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

GROUP 4, SESSION B: CROP PRODUCTION SYSTEMS 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
96. Life cycle GHG and energy balance of organic apples: a case study
in Italy
Maurizio Cellura 1,* , Mario Fontana 1 , Sonia Longo 1 , Marina Mistretta 2 , Flavio Paoletti 3
1 Dipartimento dell’Energia, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy, 2
Dipartimento Patrimonio Architettonico e Urbanistico (PAU), Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio
Calabria, Salita Melissari, 89124 Reggio Calabria, Italy, 3 Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca per gli Alimenti e la
Nutrizione (INRAN), via Ardeatina N.546, 00178 Rome, Italy, Corresponding author. E-mail: mcellura@dream.unipa.it
The main household environmental impacts are concentrated in food, transport and building sectors. The
food sector is responsible for 20-30% of the various environmental impacts due to the final consumptions,
and in the case of eutrophication for even more than 50% (Tukker at al., 2006).
Every stage of the production and consumption chain of food, from growing crops, to transportation and
storage, manufacturing, distribution, purchasing and consumption, and treatment of waste, has environmental
effects. Consumers choices can significantly influence the environmental impacts of production, retail and
distribution phases of food (EEA, 2005). In particular, they can choose to consume more organic food, which
represents a key factor in the food productive sector, due to the added value of its products, to the socioeconomic
benefits for the producers and the positive effects on the environment and human health.
The present study is part of a research developed within the project “BIOQUALIA – Nutritional and organoleptic
quality and environmental impact of organic productions”, and aims to evaluate the energy and
environmental impacts of 1 kg of organic apples cultivated in the north of Italy.
The analysis was based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology as regulated by the international
standards of series ISO 14040 (UNI EN ISO 14040, 2006a; UNI EN ISO 14044, 2006b).
In detail, the authors identified the supply chain flow charts, the relevant mass and energy flows and the key
environmental issues for the assessed product, following the approach “from farm to fork”. Particular attention
was paid on key issues, such as primary energy consumption, water exploitation and fertilisers use in
agricultural activities.
The application of LCA allowed assessing the incidence of each life cycle step of apples on the total impacts
and identifying “hot spots” of the examined supply chain, by the identification of phases and processes that
are responsible of the largest impacts.
In detail, the results showed an average primary energy consumption of about 7 MJ/kg and a global warming
potential of about 0.5 kg CO2eq/kg. A relevant incidence on the total impacts (about 70% of primary energy
consumption and global warming potential) was related to the transport of apples to final users, hypothesising
that the product is distributed on local (10% of the product), national (49%) and international markets
(50%). The use of insecticides and the consumption of diesel for agricultural machines were found to be also
significant in the overall energy and environmental impacts of apples. Finally the authors carried out a comparison
between the outcomes of the presented study and the eco-profile of non organic apple production.
References
European Environment Agency, 2005. Household consumption and the environment. EEA report No
11/2005.
Tukker, A., Huppes, G., Guinée, J., Heijungs, R., de Koning, A., van Oers, L., Suh, S., Geerken, T., van
Holderbeke, M., Jansen, B., Nielsen, P., May 2006. Environmental Impact of Products (EIPRO). Analysis
of the life cycle environmental impacts related to the final consumption of the EU-25. Technical Report
EUR 22284 EN. European Commission.
UNI EN ISO 14040, 2006a. Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Principles and framework.
UNI EN ISO 14044, 2006b. Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Requirements and guidelines.
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