Combining Life Cycle Assessment and economic modelling for ex-ante assessment of public policies instruments – Application to French dairy production.

L’Analyse du Cycle de Vie (ACV) est une méthode d’évaluation multicritère des impacts environnementaux des biens et services. A ces débuts, l’ACV, dite Attributionnelle (ACVA), s’est attachée à analyser les impacts environnementaux dans des situations statiques pour la réalisation d’études comparatives, la communication environnementale et le développement de produits. De récents développements méthodologiques ont vu l’émergence de l’ACV Conséquentielle (ACVC) qui vise à quantifier les impacts directs et indirects de changements, via les mécanismes de marchés, permettant ainsi l’évaluation de politiques publiques. Cette thèse vise à proposer un cadre méthodologique pour l’évaluation d’instruments de politiques publiques dans le secteur de l’élevage laitier en combinant ACV et modèles économiquesElle s’articule autour de trois axes : i) identification et caractérisation des performances environnementale de technologies de production laitières par ACVA ; ii) adaptation du modèle économique MATSIM-LUCA pour les besoins de la thèse ; iii) évaluation par ACVC des impacts environnementaux de la suppression des quotas laitiers et de l’introduction d’une prime à l’herbe en Europe. Les travaux réalisés fournissent : i) une première proposition méthodologique pour l’évaluation d’instruments de politiques publiques par ACVC dans le secteur de l’élevage et ii) plusieurs pistes d’amélioration nécessaires pour rendre la méthode opérationnelle pour les décideurs publics.Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a multicriteria method to assess environmental impacts of goods and services. In its early stages, LCA, known as Attributional (ALCA), was used to assess environmental impacts in a status-quo situation for benchmarking, environmental communication and product development. Recent methodological developments led to Consequential LCA (CLCA), which aims to quantify direct and indirect impacts of changes, through market mechanisms, allowing for public policy assessment. The aim of this Ph.D. thesis is to develop a methodological framework to assess public policy instruments in the livestock sector by combining LCA and economic modellingThis thesis is organized into three axes: i) identification and characterization of environmental performances of dairy production technologies through ALCA; ii) adaptation of MATSIM-LUCA economic model to the needs of the thesis; iii) environmental impact assessment through CLCA of dairy quota removal and implementation of a grass premium in the European Union. This work provides i) initial development of a methodological framework for assessing public policy instruments in the livestock sector and ii) identification of several improvements needed to make the method operational for stakeholders

Combiner Analyse du Cycle de Vie et modèles économiques pour l’évaluation ex-ante d’instruments de politiques publiques – Application au secteur laitier français

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a multicriteria method to assess environmental impacts of goods and services. In its early stages, LCA, known as Attributional (ALCA), was used to assess environmental impacts in a status-quo situation for benchmarking, environmental communication and product development. Recent methodological developments led to Consequential LCA (CLCA), which aims to quantify direct and indirect impacts of changes, through market mechanisms, allowing for public policy assessment. The aim of this Ph.D. thesis is to develop a methodological framework to assess public policy instruments in the livestock sector by combining LCA and economic modellingThis thesis is organized into three axes: i) identification and characterization of environmental performances of dairy production technologies through ALCA; ii) adaptation of MATSIM-LUCA economic model to the needs of the thesis; iii) environmental impact assessment through CLCA of dairy quota removal and implementation of a grass premium in the European Union. This work provides i) initial development of a methodological framework for assessing public policy instruments in the livestock sector and ii) identification of several improvements needed to make the method operational for stakeholders.L’Analyse du Cycle de Vie (ACV) est une méthode d’évaluation multicritère des impacts environnementaux des biens et services. A ces débuts, l’ACV, dite Attributionnelle (ACVA), s’est attachée à analyser les impacts environnementaux dans des situations statiques pour la réalisation d’études comparatives, la communication environnementale et le développement de produits. De récents développements méthodologiques ont vu l’émergence de l’ACV Conséquentielle (ACVC) qui vise à quantifier les impacts directs et indirects de changements, via les mécanismes de marchés, permettant ainsi l’évaluation de politiques publiques. Cette thèse vise à proposer un cadre méthodologique pour l’évaluation d’instruments de politiques publiques dans le secteur de l’élevage laitier en combinant ACV et modèles économiquesElle s’articule autour de trois axes : i) identification et caractérisation des performances environnementale de technologies de production laitières par ACVA ; ii) adaptation du modèle économique MATSIM-LUCA pour les besoins de la thèse ; iii) évaluation par ACVC des impacts environnementaux de la suppression des quotas laitiers et de l’introduction d’une prime à l’herbe en Europe. Les travaux réalisés fournissent : i) une première proposition méthodologique pour l’évaluation d’instruments de politiques publiques par ACVC dans le secteur de l’élevage et ii) plusieurs pistes d’amélioration nécessaires pour rendre la méthode opérationnelle pour les décideurs publics

Projet Terres de Sources AMI-TIGA Développement d’un modèle économique Etude des coûts évités Rapport complet

Projet Terres de Sources AMI-TIGA Développement d’un modèle économique Etude des coûts évités Rapport comple

The importance of land in a low carbon and bio-based economy: quantifying supply risk in a life cycle perspective

International audienceLand is a key resource for human activities under growing pressure. Resource criticality assessment methods investigate the extent to which a resource may become a limiting factor according to various dimensions, including geological, economic and geopolitical availability. They have been applied to resources like minerals, fossil fuels, biotic material or water, but none consider land resources, i.e. natural land units providing space and support for human activities. Based on two recognised criticality methods developed by i) the Yale University and ii) the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, this study aims to develop spatialized land supply risk indexes at country level. The accessibility of raw resources can be quantified and compared using the supply risk index. The specific characteristics of land call for certain adaptations of the criticality approach, and are designed to ensure comparability between resources. The main adaptations include the definition of land stress and the internal land concentration index. Land stress represents the physical availability of land, while internal land concentration relates to the concentration of landowners within a country. Finally, land supply risk indexes are computed for 76 countries, including 24 European countries for which the results of the two criticality methods are compared. Comparison points to divergences in the countries ranking for land accessibility, thus underlining the importance of methodological choices in the construction of the indexes. Data quality is discussed for European countries with the JRC method, and the use of alternative data sources reveals that it may lead to differences in absolute values, although the ranking of countries with low or high land supply risk does not change.Finally, this work covers a gap in criticality methods by including land resources. These resources can be critical for certain countries, and are essential for human activities such as food or energy production

The importance of land in resource criticality assessment methods: a first step towards characterising supply risk

International audienceLand is a key resource for human activities under growing pressure. Resource criticality assessment methods investigate the extent to which a resource may become a limiting factor according to various dimensions, including geological, economic and geopolitical availability. They have been applied to resources like minerals, fossil fuels, biotic material or water, but none consider land resources, i.e. natural land units providing space and support for human activities. Based on two recognised criticality methods developed by i) the Yale University and ii) the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, this study aims to develop spatialized land supply risk indexes at country level. The accessibility of raw resources can be quantified and compared using the supply risk index. The specific characteristics of land call for certain adaptations of the criticality approach, and are designed to ensure comparability between resources. The main adaptations include the definition of land stress and the internal land concentration index. Land stress represents the physical availability of land, while internal land concentration relates to the concentration of landowners within a country. Finally, land supply risk indexes are computed for 76 countries, including 24 European countries for which the results of the two criticality methods are compared. Comparison points to divergences in the countries ranking for land accessibility, thus underlining the importance of methodological choices in the construction of the indexes. Data quality is discussed for European countries with the JRC method, and the use of alternative data sources reveals that it may lead to differences in absolute values, although the ranking of countries with low or high land supply risk does not change.Finally, this work covers a gap in criticality methods by including land resources. These resources can be critical for certain countries, and are essential for human activities such as food or energy production

Environmental impacts of dairy system intensification: the functional unit matters!

In the current context of the end of dairy quotas, the increasing size of dairy farms and the expected growth in food demand, European dairy production systems are facing major challenges. The aim of this study was to assess environmental impacts of dairy system intensification to identify production systems that combine high productivity and low environmental impacts. We used the concept of the Technological Management Route, i.e. a logical set of technical options designed by farmers, to describe the diversity of milk production systems in France. Life Cycle Assessment was used to estimate impacts of these systems according to two functional units: t milk and hectare of total (on- and off-farm) land occupied. Dairy system intensification has three major effects: i) an increase in all impacts when expressed per hectare, ii) a decrease in eutrophication and land occupation per t milk, and iii) no clear effects on other impacts when expressed per t milk. The two first effects are due mostly to the switch from grass-based feed to maize silage and concentrate feed when intensifying production systems. Furthermore, the choice of functional unit leads to radically different conclusions. Using only a mass-based functional unit, which is predominant in current life cycle assessment practice, does not provide a balanced view of the impacts of intensification and could mislead decision makers in identifying promising dairy systems. More generally, current LCA practice seems largely blind to the negative environmental consequences of agricultural system intensification, as revealed by the area-based functional unit. Therefore, we recommend the use of both mass-based and area-based functional units in life cycle assessments of agricultural goods

Choosing the functional unit of an emerging technology: the case of digital tools in agriculture

International audienc

Assessing the environmental footprint of digitalagriculture : research perspectives

International audienc

Combining life cycle assessment and economic modelling to assess environmental impacts of agricultural policies: the case of the French ruminant sector

PurposeNumerous policy instruments are applied to agricultural production in the European Union (EU27). Implementing them may significantly influence environmental impacts of agricultural production. A consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA) approach was used to investigate potential environmental impacts of two EU27 policy instruments: dairy quota removal and implementation of a grass premium in the EU27.MethodsMATSIM-LUCA, a partial equilibrium model of global agricultural markets, was used to assess market effects of policy instrument changes and to identify the processes affected. Land use change and intensification of crop production were also considered. Outputs of the model were used to feed the CLCA.Results and discussionQuota removal led to a predicted increase in production of cow milk, dairy cull cows and beef cows in the EU27, while avoided beef cow production was located outside the EU27. Per functional unit, the additional milk production in France had lower environmental impacts than average French milk before quota removal, mostly due to avoided beef cow production in the USA. After implementation of the grass premium, cattle diets in the EU27 were predicted to contain less concentrates and more grass. Increased demand for grass led to grassland expansion at the expense of cropland, and finally to an increased area needed to produce similar quantities of ruminant products. Intensification of crop production in the EU27 occurred at the same time, however, thus reducing competition for land among different agricultural land uses but increasing environmental impacts of crop production when expressed per hectare. Environmental impacts of the additional hectares used to produce ruminant products were negative for most impact categories.ConclusionsThis study provides an initial attempt to assess environmental impacts of policy instrument changes in the ruminant sector through CLCA by combining economic modelling and LCA. Using an economic model allows the identification of the main effects of policy instrument changes in complex interconnected markets, such as agricultural ones. Nonetheless, inconsistencies between the economic and LCA frameworks were identified that need to be improved to make the method more operational