CARBON FOOTPRINTS at GINGER ROOT 1 (part 2) WEEK 13

Transcription

1 NAME LAB DAY: Tuesday Wednesday Thursday CARBON FOOTPRINTS at GINGER ROOT 1 (part 2) WEEK 13 Bring your week #12 write-up to lab (except Thurs lab we ll return yours). Also bring a laptop. A calculator would be handy as well. Asking Questions Now you have eaten at Ginger Root. You have estimated the carbon footprint of getting the food from farm to table. What about the other CO2-emitting processes? Check Canvas for the location of your investigations. This week, you will find answers to questions such as: 1. What data are available to help you estimate the CO2 emissions for an ingredient? 2. What is a Life Cycle Analysis? 3. What are the limitations of a Life Cycle Analysis? Food supply chains are complex, and the carbon emissions in these supply chains come from many sources. To give you a better sense of the complexities, you will use two different tools to estimate the CO2 emissions from last week s meal at Ginger Root. Here s the plan for today s investigation: 1. Discuss the value (or not) of posting CO2 footprints at Ginger Root 2. Do Life Cycle Analysis #1 3. Do Life Cycle Analysis #2 Materials Laptop computer Week #12 lab manual write-up Your copy of Bananas 1 This laboratory activity was developed by Tom Bryan (graduate student, Nelson Institute) and Dr. Cathy Middlecamp, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Expertise was provided by Carl Korz, associate director of dining services and Scott Kesling assistant manager at Union South restaurants. Funding to develop this experiment was provided by the Office of Sustainability.

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3 Pre-lab Survey Name TA Lab day: Tuesday Wednesday Thursday (circle one) Here is your survey question for this week. Is labeling meals at Ginger Root with their CO2 footprints a good idea? A. Yes B. No Your answer represents the direction in which you are leaning. How strongly are you leaning? Circle a number: Not strongly Very strongly Tell us more about why in a sentence or two: (hand in this sheet when you arrive in lab) 3 Carbon Footprints at Ginger Root, Part 2 (WEEK 13)

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5 Making Predictions 1. Test your carbon instincts! Which food has a lower carbon footprint? Circle it. The first one is done for you. MEAL #1 MEAL #2 Explanation Chicken Tikka Masala 4 oz chicken thigh 1 oz masala paste 2 oz heavy cream Lamb Curry 4 oz lamb 4 oz yogurt 1 oz curry paste Spices: same weight of paste Dairy: hard to call. 4 oz yogurt, is a higher weight but likely contains more water. So 2oz cream is likely higher CO2e. Meat: Lamb is one of the highest carbon foods around. Sheep are ruminants and produce CH4. Turkey/Cheese Sandwich 3 oz turkey, 1 oz cheese 2 oz tomato & lettuce 2 oz whole wheat bread Beef/Cheese Sandwich 3 oz roast beef, 1 oz cheese 2 oz tomato & lettuce 2 oz whole wheat bread Tofu Stir Fry 2 oz tofu 1 oz peppers 1 oz onions, 1 oz broccoli 1 oz mushrooms Vegetable Stir Fry 1 oz peppers, 1 oz onions, 2 oz broccoli 2 oz mushrooms 1 oz water chestnuts Salmon wild-caught from far-away, purchased fresh 4 oz Spaghetti with Meatballs 0.5 oz ground beef 0.1 oz dry pasta 0.4 oz carrots, 1 oz onions 0.1 oz oil, 0.35 oz garlic 3.2 oz tomato, 0.75 oz bread Milk chocolate bar 1 oz chocolate 1 oz milk, 1 oz sugar Tuna purchased frozen 4 oz Beef & Cheese Burrito 3 oz beef 1 oz cheese one 12 tortilla 3 oz beans, 1.5 oz brown rice 2 oz tomato sauce Chocolate chip cookies 0.28 oz chocolate 0.25 oz butter, 0.63 oz sugar, 0.75 oz flour Apple (local, in season) 6 oz Strawberries (out of season) 4 oz 5 Carbon Footprints at Ginger Root, Part 2 (WEEK 13)

6 2. Here are 6 Ginger Root ingredients and their serving sizes: Tempura Fried Chicken White Rice Brown Rice Marinated Beef Tofu Broccoli 150 grams 130 grams 70 grams 100 grams 100 grams 45 grams Predict their rank in order of CO2e. Place the highest CO2e as item # Question #1 in this section was taken from This web site was created by Bon Appetit Management Company, a California-based food service that services colleges & universities across the United States. 6 Carbon Footprints at Ginger Root, Part 2 (WEEK 13)

7 Preparing to Investigate Today, you will conduct a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) on the meal you ate last week at Ginger Root. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 2 defines an LCA as: Compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs, and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle 3 An LCA aids in decision-making. For example, Carl Korz at Union South had to decide whether to offer metal or plastic cutlery. He had to consider economic costs, environment costs, and community-related costs. The LCA revealed that metal cutlery is more profitable and has fewer environmental impacts if the cutlery isn t thrown away or stolen by the people who dine at Union South. In Just Food, James McWilliams, also describes LCAs. What LCAs ultimately uncover are the hidden links in the food-supply chain that are the most environmentally damaging and in turn most in need of repair. A life-cycle assessment is like a full physical. It s a thorough energy evaluation that takes into consideration as many factors of production and consumption as can reasonably be measured. LCAs and Carbon Emissions LCAs can measure many things, including CO2e, costs, resource use, water use, and labor. The utility in LCAs lies in their ability to see the (normally) unseen. To determine the CO2e emissions of a supply chain, actions that emit CO2e need to be accounted for. Every single action? For example, the cashier exhales as he or she rings up your meal at Ginger Root. Do we have to count this CO2? No. When an analysis is conducted on the life cycle of a food, boundaries must be set, often arbitrarily. Last week, for example, you estimated transportation emissions for your meal, but you were limited by which food mile data were available. This week, your mission is to generate a number that summarizes the CO2e impact of the numerous, geographically enormous supply chains to your meal. Fortunately, databases and computer programs can you help you. 2 ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world s largest developer of voluntary International Standards. International Standards give state of the art specifications for products, services and good practice, helping to make industry more efficient and effective. 3 Environmental Management: Life Cycle Assessment Principles and framework, International Organization for Standardization, ISO 14040: Carbon Footprints at Ginger Root, Part 2 (WEEK 13)

8 Gathering and Analyzing Evidence LCA#1 Why are we doing this? to apply the concept of Life Cycle Analysis to your meal at Ginger Root to extend CO2 emission calculations to include production, transport, and waste to identify the limitations of CO2 emission calculations 1. From the Calendar entry in Canvas, download the Excel file for this week. It contains the instructions and calculations for both LCA#1 and LCA#2. 2. Save it to your laptop. 3. Immediately fill in your name at the top of the Excel worksheet, the green bar below in the screenshot. 4. Follow the instructions in the spreadsheet, entering ingredients and serving sizes for your meal at Ginger Root. 5. Save your document again! 8 Carbon Footprints at Ginger Root, Part 2 (WEEK 13)

9 Interpreting Evidence LCA#1 1. Rank each ingredient by its CO2e for your meal, with #1 as the highest From highest to lowest, rank each step in the supply chain by its CO2e for your meal: Production Transport Waste What assumptions go into this Calculator? Fortunately for you, the answer to this question is right on the website. Look under FAQs, question #5. 3. First, refresh your memory on methane. Give the chemical formula of methane: As a greenhouse gas, methane is potent than carbon dioxide. (more, less) 4. For food waste disposal, this calculator assumes that the food went to an anaerobic landfill. What does anaerobic mean? If the landfill were aerobic (like a compost heap), this carbon-containing compound would be produced instead of methane: It is slightly better to compost waste food than to throw it into landfill, but it doesn t get you away from the main issue that the carbon footprint of that food has been needlessly incurred. How Bad Are Bananas, page FAQ #5 reports: If you are composting all of your food waste, you can set the waste percentage to zero to get a close approximation of the overall impact of waste disposal. Explain why this can be true even though composting generates CO2. 9 Carbon Footprints at Ginger Root, Part 2 (WEEK 13)

10 Gathering and Analyzing Evidence LCA #2 For LCA#2, you will use FoodCarbonScope, a web-based tool that models greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and water use in foods and beverages. Here is a screenshot: As of 2015, it is available only by subscription: $1000 for 3 months or $3000 for 1 year. As a result, you will not access FoodCarbonScope directly. Instead, you will refer to sheet in the same Excel file you used for LCA#1. Before we go any further, visit the website of CleanMetrics, the company that produced FoodCarbonScope: On the CleanMetrics web site, find the panel Food LCA with FoodCarbonScope (shown in the screenshot to the right). Familiarize yourself with this program: 1) Watch the recorded demo The cooking of potatoes. 2) Examine the sample food LCAs for Cooked potatoes. FoodCarbonScope can be customized to fit your needs. For example, you can apply the PTPTDTRC&W model using this software. The screen shot to the right shows this in reverse order, WCRTDTPT&P! 10 Carbon Footprints at Ginger Root, Part 2 (WEEK 13)

11 Gathering and Analyzing Evidence LCA#2 Data from FoodCarbonScope has been compiled for you in the same Excel file you used forlca#1. 1. Click on the tab to display FoodCarbonScope Data. The red arrow in the image below points to this tab. The sheet will looks like this: 2. Follow the instructions in the spreadsheet to complete LCA#2. 3. Save your document again! 11 Carbon Footprints at Ginger Root, Part 2 (WEEK 13)

12 Interpreting Evidence LCA #2 1. From highest to lowest, rank each ingredient in your meal by its CO2e From highest (1=highest) to lowest, rank each step in PTPTDTRC&W by its CO2e emissions. Production Transport (Distributor->Union South) Transport (Manufacturer->Distributor) Retail Processing/Packaging Cooking Distribution Facilities Waste 3. Which ingredients were you able to carbon footprint using both programs? Item LCA#1: Production CO2e LCA#2: Production CO2e % difference LCA#1: Transport CO2e LCA#2: Transport CO2e % difference 4. Refer back to last week s investigation, Data Sheet #3b. Transportation Emissions Calculation Method By Hand Data Sheet #3b LCA #1 % difference from calculations in Data Sheet #3b last week N/A LCA #2 12 Carbon Footprints at Ginger Root, Part 2 (WEEK 13)

13 Reflecting on the Investigation 1. Everybody eats. Impacts from food are unavoidable. Even so, it is possible to lower the impact and preserve good taste and nutrition. Here is a list of tips for eating a lower carbon diet, all from Eatlowcarbon.org. Explain the carbon basis for each one. Carbon basis for tip#1: Carbon basis for tip #2: Carbon basis for tip #3 Carbon basis for tip #4: Carbon basis for tip #5: 13 Carbon Footprints at Ginger Root, Part 2 (WEEK 13)

14 Reflecting on the Investigation (-continued-) 2. Revisit How Bad are Bananas, pages , More about food. Here is the list of low carbon tips from Bananas. The first four overlap with those on the previous page from Eatlowcarbon.org. Eat what you buy (~25% CO2e savings) Reduce (not necessarily eliminate) meat and dairy (~25% CO2e savings) Go seasonal and avoid air freight (~10% CO2e savings) Avoid excess packaging (~3-5% CO2e savings) Here are more low carbon tips from Bananas. How does Mike Berners-Lee explain carbon basis for each one? Avoid low yielding varieties, e.g., cherry tomatoes and baby corn (~3% savings) Recycle your packaging (~2-3% CO2e savings) Buy misshapen produce (~1% CO2e savings) Lower-carbon cooking (~5% CO2e savings) 3. The first thing to say about transport emissions is that, for all the talk that we hear about food miles, they are not the most pivotal thing to think about. How Bad are Bananas, page 177 Examine the data for your meal. a. Were food miles the most pivotal thing to think about? Yes No (circle one) b. If Yes, go find your TA immediately! c. If No, which emissions were the most pivotal to think about? 14 Carbon Footprints at Ginger Root, Part 2 (WEEK 13)

15 Reflecting on the Investigation (-continued-) Recall that sustainability has three parts: the economy, the community, and the environment. Today, you calculated a carbon footprint of a meal. CO2e is not the whole story. Triple Bottom Line Healthy Environment 4. Producing food also requires water and releases air pollutants: CO, NO, and fine particles. Give examples of how by adding two entries to each of these lists. List #1: Water is used in growing the food 1. To supply animals with drinking water 2. To Water is used at V. Marchese: 3. To 4. To List #2 Air pollutants are generated by fossil fuels burned in growing the food 1. To supply electricity to pump water 2. To Air pollutants are generated by electricity used at V. Marchese: 3. To 4. To 15 Carbon Footprints at Ginger Root, Part 2 (WEEK 13)

16 Reflecting on the Investigation (-continued-) Triple Bottom Line Healthy Community 5. Metcalfe s, a local Madison grocery store, gets its fish from around the world. It was voted #1 in WI by Greenpeace for sustainable seafood. a. How many people were directly involved in moving the fish from farm/wild to your local Metcalfe s? List as many as you can think of: b. When you buy fish, you are supporting those whose hands touched the fish you will eat. Name two items connected to workers that would make fish production more sustainable. c. While waiting for the butcher to package some fish for you, you read this sign: The premium quality fish and seafood found at your neighborhood Metcalfe s is flown in fresh six days a week. We offer more than 50 varieties every day. Argue why flying in fish makes sense. Now argue against this practice. 16 Carbon Footprints at Ginger Root, Part 2 (WEEK 13)

17 Reflecting on the Investigation (-continued-) Triple Bottom Line Healthy Economy 6. The True Cost of a Burger is in Canvas. Go find this article. a. Bittman defines external costs ( externalities ). Write his definition here. b. Using a cheeseburger wrapper as an example, Bittman gives an example of an external cost. Name it. c. Now consider a Union South hamburger. Name 2 external costs associated with the paper liner under this hamburger that are different from the external cost named by Bittman. Hint: consider the landfill in which the paper liner is likely to end up d. Cheeseburgers are the coal of the food world, says Bittman, pointing out that they have external costs in spades. Name two reasons why coal has high external costs e. Name two reasons why cheeseburgers have high external costs. Hint: see Bittman s article f. According to Bittman, the total external costs range from to per burger. Carbon emissions are just one of these externalities. Bittman calculates the carbon costs of a burger to be, on average. 17 Carbon Footprints at Ginger Root, Part 2 (WEEK 13)

18 7. From Bitmann: The cost of carbon is hard to nail precisely, but the government s official monetary valuation of greenhouse gas pollution is roughly $37 per metric ton of CO2 emissions. Many experts double that rate. Others multiply it nearly tenfold. Using both values, $37 and $370 per metric ton of CO2 emissions, let s calculate the external carbon costs of your Ginger Root meal. Use the data from your Excel worksheet. 1 mmmmmmmmmmmm tttttt total grams COO 2 e for meal 1,000,000 gggggggggg $37 1 mmmmmmmmmmmm tttttt CCOO 2 = $ COO 2 e costs of meal 1 mmmmmmmmmmmm tttttt total grams COO 2 e for meal 1,000,000 gggggggggg $ mmmmmmmmmmmm tttttt CCOO 2 = $ COO 2 e costs of meal Your opinion: Should our campus add a carbon cost to some meals served at campus eateries, such as those with much higher CO2e costs? NO YES (circle one) Argue why campus should not add a cost to any meals: Now argue why campus should add a cost to some meals: 18 Carbon Footprints at Ginger Root, Part 2 (WEEK 13)