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

GROUP 6, SESSION B: METHODS, TOOLS, DATABASES 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
167. AgBalance – holistic sustainability assessment of agricultural
production
Jan Schöneboom 1,* , Peter Saling 1 , Richard van Gelder 1 , Markus Frank 2 , Dirk Voeste 2 , Martijn Gipmans 3
1 Sustainability Centre, BASF SE, GU/NE – Z7, 67056 Ludwigshafen, Germany, 2 Crop Protection Division,
BASF SE, Limburgerhof, Germany, 3 BASF Plant Science Tegeler Weg 33, 10589, Berlin, Germany, Corresponding
author. E-mail: jan.schoeneboom@basf.com
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and approaches based thereon, e.g., Eco-Efficiency Analysis and SEEBAL-
ANCE, have proven useful tools for quantitative sustainability assessment along value chains and across
industry sectors, particularly for industrial manufacturing and consumption. While these approaches are
commonly also applied to assess the sustainability of agricultural products or production systems, there is a
need for further development in order to adequately evaluate specific impacts of agricultural activity, particularly
relating to biodiversity and soil quality.
Herein, we present a new method for sustainability assessment in agriculture, named AgBalance. Based on
the environmental impacts and life cycle costs assessed in BASF’s Eco-Efficiency Analysis, and the social
impact indicators in SEEBALANCE, AgBalance additionally serves to record and evaluate a range of specific
agricultural management indicators. AgBalance thus combines environmental LCA, social LCA and life
cycle costs with ecological, economic and social sustainability indicators related to agricultural production,
which are generalised to varying spatial scales. Its flexibility allows consideration of variable upstream and
downstream processes, includes all three dimensions of sustainability in an integrated approach, and is suitable
for application in different regions.
AgBalance comprises up to 70 indicators, based on a significantly larger number of input data and parameters.
The indicators show different impacts and are grouped into 16 categories. They are then aggregated in
the three dimensions environment, society and economy. Specific impacts on biodiversity in agricultural
areas are assessed by a set of indicators: biodiversity state/endangered species, protected area coverage, agrienvironmental
schemes, pesticide eco-toxicity potential, nitrogen surplus, intermixing potential, crop rotation
elements, and farming intensity. Impacts on soil quality in agricultural areas evaluate the indicators nutrient
balances, soil organic matter balance, compaction potential and erosion potential. Social indicators include,
in addition to those covered in SEEBALANCE, societal representation of agriculture, observation of food
law requirements, access to land, trade balances and fair trade benefits for producers. Economic indicators
cover farm profitability and productivity, in addition to life-cycle costs.
Both, detailed in-depth results of individual impact indicators, as well as aggregated results and a single sustainability
evaluation score are output of AgBalance. Sensitivity analyses can be employed to study the robustness
of the model results, and to investigate trade-offs or the response to external influences. Scenario
Analyses can model different situations by simulating new sets of inputs followed by an assessment of improvement
potentials of the analysed system. AgBalance is useful for assessing and managing sustainable
development in agriculture for farmers, business in the food value chain, decision making and policy making
and for public communication.
References
Saling P., Kicherer A., Dittrich-Kraemer B., Wittlinger R., Zombik W., Schmidt I., Schrott W., Schmidt S.,
2002. Eco-efficiency Analysis by BASF: The Method. Int. J. Life Cyle Assess. 7, 203-218.
Kölsch, D., Saling P., Kicherer A., Grosse-Sommer A., Schmidt I, 2008. How to measure social impacts? A
socio-eco-efficiency analysis by the SEEBALANCE® method. Int. J. Sustain. Dev. 11, 1 – 23.
Schöneboom J.C., Saling P., van Gelder R. 2012. AgBalance – holistic assessment of sustainability in agriculture.
Submitted to Int. J. Life Cycle Assess.
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