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

GROUP 2, SESSION A: CARBON OR WATER FOOTPRINTS, SOIL, BIODIVERSITY 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
45. Assessment of Finnish cultivation practices with carbon footprint
and energy index
Aki-Heikki Finér * , Tero Hirvi, Jaakko Laurinen, Pasi Lähdetie
Raisio Group, Corresponding author. E-mail: aki.finer@raisio.com
Finnish food chain effect on climate change is estimated to be 14% of total climate change effect of Finnish
consumption. Most of the food chain emissions are originated from agriculture. These emissions represent
69% of the total climate change impacts from the food chain. (Virtanen et al., 2011)
A method for determining the energy efficiency and environmental impact of a production of cultivation
plants and for increasing positive environmental impact has been developed for Raisio Group’s contractual
farmers. Environmental impact and energy efficiency are characterised from contractual farmers’ agricultural
input-output data. Production parameters for cultivation are selected and cultivation procedures are performed
by farmers, and further, the performed procedures are documented to give required information for
environmental impact assessment and energy efficiency calculation.
Farm specific input-output data is collected after a produced crop yield is harvested. A representative sample
of the crop yield is delivered to laboratory analysis with the required information. The grain sample is analysed
and energy content of the yield is measured. Energy index and carbon footprint of the crop yield are
calculated using the representative sample information. The system boundary used for energy index and carbon
footprint calculation is cradle-to-farm gate. Energy index represents a ratio of energy content of the crop
yield per hectare and energy used in cultivation practices per hectare. Functional unit for carbon footprint is a
grain tonne.
Agricultural input-output information has been collected from contractual farmers during harvesting seasons
2008-2011. The input-output database includes 2000 to 2500 grain variety specific datasets from every season.
Energy index together with CO2 emissions of contractual farmers farming practices are estimated since
2008. Other greenhouse gas emissions are taken into account and a carbon footprint of contractual farmers’
grain yield is calculated since 2009. Development of the carbon footprint and the energy index trends are
followed and the most significant factors for development are identified. Information is used for instructional
purposes and also for product carbon footprint calculation.
References
Virtanen, Y., Kurppa, S., Saarinen, M., Katajajuuri, J-M., Usva, K., Mäenpää, I., Mäkelä, J., Grönroos, J.,
Nissinen, A., 2011 Carbon footprint of food - approaches from national input-output statistics and a LCA
of a food portion. Journal of Cleaner Production 19: 1849-1856.
Figure 1. Average carbon footprint and energy index of oat produced by Raisio Group's contractual farmers
during cultivation seasons 2008 to 2011.
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