Greenhouse gas emissions of regionally produced alternative feedstuffs rich in protein for Austrian dairy production

The aim of this study was to analyse the potential greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) of locally and regionally produced, alternative protein‐rich feedstuffs (APRFs) which can be utilised in dairy cattle feeding as compared to extracted soybean meal (SBME) in a complete life‐cycle chain for Austria. In addition to GHGE from soil (N2O), from the production of mineral fertilizers and pesticides, industrial processes (oil milling, distillery, and drying plant) and use of fuels, the effects of land use change (LUC) were included in the calculation of GHGE. Currently, SBME, which is mainly imported from South‐America, is the most important protein feedstuff for livestock in Austria, but recently it was started to replace it by APRFs in diets for dairy cows for various reasons. In this study, the GHGE of SBME was compared to those of regionally cultivated and locally processed APRFs. Furthermore, mixtures of APRFs were evaluated which provided energy and available protein equivalent to one kg of SBME. In conclusion, utilisation of more locally produced APRFs shows clear advantages in terms of GHGE. Balanced mixtures of APRFs may offer specific benefits in this regard. On average of all four balanced mixtures of APRFs presented in this study, they result in a reduction of GHGE of about 55% as compared to SBME

Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Organic and Conventional Foodstuffs in Austria

The consumer´s choice in quality of foodstuffs can influence GHG-emissions from the food sector. Organic agriculture is discussed as a possible way to reduce GHG-emissions. However the amount of reducing CO2eq per kg of organic products is unclear especially under supermarket conditions. The primary goal of the present study was to compare greenhouse gas emissions (CO2-eq) of organic foodstuffs with conventionally grown ones. All balanced foodstuffs are retail products, processed and marketed by nationwide supermarket companies in Austria

Bewertung der sozialen Nachhaltigkeit von Lebensmittel-Bereitstellungsketten – Überlegungen zur Eignung von LCA-Ansätzen

Der Beitrag stellt einen quantitativen LCA-basierten methodischen Ansatz vor, um wesentliche Aspekte sozialer Nachhaltigkeit von Lebensmittel-Bereitstellungsketten zu analysieren. Dabei wird für alle betrachteten Indikatoren ein gemeinsamer Wirkungsindikatorwert (Zeit je kg Produkt), gewichtet mit Lebens- und Arbeitsqualität von Arbeitsschritten, verwendet. Dies erlaubt eine Integration zentraler sozialer Wirkungen und ermöglicht eine Darstellung von Unterschieden in Lebensmittel-Wertschöpfungsketten, einschließlich Faktoren wie ökologische und herkömmliche Bewirtschaftung, unterschiedliche Arbeitsbedingungen oder Unterschiede bei Mitspracherechten von Arbeitnehmern

Ökobilanzen von Recycling-Phosphor-Düngemitteln

Whereas fertilisers based on phosphate rock show a high abiotic resource depletion potential, phosphorous (P) recycling fertilisers such as struvite are related to a high fossil primary energy demand. Compost can result in very high acidification, eutrophication and global warming potentials. Sewage sludge, its ash and P-recycling fertilisers based thereon, Thomas phosphate or meat and bone meal as well as especially wood ash provide significantly lower environmental impacts but have partially other disadvantages, e.g. P-availability or pollutant accumulation. For future P-supply in agriculture, it is important to recover P from urban waste disposal. The life cycle assessment (LCA) represents an important contribution to analyse strengths and weaknesses of P-recycling pathways

Ökobilanz von alternativen Phosphordüngemitteln

Während Dünger auf Basis von Phosphatgestein einen hohen abiotischen Ressourcenverbrauch bewirken, zeigen aufbereitete P-Recyclingdünger in Allgemeinen einen hohen Primärenergieverbrauch und relativ hohes Eutrophierungspotenzial. Kompost kann sehr ungünstige Ergebnisse beim Treibhaus-, dem Versauerungs- und dem Eutrophierungspotenzial aufweisen. Klärschlamm und dessen Aufbereitungsprodukte wie Asche oder Thomasphosphat-ähnliche P-Düngemittel zeigen zwar deutlich günstigere LCA Ergebnisse, sind aber problematisch hinsichtlich der P-Pflanzenverfügbarkeit oder einer Schadstoffanreicherung

LCA and Risk Assessment of Recycled Phosphorous Fertilisers

An efficient phosphorus (P) recycling from urban areas is becoming an increasing issue due to the scarcity of natural P deposits. In order to assess the environmental performance of different approaches of P recycling, a LCA assessment and risk assessment studies were carried out. Generally, we found the supply of recycled P-fertilisers (RPFs) to be competitive as compared to conventional sources in terms of LCA results analysed in this contribution: per kg P and with exclusion of infrastructure processes, the highest abiotic depletion potential is shown for conventional mineral fertilisers based on phosphate rocks due to the finite mineral P resources. For fossil primary energy demand, the recycled fertilisers (struvites and an ash-based fertiliser analysed) had highest impacts per kg P. Relatively high acidification and eutrophication potentials from the supply of P-fertilisers are related to composts, triple-superphosphate and struvites. For the global warming potential per kg P, compost presents the worst results again. However, if co-products of organic fertilisers are considered (i.e. N- and K-contents and the humus sequestration potential), most organic fertilisers are in advantage for a number of indicators – with the exception of conventional composting. The low emission compost and the stabilised sewage sludge present moderate to good overall results. The best relative results for all indicators were found for biogas digestate. To assess the risk of soil contamination related to the long-term application of RPFs, accumulation scenarios in soil were calculated with a mass balance approach for the potentially toxic elements (PTEs) Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn and for the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) in composts, digestates and other RPFs derived from sewage sludge For all calculations, a fertiliser application over 200 years equivalent to 11 kg P ha-1 yr-1 was assumed. Dependent on PTE mobility in soil due to pH and precipitation excess F, an accumulation or depletion compared to the soil background values was found. Highest accumulation was found in scenario pH 7 F 0,1 m yr-1, lowest in scenario pH 5 F 0,3 m yr-1. Fertilisers like composts, with low P content compared to PTE load, had a higher accumulation potential than fertilisers like struvite, meat and bone meal, sewage sludge ash, sewage sludge and digestates, rock phosphate and triple super-phosphate. Only Cd accumulation with TSP was higher than that with compost. For POPs no accumulation risk in soil was found

Unheated soil-grown winter vegetables in Austria: Greenhouse gas emissions and socio-economic factors of diffusion potential

The adaption of historic European cultivation techniques for unheated winter vegetable production has gained momentum during the last years in Austria. Studies that evaluate ecological and socio-economic sustainability-factors of these production techniques are scarce. In this study, we analyze the greenhouse gas emissions along vegetable supply chains based on a life cycle approach and investigate factors of the socio-economic system towards future market diffusion of these new-old technologies based on the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) guidelines of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Data of the supply-chains of lettuce, spinach, scallions and red radish was collected from field trials in different climatic regions in Austria and compared to existing commercial systems in Austria and Italy. The results show, that unheated winter vegetable production is feasible. Greenhouse gas emissions of unheated vegetables are lower with 0.06e0.12 kg CO2 equivalent versus 0.61e0.64 kg CO2 equivalent per kg fresh product crops from heated systems. Due to small packaging units unheated vegetables show maxima of 0.58 kg CO2 equivalent per kg product. Heated products were outreached by two times when individual shopping trips to the farm were taken into account. Keeping salad frost-free was not found to contribute to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional systems. The analysis reveals that a diffusion of unheated winter harvest systems depend primarily on 11 interdepending socio-economic factors. An innovative subsidy system and the creation of a positive image of winter harvest from unheated vegetables production together with an increased utilization rate of polytunnel areas and the consultancy for producers and processors are the most influential factors towards a sustainable market diffusion of winter harvest produce

Regionale Bio-Lebensmittel - Bewertung der sozio-ökonomischen Vorteile für die Region aus Sicht der Nachhaltigkeit am Beispiel Frischmilch in Österreich

Regionale Lebensmittel zeichnen sich durch ein hohes Maß an geschlossenen, regionalen Stoff- und Wirtschaftskreisläufe entlang der Wertschöpfungskette (WSK) aus. Sie leisten damit insbesondere auf regionaler Ebene einen Beitrag zur Nachhaltigen Entwicklung und Resilienz. Zur Quantifizierung dieses Beitrags wurde ein Bewertungsmodell entwickelt, welches die Themen regionale Wertschöpfung, regionale und betriebliche Resilienz sowie Produkteigenschaften abdeckt. Bei der Bewertung wird die gesamte Wertschöpfungskette von den landwirtschaftlichen Vorleistungen bis zum point-of-sale mit einbezogen. Das Modell liefert produktbezogene Ergebnisse, die als „regionaler Mehrwert“ bezeichnet werden. Im Folgenden wird das Bewertungsmodell und die damit generierten Ergebnisse am Beispiel Milch vorgestellt

Consequences from Land Use and Indirect/Direct Land Use Change for CO2 Emissions Related to Agricultural Commodities

Increasing demand for food, feed, and fuels adds pressure on ecosystems through land use and land use change (LULUC), with greenhouse gas emissions among the most significant environmental impacts. Large regional variation in LULUC and indirect driving forces may not be adequately addressed by a one-size-fits-all approach that assigns equal LULUC emissions per unit of area, and by a focus on direct d(LU) LUC impacts only. Hence, our method integrates effects from international agricultural commodity trade as indirect emissions (iLULUC) of the demand of food and feed. In most countries, the majority of foods and feedstuffs (70% of global calories) are produced for the domestic market and the rest is exported and contributes to a hypothetical global pool of iLULUC emissions. Total LULUC emissions are calculated for individual countries, accounting for LULUC from increased domestic agricultural production for domestic consumption and for emissions imported from the global market’s iLULUC pool. Furthermore, we estimate consumption-based emission factors for specific product groups per country. Results show that vegetable oils, oil crops, and cereals account for the majority of global LULUC emissions and iLULUC results derived with the presented method cannot be compared directly to dLULUC results; however, their orders of magnitude are similar

Ökobilanzen und Biodiversitätsbewertung österreichischer Milchviehbetriebe

This contribution provides insights in methods and results from seven Austrian organic, alpine and grassland-based dairy farms, which were analysed concerning their ecological sustainability. The milk yield per area unit was found as an appropriate parameter to differentiate extensive from intensive dairy farms, which also allows for a rough estimation of LCA results. Two farms which were characterised as ‘alpine-extensive’ generally show advantages if they are related to units of area and also in terms of the biodiversity potential. Two farms in hilly regions (transition from alpine to lowland area) produce relatively high amounts of milk per hectare farmland and hence show good results for LCA indicators, if related to product units. Three alpine farms with a greater input of imported concentrates are in between the two previously mentioned or show an even lower performance concerning LCA results. As a consequence, they neither completely fulfil the required preservation of cultural landscapes against succession by woodlands and shrubs nor do they meet the demand for high productivity from the limited land resource, which are satisfied to a greater degree in ‘alpine-extensive’ and ‘hilly’ production systems, respectively