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
816
108. LCAs for a large repertoire of Finnish outdoor plant products
Merja Saarinen * , Yrjö Virtanen, Helena Hyvärinen
MTT Agrifood Research Finland, * Corresponding author. E-mail: merja.saarinen@mtt.fi
The paper presents results of LCA for a large repertoire of outdoor crops produced in Finland in two resource
use categories (land and energy) and three impact categories (climate change, eutrophication and
acidification). Assessed crops were cereals, potato, rapeseed, pea, broad bean, carrot, beetroot, yellow turnip,
parsnip, Chinese cabbage, onion, strawberry and blackcurrant.
The functional unit of LCAs is the kilo of a product at the farm gate (without packaging). System boundaries
include production of agricultural inputs and energy in the upstream phases, and use of agricultural inputs
and energy, and mechanical work in the production phase on farms. However, potential packaging and storage
on farms, and transportation of agricultural inputs to the farm were excluded from the product systems.
Emissions from organic soils were excluded. Data on agricultural input manufacture were obtained from
industry, which produces most agricultural inputs used in Finland. Energy consumption was based on the
Finnish average grid values. Data on the use of inputs for crop production were based on the national agricultural
database, comprising data on the cultivation instances of various crops, i.e. primary data. Data on mechanical
work were based on physical models. Data represent average Finnish production. Emissions and
impacts from domestic animal production (including manure-based emission from animal shelter and storage)
were not allocated to the manure used as fertiliser for plant production. There were no other significant
allocation issues.
For the climate impact calculation, estimation of N2O, CO2 and indirect N2O emissions from the field were
based on the IPCC method and data (IPCC, 2006). Data on NH3 emissions from the application of fertilisers
were estimated based on models from the EEA (European Environmental Agency, 2006). For the assessment
of eutrophication, site-specific nitrogen and phosphorus leaching models and site-dependent factors were
applied.
The climate impact and acidification of rapeseed was by far the highest, and the lowest was for root vegetables
and potato (Table 1). The eutrophication potential of broad bean was highest, followed by Chinese cabbage,
and the lowest eutrophication potential was for carrot, followed by oat and barley. Production of rapeseed
consumed most energy, and root vegetables the least. Source of energy varied considerably among
products.
It is concluded that the priority order of products varies according to impact category, as indicated in Table
1. CO2 and N2O are the main emissions that impact climate. Their share differs for different plants. Figure 1
illustrates the significance of different emissions for climate impact.
The study was part of the ConsEnv-project. The results have been used in the LCA for lunch portions
(Saarinen et al., 2012) together with LCA results for animal-based products (Usva et al., 2012).
References
European Environment Agency (EEA) 2006. EMEP/CORINAIR Emission Inventory Guidebook - 2006.
Web publication. Available at: http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/EMEPCORINAIR4
IPCC, 2006. IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Volume 4. Agriculture, Forestry
and Other Land Use. IPCC-NGGIP Publications
Saarinen, M., Kurppa, S., Virtanen, Y., Usva, K., Mäkelä, J. and A. Nissinen, 2011. LCA approach to the
impact of homemade, ready-to-eat and school lunches on climate and eutrophication. J Cleaner Production.
28, 177-186.
Saarinen, M., Kurppa, S., Virtanen, Y., Usva, K., Mäkelä, J. and A. Nissinen, 2012b. LCA approach to the
impact of homemade, ready-to-eat and school lunches on climate and eutrophication. J Cleaner Production
28, 177-186.
Usva, K., Nousiainen, J., Hyvärinen, H. and Y. Virtanen 2012. LCAs of average animal products pork, beef,
milk and eggs in Finland. Abstract for LCA Food 2012 Conference.