LCA Food 2012 in Saint Malo, France! - Manifestations et colloques ...

PARALLEL SESSION 7B: BEEF PRODUCTION SYSTEMS 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Parallel session 7b: Beef Production Systems
598
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
Environmental impacts accompanying the production of milk, bovine
meat and grain under heterogeneous conditions in Norway
Anne-Grete Roer 1,* , Audun Korsaeth 2 , Astrid Johansen 3 , Anne Kjersti Bakken 3 , Kristin Daugstad 4 , Gustav
Fystro 4 , Trond Maukon Henriksen 2 , Anders Hammer Strømman 1
1 The Industrial Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Tech-
nology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
2 The Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research, Arable Crops Department, 2849 Kapp, Norway
3 The Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research, Department of Landscapes, Grassland and Forage Crops,
7500 Stjørdal, Norway
4 The Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research, Løken Research Centre, 2940 Heggenes, Norway
Corresponding author. E-mail: anne-grete.roer@ntnu.no
ABSTRACT
We will present key results from a large, ongoing, three-year project on environmental impact and resource use efficiency of selected
food production chains in Norway (from cradle to store). The assessment presented here covers processes from cradle to farm gate,
including all activities on the farm, along with the production of machinery, equipment, buildings, diesels, oil, fertiliser, lime, seeds,
pesticides and medicines. Net mineralisation of humus, which may play a major role for greenhouse gas emissions under certain
conditions, is also considered.
In the ongoing project, the ambition is to account for the outspoken heterogeneity, which characterises Norwegian agricultural systems,
as soil type, management, climatic- and topographic conditions may vary largely between regions and between farms within
the same region. To do so, we use high resolution inventory data, based partly on interviews with farmers, farm advisors, and agricultural
experts, partly on data available in databases (e.g. soil properties, yields), and partly on models used for interpolations where
robust data is lacking.
LCA studies of Norwegian agri-food chains are scarce in the peer reviewed literature. A better understanding of the environmental
impacts associated with agricultural production in Norway is important for three main reasons: Firstly, such data is required for
environmental benchmarking of various food pathways in order to assess the environmental profile of Norwegian food production
versus imported products. Secondly, establishing and consolidating knowledge on the environmental profile of current production
practices is essential to develop future agriculture policies in an increasing carbon constrained world. Thirdly, a recent political goal
set for the agricultural sector in Norway push for an increase in production of 1% annually for the next 20 years, and this increase
should be as environmental friendly as possible.
The objective of this study is to perform a life cycle assessment from cradle to farm gate for Norwegian cereal- and dairy production,
covering the three most important regions for each production chain, respectively. Functional units are 1 kg of barley, oats, wheat,
bovine carcass and energy corrected milk. There will be focused on identifying regional hotspots, and scenarios will be run in order
to find possible, region wise improvements to reduce the overall environmental impact.