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

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

CO2OK: CO2 – optimierte Großküchen in Hessen - Bilanzierung und Optimierung -

Ziel des Projektes war es mit Bezug auf die allgemeinen Klimaschutzziele des Landes Hessen Grundlagen für den bisher wenig beachteten Markt der Außer-Haus-Verpflegung (AHV) zu erheben. Dafür sollte eine Treibhausgas (THG) -Bilanzierung in ausgewählten Großküchen durchgeführt werden. Basierend auf den Ergebnissen wurden Optimierungsfelder erarbeitet und aufgezeigt. Zur Gewinnung der entsprechenden Grundlagen wurden sowohl standortbezogene Bilanzierungen als auch die Berechnungen von Einzelmenüs angestrebt. Die Ergebnisse der Bilanzierung sowie die aufgezeigten Optimierungsfelder bzw. THG-Einsparpotenziale, könnten als Basis dienen für die Ausarbeitung von vertiefenden Klimaschutzzielen im Bereich der AHV im hessischen Klimaschutzplan 2025

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

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

Exploring the biophysical option space for feeding the world without deforestation

Safeguarding the world’s remaining forests is a high priority goal. We assess the biophysical option space for feeding the world in 2050 in a hypothetical zero deforestation world. We systematically combine realistic assumptions on future yields, agricultural areas, livestock feed and human diets. For each scenario, we determine whether the supply of crop products meets the demand and whether the grazing intensity stays within plausible limits. We find that many options exist to meet the global food supply in 2050 without deforestation, even at low crop-yield levels. Within the option space, individual scenarios differ greatly in terms of biomass harvest, cropland demand and grazing intensity, depending primarily on the quantitative and qualitative aspects of human diets. Grazing constraints strongly limit the option space. Without the option to encroach into natural or semi-natural land, trade volumes will rise in scenarios with globally converging diets, thereby decreasing the food self-sufficiency of many developing regions

Reply to: Soils need to be considered when assessing the impacts of land-use change on carbon sequestration

Industrial Ecolog

Impacts of Scaling up Agroecology on the Sustainability of European Agriculture in 2050

The European Commission recently embraced the concept of agroecology as a pathway to reduce negative impacts from agri-food systems on the environment. So far, it remains unclear whether agroecology can deliver on these high hopes if implemented on a large scale. We here assess socio-economic and environmental implications of multiple agroecological futures in the European Union in 2050, based on a novel diagnostic scenario approach, i.e. the biomass balancing model BioBaM-GHG 2.0. We find that agroecological measures from the plot to the food systems level can indeed reduce environmental pressures while maintaining domestic food availability within the EU. Such measures are, for example, more hedgerows on croplands or reduced biomass harvest on high natural value – HNV grasslands. However, a key prerequisite is an overall reduction of the food system's size (based on the reduction of animal production, food wastes, and export production) and an optimised crop-livestock integration. Only then does the transformation towards an agroecological agri-food system in the EU not risk overstretching domestic land availability or produce insufficient agricultural commodities. Mitigating the accompanied trade-off of reduced farm income is a central mandate for policy development aimed at re-designing agriculture in Europe to align with the Green Deal goals

Impacts of Scaling up Agroecology on the Sustainability of European Agriculture in 2050

The European Commission recently embraced the concept of agroecology as a pathway to reduce negative impacts from agri-food systems on the environment. So far, it remains unclear whether agroecology can deliver on these high hopes if implemented on a large scale. We here assess socio-economic and environmental implications of multiple agroecological futures in the European Union in 2050, based on a novel diagnostic scenario approach, i.e. the biomass balancing model BioBaM-GHG 2.0. We find that agroecological measures from the plot to the food systems level can indeed reduce environmental pressures while maintaining domestic food availability within the EU. Such measures are, for example, more hedgerows on croplands or reduced biomass harvest on high natural value – HNV grasslands. However, a key prerequisite is an overall reduction of the food system's size (based on the reduction of animal production, food wastes, and export production) and an optimised crop-livestock integration. Only then does the transformation towards an agroecological agri-food system in the EU not risk overstretching domestic land availability or produce insufficient agricultural commodities. Mitigating the accompanied trade-off of reduced farm income is a central mandate for policy development aimed at re-designing agriculture in Europe to align with the Green Deal goals

Exploring the option space for land system futures at regional to global scales: The diagnostic agro-food, land use and greenhouse gas emission model BioBaM-GHG 2.0

Close to 40% of Earth's land area is used for agriculture to provide humankind with plant- and animal-based food, fibers or bioenergy. Future trends in agricultural land use, livestock husbandry and associated environmental pressures are determined by developments in the food sector, agricultural productivity, technology, and many other influencing factors. Scenario analysis helps to understand their complex interaction and obtain quantitative insight. We here present an in-depth description of the agricultural land use model BioBaM-GHG 2.0 (“BioBaM”), designed for evaluating large numbers of agricultural and livestock production scenarios assembled on the basis of exogenous assumptions on food systems, crop yields and other factors. BioBaM determines the feasibility of specific parameter combinations and the corresponding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural activities, livestock husbandry, land-use change and other activities. We provide a description of the software environment, the model's data structures, input and output variables and model algorithms. To illustrate the model's capabilities and the scope of model applications, we describe two exemplary studies performed with BioBaM: We assess implications of agro-ecological innovations and the feasibility of their widespread application in order to illustrate their implications in terms of agricultural self-sufficiency and GHG emissions. This first case study aligns a small number of individual scenarios with qualitative storylines. We also showcase a ”biophysical option space approach”, which represents a comprehensive sensitivity analysis regarding the multidimensional uncertainties inherent to main influencing parameters, i.e. projections for diets and yields; assumptions on cropland use for bioenergy, and regarding grassland intensification. The global potential of forest regeneration for climate change mitigation serves as an example for this second approach. The option space comprises 90 scenarios and encompasses the full range of literature estimates on GHG mitigation from afforestation in 2050 (0.5 – 7 Gt CO2/yr). It further shows that the potential is zero under certain diet-yield-combinations. Assuming zero energy crop cultivation and global convergence to a healthy reference diet, the sequestration potential of afforestation rises to 10 Gt CO2/yr in 2050. These exemplary applications illustrate how option spaces developed with BioBaM can complement scenario-based assessments that usually focus on small numbers of individual scenarios: Option spaces shift attention to a wider scope of conceivable futures and thus support a comprehensive view on systemic relations and dependencies, whereas analyses with few scenarios allow apprehension of much more detailed scenario narratives and qualifications