Introduction to LCA, interests and opportunities for the rubber supply chain

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a product-oriented method to assess the environmental impacts of a product while accounting for its whole life cycle, "from the cradle to the grave". It is standardised by international norms (ISO, 2006). It was first mostly used for eco-conception in industrial productions, but has been widely spread in the agricultural sector in the last twenty years. By its holistic nature, LCA is a unique method to assess several environmental impacts while avoiding pollution trade-offs between production stages or impact categories. The most renowned impact categories are climate change or energy use, but several other impact categories can also be assessed such as eutrophication or human toxicity. With the growing awareness of the risks associated with climate change and the need to protect the environment, the design of eco-friendly production modes has become critical. Throughout the world, initiatives from both the private and public sectors promote the development of sustainable supply chains including the development of communication tools using LCA indicators. In France, a law was recently promulgated (Grenelle 1, 2009) that makes the eco-labelling based on LCA compulsory for a wide range of products such as food and pet food, automobile, clothes, electronics etc. Application of LCA to agricultural products or bio-sourced materials is not straightforward due to the variability in agricultural production systems. This variability is particularly important in the Tropics, where both pedo-climatic and socio-cultural conditions greatly vary. To account for the influence of these conditions on the field emissions and the final impacts within LCA, methodological developments are being carried out by the scientific community. Researchers at CIRAD especially focus on how to better account for tropical specificities and perennial crops within LCA (Bessou et al., 2012). They work together with several partners in France (www.elsa-lca.org) and abroad, and CIRAD is notably member of the LCA AgriFood ASIA Network (http://lca-agrifood-asia.org). Undoubtedly, there is a good opportunity for the actors in the rubber supply chain to benefit from the researches at CIRAD and the dynamism of the LCA AgriFood ASIA Network. Environmental impacts of rubber products will necessarily need to be assessed in a short to medium term, for instance because of buyers requests, and LCA has become the most commonly used method in order to compare products. As a perennial crop, not used for food products, it is crucial to assess the assets and drawbacks of rubber production in order to define best management practices and supply chain strategies to limit environmental impacts. (Résumé d'auteur

Developing Green GDP Accounting for Thai Agricultural Sector Using the Economic Input Output - Life Cycle Assessment to Assess Green Growth

There is no indicator measuring Thailand’s green growth by valuing the resource degradation and environmental damage costs. This article aims to estimate Thailand’s green gross domestic (GDP) that takes into account environmental damage costs with the detailed analysis on the agricultural sector using the Economic Input Output - Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) approach. The representative product in each sector was selected based on the available life cycle inventory data, economic values and their magnitude of impacts. Here we find that oil palm cultivation (Sector 011 in the economic input-output table), fibre crops (Sector 013), rice cultivation using chemicals (Sector 001), coffee-tea-cocao (Sector 015), and coconut growing (Sector 010), respectively, generated the highest environmental damage value. This study revealed that the total environmental damage costs of agricultural products was $22.05 million per year accounting for only 0.1003 percent of total GDP in agricultural sector while the total environmental damage cost from all sectors is equal to$36,950.79 million accounting for 14.58 of total GDP

Shrimp aquaculture in Thailand: application of life cycle assesment to support sustainable development

An in-depth analysis of shrimp aquaculture has been conducted using a life cycle approach to gain a better understanding of the sustainability issues facing the industry. The environmental footprint of the complete supply chain of block-frozen shrimp has been evaluated within this study using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The analysis is based on shrimp production in Thailand as a case study, in which frozen shrimp represents the principal shrimp aquaculture product. The results from the LCA study show farming is the key life cycle stage generating the most significant environmental impacts, particularly marine toxicity, abiotic depletion and global warming, which arise mainly from the use of energy, shrimp feed and burnt lime. Eutrophication caused by wastewater discharged from the shrimp ponds has also been identified as a significant problem. In addition to the key life cycle stages, this study has identified the key environmental issues and improvements needed in aquaculture management practices. The identified environmental impacts can be reduced by using inputs from sustainable sources, such as domesticated broodstock and local sources of post-larvae, and by replacing burnt lime by limestone. Further improvements could be achieved by using jet aeration equipment rather than paddle-wheel aerators because of their better energy efficiency. Better onfarm management practices should be implemented to improve the quality of ponds, including optimisation of stocking density, feeding rate, water exchange and operation of the aerators. It is also necessary for farms to treat wastewater before its release into natural receiving water to minimise the eutrophication problem. In order to identify more sustainable farming systems, the study has also compared the environmental performance of five different farming types: (i) a Conventional & CoC farm, applying an intensive farming system coupled with an environmental management system (the ‘Code of Conduct for Responsible Marine Aquaculture’, known as ‘CoC’); 11 (ii) a Biological & CoC farm, practising an intensive farming system with implementation of CoC and minimising the use of chemicals; (iii) a Probiotic farm, using probiotic substances to digest waste in shrimp ponds; (iv) an Ecological farm, aiming to raise shrimps naturally by optimising the ecological intensity of inputs; and (v) a ‘Goingto-be-Organic’ farm, undergoing conversion from conventional to organic farming primarily by operating at a lower stock density and completely eliminating chemical inputs. The LCA results show that potential impacts of the various farming types are closely related to the choice of farming site, culture technique and management strategy. The Conventional & CoC farm has the highest impacts because of the higher inputs of energy, feed and burnt lime. The use of probiotics (in Probiotic farm) and biological extracts (in Biological & CoC and Going-to-be Organic farms) in place of chemicals significantly reduces the ecotoxicity impact. The Ecological farm proves to be the least problematic in terms of eutrophication, primarily as a result of reduced feeding rate and improved feed management. If equal importance is attributed to all the impact categories considered in the CML Baseline method, the environmental performance of the different farming systems can be ranked from best to worst as: Going-to-be-Organic, Probiotic, Ecological, Biological & CoC and Conventional & CoC farms. Similar ranking is obtained for the other two life cycle impact assessment methods used here, i.e. EPS 2000 and Ecoindicator 99. This study has also highlighted that economic priorities and social benefits coupled with environmental consideration must be analysed from the life cycle perspective. The results from LC A can be used to formulate a more sustainable policy and management framework for the shrimp aquaculture industry. Participation of the stakeholders along the supply chain is also important for policy formulation and implementation of sustainable management frameworks. Roles and responsibilities of various governmental organisations must be clearly defined, together with the establishment of laws and regulations to support the implementation of policy aligned with environmental objectives. Environmental management should also include sustainable management of aquaculture resources and farming practices with strong support from associated industries to improve the overall environmental performance of shrimp production as a whole. The environmental performance of shrimp production is increasingly becoming a commercial concern due mainly to the consumer demand for environmentally-friendly products. The environmental issues identified in this LCA study are therefore used to analyse various certification schemes that have been introduced or proposed for production of farmed shnmp, and to propose an colabelling initiative for shrimp aquaculture products. The principles of the current certification systems are broad, with insufficiently specific operational guidelines for their practical application. The principles and criteria identified by LCA provide a more comprehensive perspective on the environmental impacts, covering both upstream and downstream activities as well as local and global impacts. Specific criteria recommended for ecolabelling of shrimp aquaculture products, identified by the LCA study are: the amount of energy consumed by the aerators, the proportion of fishmeal in the feed, the quantity of burnt lime used for pond management, and the nutrient loading of wastewater discharged from the shnmp pond. Recommendations for guiding consumers on environmentally-fiiendlier’ products are also made to promote more sustainable shrimp consumption. The wider perspective and more comprehensive coverage of environmental impacts provided by LCA have given a better understanding of environmental consequences of shrimp production. This study of shrimp aquaculture has demonstrated that LCA can be a useful tool to inform and facilitate the move towards a more sustainable productionconsumption system. Further studies using LCA to compare aquaculture-based and capture-based fisheries products, as well as agricultural products, would also be useful to gain better understanding of the environmental footprint of different food production system as a whole

Shrimp aquaculture in Thailand: application of life cycle assesment to support sustainable development

An in-depth analysis of shrimp aquaculture has been conducted using a life cycle approach to gain a better understanding of the sustainability issues facing the industry. The environmental footprint of the complete supply chain of block-frozen shrimp has been evaluated within this study using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The analysis is based on shrimp production in Thailand as a case study, in which frozen shrimp represents the principal shrimp aquaculture product. The results from the LCA study show farming is the key life cycle stage generating the most significant environmental impacts, particularly marine toxicity, abiotic depletion and global warming, which arise mainly from the use of energy, shrimp feed and burnt lime. Eutrophication caused by wastewater discharged from the shrimp ponds has also been identified as a significant problem. In addition to the key life cycle stages, this study has identified the key environmental issues and improvements needed in aquaculture management practices. The identified environmental impacts can be reduced by using inputs from sustainable sources, such as domesticated broodstock and local sources of post-larvae, and by replacing burnt lime by limestone. Further improvements could be achieved by using jet aeration equipment rather than paddle-wheel aerators because of their better energy efficiency. Better onfarm management practices should be implemented to improve the quality of ponds, including optimisation of stocking density, feeding rate, water exchange and operation of the aerators. It is also necessary for farms to treat wastewater before its release into natural receiving water to minimise the eutrophication problem. In order to identify more sustainable farming systems, the study has also compared the environmental performance of five different farming types: (i) a Conventional & CoC farm, applying an intensive farming system coupled with an environmental management system (the ‘Code of Conduct for Responsible Marine Aquaculture’, known as ‘CoC’); 11 (ii) a Biological & CoC farm, practising an intensive farming system with implementation of CoC and minimising the use of chemicals; (iii) a Probiotic farm, using probiotic substances to digest waste in shrimp ponds; (iv) an Ecological farm, aiming to raise shrimps naturally by optimising the ecological intensity of inputs; and (v) a ‘Goingto-be-Organic’ farm, undergoing conversion from conventional to organic farming primarily by operating at a lower stock density and completely eliminating chemical inputs. The LCA results show that potential impacts of the various farming types are closely related to the choice of farming site, culture technique and management strategy. The Conventional & CoC farm has the highest impacts because of the higher inputs of energy, feed and burnt lime. The use of probiotics (in Probiotic farm) and biological extracts (in Biological & CoC and Going-to-be Organic farms) in place of chemicals significantly reduces the ecotoxicity impact. The Ecological farm proves to be the least problematic in terms of eutrophication, primarily as a result of reduced feeding rate and improved feed management. If equal importance is attributed to all the impact categories considered in the CML Baseline method, the environmental performance of the different farming systems can be ranked from best to worst as: Going-to-be-Organic, Probiotic, Ecological, Biological & CoC and Conventional & CoC farms. Similar ranking is obtained for the other two life cycle impact assessment methods used here, i.e. EPS 2000 and Ecoindicator 99. This study has also highlighted that economic priorities and social benefits coupled with environmental consideration must be analysed from the life cycle perspective. The results from LC A can be used to formulate a more sustainable policy and management framework for the shrimp aquaculture industry. Participation of the stakeholders along the supply chain is also important for policy formulation and implementation of sustainable management frameworks. Roles and responsibilities of various governmental organisations must be clearly defined, together with the establishment of laws and regulations to support the implementation of policy aligned with environmental objectives. Environmental management should also include sustainable management of aquaculture resources and farming practices with strong support from associated industries to improve the overall environmental performance of shrimp production as a whole. The environmental performance of shrimp production is increasingly becoming a commercial concern due mainly to the consumer demand for environmentally-friendly products. The environmental issues identified in this LCA study are therefore used to analyse various certification schemes that have been introduced or proposed for production of farmed shnmp, and to propose an colabelling initiative for shrimp aquaculture products. The principles of the current certification systems are broad, with insufficiently specific operational guidelines for their practical application. The principles and criteria identified by LCA provide a more comprehensive perspective on the environmental impacts, covering both upstream and downstream activities as well as local and global impacts. Specific criteria recommended for ecolabelling of shrimp aquaculture products, identified by the LCA study are: the amount of energy consumed by the aerators, the proportion of fishmeal in the feed, the quantity of burnt lime used for pond management, and the nutrient loading of wastewater discharged from the shnmp pond. Recommendations for guiding consumers on environmentally-fiiendlier’ products are also made to promote more sustainable shrimp consumption. The wider perspective and more comprehensive coverage of environmental impacts provided by LCA have given a better understanding of environmental consequences of shrimp production. This study of shrimp aquaculture has demonstrated that LCA can be a useful tool to inform and facilitate the move towards a more sustainable productionconsumption system. Further studies using LCA to compare aquaculture-based and capture-based fisheries products, as well as agricultural products, would also be useful to gain better understanding of the environmental footprint of different food production system as a whole

Shrimp aquaculture in Thailand : application of life cycle assessment to support sustainable development

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Environmental performance of brackish water polyculture system from a life cycle perspective: A Filipino case study

AquacultureISI Document Delivery No.: AT9EATimes Cited: 0Cited Reference Count: 68Aubin, Joel Baruthio, Aurele Mungkung, Rattanawan Lazard, JeromeNational Research Agency [ANR-05-PADD-0008]The authors wish to thank Marita Ocampo and Romy Alberto, staff of the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Pierre Morissens and the 15 farmers who agreed to join the study for providing the data necessary to conduct this analysis. The present study is part of the EVAD project: Evaluation of sustainability in aquaculture conducted by the French organisations CIRAD, INRA, IRD, and the University of Montpellier 2 that aimed to develop a methodology to measure the sustainability of aquaculture systems. It is funded by the National Research Agency (ANR-05-PADD-0008).Elsevier science bvAmsterdamInternational audienceLife Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied to assess the environmental performance of brackish water polyculture of black tiger prawn, mud crabs, tilapia and milkfish in a pond aquaculture system. The study was conducted on 15 production sites, located in Pampanga Province of the Philippines. The scope of analysis covered the hatchery or capture of juveniles from the wild up to the delivery of products to auction markets. Impact categories included eutrophication, acidification, climate change, land occupation, net primary production use, total cumulative energy demand (TCED), and total human labour. Life cycle impact indicators were calculated for one tonne of product (total production or that of individual species) using both energy-based and economic allocations. The results indicated that the main impacts from farming operations were eutrophication, land occupation, acidification and human labour. Feed (molluscs harvested from aquatic ecosystems) mainly influenced net primary production use, TCED and climate change, and harvesting and delivery mainly influenced climate change and TCED. Differences in farm practices and yields induced high variability in impacts. Production site size had no significant effect; however, its distance from the sea appeared to affect its efficiency and, consequently, impacts. Changing the allocation method changed the ranking of species' impacts within each impact category, milkfish having the highest impacts with energy-based allocation and prawn and crabs having the highest impacts with economic allocation. The lack of differences in impacts between intensive monocultures of prawn and tilapia recorded in the literature and the same species in Pampanga's polyculture suggests that the degree of intensification is not a relevant concept for distinguishing impacts of aquaculture systems. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Life Cycle Assessment of Thai Hom Mali Rice to Support the Policy Decision on Organic Farming Area Expansion

Thailand has a strategic national policy to increase organic rice farming. This study firstly applied Life Cycle Assessment for evaluating the quantitative environmental impacts at the regional and national levels to facilitate the national policy decision on the expansion of organic rice cultivation areas. The impact categories of interest included global warming, terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, terrestrial ecotoxicity, and freshwater ecotoxicity, and the life cycle impact assessment method applied was ReCiPe. The results showed that the life cycle environmental impacts from organic rice cultivation in the nine provinces in the North were lower than those from the 12 provinces in the Northeast, due mainly to the higher yields and lower use of fertilizers in the former. The methane emissions in the North (11,147 kg CO2e/ha) were similar to those in the Northeast (11,378 kg CO2e/ha). However, nitrous oxide emissions in the Northeast were higher than in the North due to the higher amounts of fertilizer used. If Thailand expands the rice farming by 50% in the North and by 50% in the Northeast, the greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced from 11,400 to 11,100 kg CO2e/ha, but the impacts of terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, terrestrial ecotoxicity, and freshwater ecotoxicity could be increased by 0.0257 kg PO4e (95%), 0.508 kg 1,4-DBe (53%), and 33.1 kg 1,4-DBe (17%), respectively. To reduce the global warming as well as other environmental impacts, Thailand should expand rice farming areas to the North. This information could be useful for supporting the policy decisions on which areas the organic rice farming should be expanded in to minimize the potential life cycle environmental impacts

Implications of Water Use and Water Scarcity Footprint for Sustainable Rice Cultivation

Rice cultivation is a vital economic sector of many countries in Asia, including Thailand, with the well-being of people relying significantly on selling rice commodities. Water-intensive rice cultivation is facing the challenge of water scarcity. The study assessed the volumetric freshwater use and water scarcity footprint of the major and second rice cultivation systems in the Chao Phraya, Tha Chin, Mun, and Chi watersheds of Thailand. The results revealed that a wide range of freshwater use, i.e., 0.9–3.0 m3/kg of major rice and 0.9–2.3 m3/kg of second rice, and a high water use of rice was found among the watersheds in the northeastern region, like the Mun and Chi watersheds. However, the water scarcity footprint results showed that the second rice cultivation in watersheds, like in Chao Phraya and Tha Chin in the central region, need to be focused for improving the irrigation water use efficiency. The alternate wetting and drying (AWD) method was found to be a promising approach for substituting the pre-germinated seed broadcasting system to enhance the water use efficiency of second rice cultivation in the central region. Recommendations vis-à-vis the use of the water stress index as a tool for agricultural zoning policy were also discussed