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

GROUP 1, SESSION A: ANIMAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
9. Life cycle assessment of Mediterranean buffalo milk
Giacomo Pirlo 1 , Sara Carè 1 , Valentina Fantin 2,* , Francesca Falconi 3 , Patrizia Buttol 2 , Giuseppina Terzano 4 ,
Paolo Masoni 2
1 CRA-FLC Agricultural Research Council-Fodder and Dairy Productions Research Centre, Via Porcellasco
7, 2610, Cremona, Italy, 2 ENEA - Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable
Economic Development, Via Martiri di Monte Sole 4, 40129 Bologna, Italy, 3 LCA-lab SRL, Via Martiri di
Monte Sole 4, 40129 Bologna, Italy, 4 CRA-PCM Agricultural Research Council, Research Centre for Meat
Production and Genetic Improvement, Via Salaria 31, 00016 Monterotondo, Italy, * Corresponding author.
E-mail: valentina.fantin@enea.it
This study is part of a broader project carried out by CRA (Agricultural Research Council), in collaboration
with ENEA, aimed at evaluating and identifying environmentally friendly livestock models, which could be
applied to Italian agri-food production systems, in order to improve their environmental sustainability.
In Italy there are about 365 thousands Mediterranean Buffaloes. This population increased considerably in
recent years, as consequence of the strong worldwide demand of “Mozzarella di bufala campana – DOP”
(AIA, 2011).
At present no LCA study on buffalo milk production exists in literature, whereas many LCA studies have
been performed on cattle milk production, both on farming systems and on the entire life cycle. In this study
the standard ISO Life Cycle Assessment and ILCD Handbook methodology (ILCD, 2010) have been applied
to the production of two buffalo dairy farms located in Southern Italy. The goal is to evaluate their environmental
performance and to identify the hotspots in the production chain. The functional unit is 1 kg of Normalised
Buffalo Milk at farm gate. An attributional approach has been applied according to the stated goal of
the study.
System boundaries (Fig. 1) comprise crop production, as well as the activities related to buffalo feeding,
breeding and milking. Specific primary data, referred to 2010, have been collected from the two buffalo
farms for each of the above phases. In particular, the following items have been included in the system
boundaries: number of producing buffaloes and replacement heifers; production and transport of purchased
feeds; production and transport of seeds, fertilisers, and detergents; energy consumption related both to cropping,
feeding and milking; disposal and treatment of waste produced at farms. Buildings, infrastructures and
equipments have not been included in the system boundaries, but they are included in some database’s processes.
The production of medicines and the milk-processing phase have not been included. Databases
(mainly Ecoinvent) and literature have been used for the background data. Manure and slurry produced by
buffaloes are spread as fertilisers on agricultural farms’ land. As regards emissions related to the use of
chemical and organic fertilisers, N2O airborne emissions and NO3 - waterborne emissions have been calculated
according to ISPRA (2008). NH3 airborne emissions have been calculated according to ISPRA (2011a).
Phosphorus waterborne emissions have been estimated according to the budget farm gate methodology proposed
by Dalgaard et al. (2006). Methane emissions on farms due to enteric fermentation and manure management
have been estimated referring to ISPRA (2008). As buffalo milk production at farms is a multifunctional
process, the environmental impacts have been allocated between the main product (milk) and coproducts
(calves and culled buffaloes) on the basis of their economic value.
At the Conference the preliminary results, including the following impact categories, will be presented and
discussed: Global warming, Photochemical Oxidation, Acidification, Eutrophication. The assessment of
Land Use and Ecotoxicity due to use of pesticides and antibiotics will be performed in a second step of the
study.
References
Associazione Italiana Allevatori (AIA), 2011. Quadro economico e relazione attività 2010.
Dalgaard, R., Halberg, N., Kristensen, Ib.,S., Larsen, I., 2006. Modelling representative and coherent Danish
farm types based on farm accountancy data for use in environmental assessment. Agriculture, Ecosystems
and Environment 117, 223-237.
International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD), 2010. General guide for Life Cycle Assessment-
Detailed guidance. European Commission, Joint Research Centre (DG JRC), Available at:
http://lct.jrc.ec.europa.eu/assessment/assessment/projects#d (visited in February 2012).
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