a life cycle assessment perspective of some foods (22 nov 2013 life cycle logic)
DESCRIPTION
A life cycle perspective of food as presented at Perth Green Drinks (Nov 2013).TRANSCRIPT
A life cycle assessment perspective on food
Andrew D Moore lifecyclelogic.com.au © 2013
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HOTSPOT
PRODUCTION USE END OF LIFE
The aim of life cycle assessment is to identify
and target the environmental hotspots
and to improve the sustainability over the whole life cycle from
cradle to grave.
What is life cycle assessment?
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HOTSPOT
PRODUCTION USE END OF LIFE
For different products the environmental hotspots can be in
different parts of the life cycle. For solar PV it is the production.
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Myth: “It takes more energy to
produce a solar electric system
than it will ever generate”
The energy payback period for a solar photovoltaic system produced in Germany, transported and
installed in Perth is less than 2 years which is a small part of the 30+ year life of the system.
source: http://www.lcanz.org.nz/sites/default/files/lca_decision_support_4_moore_a.pdf
Life cycle of food
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cradle to grave
paddock to plate / farm to fork
grower to grocer
cradle to gate
Life cycle assessment can explore different parts of the life cycle from cradle to grave.
7 source: http://conference.alcas.asn.au/alcasprogram/Renouf_Review_Agriculture_Paper.pdf
Growth of food LCA studies in Australia
The number of food studies is growing,
but, as the results can be location specific, there is still lots of
work to do.
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To grow each punnet
of strawberries
it can take…
3 DROPS OF PESTICIDE
170 ML DIESEL
1 TEASPOON OF FERTILISER
14 LITRES WATER
source: doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.12.031
It may not be romantic but this is
the sort of information that is gathered during life cycle assessment.
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54% 14% 26% 7% 0.8
1.2
0.5
FARM
PROCESSING &
STORAGE
source: doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.12.031
FARM
SUPPLIES
TOTAL kg CO2-e/250g
81% 8% 5% 6% 81%
54%
48% 13% 35% 4% 48%
Grower to grocer (WA)
DISTRIBUTION
Different foods can have different hotspots and
different carbon footprints.
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45% 0.2
CRADLE TO
FARM GATE
source: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.03.036
TOTAL kg CO2-e/250g
Tomatoes grown for Sydney market
55%
94% 2% 0.5
GROWN IN A
LOCAL
HIGH TECH
GREENHOUSE
YEAR ROUND
DISTRIBUTION
How and when the food is grown can affect the carbon footprint more
than where the food is grown.
FIELD GROWN
SEASONALLY
1500 KM FROM
MARKET
87%
11 11 source: http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/
FARM
SUPPLIES
TOTAL kg CO2-e/250g
How about Australian milk?
0.3 14%
FARM
57% 18%
Emissions from cows can account for 57%
of the carbon footprint of average Australian milk, from
cradle to the farm gate.
Italian pasta
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21% 37% 4% 38%
PRODUCTION
COOKING
TOTAL kg CO2-e/250g FARM
source: http://environdec.com/Articles/EPD/Declaring-the-impact-of-pasta/#.Uos1Pvlgd8E
0.5
DISTRIBUTION
Italian pasta cooked in Italy, using gas, has hotspots in both
the farm and the cooking.
Italian pasta
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FARM PRODUCTION DISTRIBUTION
TOTAL kg CO2-e/250g COOKING
source: http://environdec.com/Articles/EPD/Declaring-the-impact-of-pasta/#.Uos1Pvlgd8E
13% 23% 2% 62% 0.9
If the pasta is cooked in Italy using electricity, rather than
gas, the story changes and the hotspot becomes the cooking.
Italian pasta (cooked in Perth)
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FARM PRODUCTION DISTRIBUTION
TOTAL kg CO2-e/250g COOKING
source: http://environdec.com/Articles/EPD/Declaring-the-impact-of-pasta/#.Uos1Pvlgd8E
69% 9% 16% 5% 1.2
If you transport the Italian pasta 15,000 km and cook using electricity in Perth (Australia) the carbon footprint increases. The increase is due to the source of the
electricity rather than the transport. How you cook the food can matter more than how far it is transported.
Food Waste (Tesco UK)
15 source: http://www.tescoplc.com/
Tesco UK showed that too much food is wasted across the life cycle.
More research is needed to identify opportunities to improve in Australia
too.
Disposal
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source: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/policy/lead-market-initiative/files/waste_mng_leaflet_en.pdf
How should we dispose of our food waste? A French study found that up to 65% of households home
compost were poorly so they could be better off sending food waste for industrial processing to generate electricity. More
research is needed to work out what is best for each city.
Use a life cycle perspective
Transport can be OK
Eat seasonal produce
Minimise food waste
More research
What can we do?
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www.lifecyclelogic.com.au
Australian Life Cycle Assessment Society
(alcas.asn.au)
More information
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Also look for the references in this section on the preceding slides.