residues or co-product
Energy
small-
Fuel
scale
large-scale
Small-scale
Crop yield
Natural gas
y
Electricity
6
production
Chemicals
Pesticides
32
Cleaning substances
Other
Orange area (%)
28%
12%
65%
Land use
Emissions to soil and water (NO3-, pesticides etc.)
Water use
Main crops
Other crops
Animals (LU/ha)
Orange, mango,
lime
Orange
Orange
Tomato, sugar
cane, avocado,
corn
no
no
0.06
0.12
0.51
transport
Production
of inputs
transport
Agricultural
production
transport
Processing
transport
Packaging
Supermarket
Life cycle assessment framework
INVENTORY – inputs and outputs
Goal and scope
definition
INVENTORY - Estimate emissions
Inventory
analysis
Intrepretation
Impact
assessment
Emissions to air (N2O, NH3 etc.)
N OUTPUT
N INPUT
Crop yield
N balance
Organic fertilizer
Mineral fertilizer
N2 fixation
Residues or co-product
N BALANCE
Precipitation, deposition
Seeds or seedlings
IPCC guidelines 2006
Emissions to soil and water (NO3- etc.)
Denitrification (incl. N2O)
Ninput - Noutput = Nsurplus
Ammonia loss (NH3)
Nitrate loss (NO3-)
Soil N pool
INVENTORY – estimate emissions
Impact assessment
Life cycle assessment framework
Goal and scope
definition
Inventory
analysis
Impact
assessment
Intrepretation
• Emissions are
converted and
aggregated into the
chosen impact
categories
From emission to impact category…
category
Contributing elements
Characterization
factors
m2
Land occupation
1 for all types of land use
Non-renewable energy
MJ
Non-renewable energy
consumption
1
Global warming
CO2 equivalents
CO2
1
CH4
25
Impact category
Unit
Land use
Acidification
SO2 equivalents
NO3- equivalents
Eutrophication
N2O
298
SO2
1
NH3
1.88
NOx
0.70
NO3-
1
PO43-
10.45
NH4+
3 64
3.64
NOx
1.35
Environmental impacts at farm gate
0.055
0.050
Computer programme LCA-calculations
Environmental impacts in the chain
Land use (ha/ t oranges)
0.044
Eutrophication
Non-renewable
energy use
(kg NO3-eq / t oranges)
11.3
(MJ/ t oranges)
9.9
8.1
952
764
0.5
0.7
Acidification
Organic, small-scale
84
1.1
FARM
12
12
104
96
PROCESSING
TRANSPORT
12
12
29 71
43
42
61
54
Crop (N2O)
Traction
29 71
9
289244
64
13
34 12 39
63
15
170 115
Organic, large-scale
112
(kg SO2 eq / t oranges)
INPUT
1265
114
Conventional, smallscale
Global warming
(kg CO2 eq/ t oranges)
Processing
oranges
Truck transport, inputs
Input production
%
10%
Truck transport,
20%
30%
40%
50%
Ship transport, FCOJ Truck transport, juice
Truck transport, FCOJ
60%
70%
80%
Global warming potential (g CO2 eq /kg orange juice)
90%
100
LCA (carbon footprint) of food
Today’s
Today
s programme
kg CO2/kg
 Growing market and demands for organic products
Food
11 - 19
Beef, lamb and yellow cheese
 Life Cycle Assessment: a tool to assess environmental impacts
3-7
 How to do a Life Cycle Assessment?


Your own case study…
A case study on orange juice
Pork, poultry, fish and rice
1,2 - 3,0
 Life cycle assessment of organic and conventional food
Milk, egg, greenhouse vegetables
0,5 – 1,1
 Challenges
Ch ll
f life
for
lif cycle
l assessments
t
Bread, flour, imported fruit and vegetables
0,1 – 0,5
Outdoor vegetables, local fruit
(apple, pear)
y LCA of organic
g
soybean
y
from China
 A case study:
Carbon footprint of
organic vs. conventional food
Meat and eggs
18
Milk
Williams et al. (2006)
Plant products
16
Williams et al. (2006)
14
Casey & Holden (2006)
12
20 studies: Organic lower GHG emissions per kg than conventional
10
8 studies: Conventional lower GHG emissions per kg than organic
8
Hirschfeld et al. (2009)
Williams et al. (2006)
Williams et al. (2006)
6
Williams et al. (2006)
Hirschfeld et al. (2009)
Williams et al. (2006)
4
Halberg et al. (2006)
Hirschfeld et al. (2009)
Halberg et al. (2006)
2
0
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
GHG emissions for organic products (kg CO2 eq per kg)
Idea after Niggli et al.(2008)
16
18
GHG emissions
s for conven
ntional prod
ducts (kg C
CO 2 eq per k
kg)
GH
HG emissio
ons for conv
ventional prroducts (kg
g CO 2 eq per kg)
Carbon footprint of
organic vs. conventional food
2
Milk
1,8
Williams et al. (2006)
Plant products
1,6
LCAfood (2003)
(
)
Thomassen et al. (2006)
1,4
1,2
14 studies: Organic lower GHG emissions per kg than conventional
Williams et al. (2006)
Cederberg & Mattsson (2000)
1
3 studies: Conventional lower GHG emissions per kg than organic
0,8
LCAfood (2003)
LCAfood (2003)
Williams et al. (2006)
Hirschfeld et al. (2009)
0,6
Hirschfeld et al. (2009)
0,4
Knudsen et al. (2010)
0,2
Knudsen et al. Meisterling et al. (2009)
Williams et al. (2006)
Halberg & Dalgaard (2006)
de Backer et al. (2009)
0
0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1
1,2
1,4
GHG emissions for organic products (kg CO2 eq per kg)
Idea after Niggli et al.(2008)
1,6
1,8
2
Today’s
Today
s programme
 Growing market and demands for organic products
 Life Cycle Assessment: a tool to assess environmental impacts
 How to do a Life Cycle Assessment?


Your own case study…
A case study on orange juice
Challenges for Life Cycle Assessments
 How to include problematic impact categories?:
 Biodiversity
 Soil
 How to account for interactions in farming systems?
(especially organic)
Livestock
systems
Manure
 Life cycle assessment of organic and conventional food
 Challenges
Ch ll
f life
for
lif cycle
l assessments
t
Emissions to air (N2O, NH3, CO2 etc.)
CROP ROTATION
 How to account for changes in
organic
g
C stocks?
INPUT
Green
manure crop
OUTPUT
Catch
crop
Wheat
Potatoes
Pea-barley
intercrop
Emissions to soil and water (NO3-, pesticides etc.)
transport
Production
of inputs
transport
Farming
system
transport
Processing
transport
Packaging
Supermarket
/ Cultivation
y LCA of organic
g
soybean
y
from China
 A case study:
LCA is focused on emissions and
ressource use
Biodiversity
– a challenging impact category
Measurable emissions (CO2, SO2 etc.) causing global warming, acidification etc.
Change in biodiversity or soil fertility
How to measure??
Measurable emissions (NO3- etc.) causing eutrofication etc.
Knudsen and Halberg (2007)
CONVENTIONAL
Emissions to air (N2O, NH3, CO2 etc.)
Challenges for Life Cycle Assessments
INPUT
Materials
OUTPUT
Mineral fertilizer
Crop yield
Deposition
Energy
R id
Residues
or co-product
d t
e.g. wheat
Fuel
 How to include problematic impact categories?:
Meat and milk yield
CROP
Seeds or seedlings
Natural gas
 Biodiversity
 Soil
Electricity
Chemicals
Pesticides
Cleaning substances
Other
 How to account for interactions in farming systems?
(especially organic)
Emissions to soil and water (NO3-, pesticides etc.)
Land use
Water use
Livestock
systems
Manure
Emissions to air (N2O, NH3, CO2 etc.)
CROP ROTATION
 How to account for changes in
organic
g
C stocks?
INPUT
Green
manure crop
OUTPUT
Catch
crop
Wheat
Potatoes
Pea-barley
intercrop
Emissions to soil and water (NO3-, pesticides etc.)
transport
Production
of inputs
transport
Farming
system
transport
Processing
transport
Packaging
Supermarket
/ Cultivation
transport
Fertilizer
production
etc.
transport
Agricultural
production
transport
Processing
transport
Packaging
Supermarket
ORGANIC
Challenges for Life Cycle Assessments
Li
Livestock
t k
systems
Manure
INPUT
Green
manure crop
 How to include problematic impact categories?:
Emissions to air (
(N2O,, NH3, CO2 etc.)
)
CROP ROTATION
 Biodiversity
 Soil
OUTPUT
Wheat
Catch
crop
Potatoes
 How to account for interactions in farming systems?
(especially organic)
Pea-barley
intercrop
 How to account for changes in
organic
g
C stocks?
Emissions to soil and water (NO3-, pesticides etc.)
transport
Production
of inputs
transport
Agricultural
production
transport
Processing
transport
Packaging
Supermarket
How to account for changes in organic C stocks?
Challenge: Changes in soil carbon
Vegetation
•
Changes in organic C stocks
Litter
Soil
Final C
sequestration
– Soil carbon change
– Land use change (LUC)
• Direct (new agricultural land for crop production)
• Indirect (demand for previous land use move to other places)
Initial C
sequestration
C in soil
Change in
management
Time
Today’s
Today
s programme
Environmental assessment of organic
g
soybean
y
 Growing market and demands for organic products
 Life Cycle Assessment: a tool to assess environmental impacts
 How to do a Life Cycle Assessment?


Your own case study…
A case study on orange juice
 Life cycle assessment of organic and conventional food
 Challenges
Ch ll
f life
for
lif cycle
l assessments
t
y LCA of organic
g
soybean
y
from China
 A case study:
- imported to Denmark from China: a case study
The soybean chain to Denmark
Import of organic products to Denmark from Asia
Import from Asia
Objectives
Case study: Organic soybeans imported to Denmark
•
To compare the environment impacts in the production of organic and conventional
soybean at small-scale
small scale farms in China.
China
•
To identify the environmental hotspots in the product chain of organic soybean from
small-scale Chinese farms imported to Denmark.
20 organic farms
transport
15 conventional farms
Export from Dalian
Fertilizer
production
etc.
transport
transport
Farming
system
/ Cultivation
Processing
plant
transport
Packaging
Consumer
Soybean production
Studied farms
ORGANIC
Number of farms
Main crops
20
15
soybeans and maize
soybeans and maize
Farm area (ha)
16 ± 7
6±3
Soybean area (ha)
13 ± 7
5±3
0
42
0.5 ± 0.3
0.1 ± 0.1
Share of crop residues burned in field (%)
Animals (LU/ha)
ORGANIC
CONVENTIONAL
CONVENTIONAL
INPUT
Mineral fertiliser N (kg N/ha)
-
Organic fertiliser N (kg N/ha)
45 ± 13
-
-
14 ± 4
Mi
Mineral
l ffertiliser
tili
P (k
(kg P/h
P/ha))
Seeds (kg/ha)
47 ± 12
55 ± 4
57 ± 3
Diesel (L/ha)
30 ± 15
28 ± 14
Labour (days /ha)
52 ± 17
17 ± 4
Percent of labour days
y spend
p
on
weeding (%)
50 ± 10
12 ± 4
2.8 ± 0.3
3.1 ± 0.3
OUTPUT
Soybean yield (t/ha)
Global warming potential (GWP) for
organic soybeans imported to Denmark
Environmental impacts at farm gate
0.36
Land use
(ha/ t soybeans)
0.32
Eutrophication
Non-renewable
energy use
(kg NO3-eq / t soybeans)
13.0
INPUT
FARM
PROCESSING
TRANSPORT
(MJ/ t soybeans)
1710
5.0
3%
773
36%35%
13
48
187
16 15
Traction
Processing
Ship
Truck Rail
150
200
CONVENTIONAL
156
Inputs
(kg SO2 eq / t soybeans)
4.5
43
ORGANIC
2.3
Acidification
108
51%
11%
Crop production (N2O)
263
0
Global warming
(kg CO2 eq/ t soybeans)
50
100
250
300
350
Global warming potential (kg CO2 eq./ton soybeans per year)
400
CONCLUSION
Take home message
•
Organic soybean production in the case study have less environmental
impacts per ton soybean compared to conventional.
•
•
Inclusion of soil carbon changes in the calculations would increase the difference in
global warming potential between organic and conventional even more.
Transportt contributes
T
t ib t 50% tto the
th total
t t l global
l b l warming
i
potential
t ti l off organic
i
soybeans produced in Jilin, China and imported to Denmark.