Sustainability in the livestock chain Hanna Tuomisto, Adrian Leip, Camillo De Camillis, David Pennington, Fabrice Mathieux Joint Research Centre (JRC) Institute of Environment and Sustainability (IES) YEMCO Spring Conference 30.-31.3.2012, Bologna
European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) Institute of Environment and Sustainability (IES) European Commission (27 Commissioners, 36 Directorate-Generals) SG. RELEX ENTR ENV SANCO RTD JRC.................... 7 Institutes IES IPSC IPTS IE..
European Union European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES) The mission of the IES is to provide scientifictechnical support to the European Union's policies for the protection and sustainable development of the European and global environment
Outline of the presentation Environmental impacts of livestock production in the EU How can the environmental impact of livestock production be reduced JRC research projects
Part I ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
Planetary boundaries Safe operating space for humanity Rockström et al. (2009) Nature 461:472-475
The five key threats Water quality Coastal eutrophication, nitrate in groundwater, Air quality Health effects, Cultural heritage, Crop yields, Greenhouse gas balance: Carbon losses/ sequestration, N2O and CH4 emissions, indirect effects, Soil quality: Erosion, soil compaction, acidification, Image source: ENA, photo source: Shutterstock and garyksmithphotography.c om European Nitrogen Assessment, Sutton et al., 2011 Ecosystems and biodiversity: Land use, soil eutrophication,
ENA: Assessing impact of nitrogen on five key threats http://nine-esf.org/ena-book GGELS: Quantification of EU-GHG emissions from livestock production systems http://afoludata.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.php/dataset/detail/236
The contribution of livestock production to environmental impacts in the EU 8%-16% RESOURCES Land use 48% Water use 20% <5% ~40% of Nr deposition several other effects NH 3 85% ~50%
CO2, N2O GHG emissions of the EU livestock sector: A Life Cycle Assessment CO2 CO2 NPK CO2, CH4, N2O CO2, N2O CO2 CO2 CO2 CH4, N2O CO2 CO2 N2O CH4 CO2
Farm gate LCA of livestock products system boundaries Allocation required not Transport, considered in processing, GGELS retail, packaging, consumption, waste Feed transport and processing Mineral fertilizer plant protection Diesel and other fuels, electricty, heating FEED prod Crop and feed production Production of cattle, pig, poultry, sheep, goats Land agriculture Manure housing and management Source of pictures: http://commons.wikimedia.org/
GGELS-LCA: Functional units 1 kg of milk 1 kg of eggs 1 kg carcass of meat
GHG emissions from livestock production in Europe Total GHG fluxes EU27: 661 Mt CO 2-eq 13% of total GHG emissions in the EU Beef 165 25% Cow Milk 193 29% 54 8% 24 4% Pork Poultry Meat Sheep and Goat Meat 191 29% 12 2% 21 3% Eggs Sheep and Goat Milk Leip et al. (2011) GGELS
GHG intensities of animal products made in Europe GHG fluxes [kg CO2-eq / kg product 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0-2 -4 21-28 19-28 7-10 4.6-6.7 Beef Pork Sheep and goat meat Poultry meat 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0-0.5 1.3-1.7 Cow milk 2.6-4.1 Sheep and Goat Milk CH 4 N 2 O Land use change CO 2 energy Land use Leip et al. (2010) Evaluation of the livestock sector's contribution to the EU greenhouse gas emissions (GGELS). Based on figures 6.23 and 6.24 Error bars indicate range of emissions from land use change scenarios Leip et al. (2011) GGELS
GHG fluxes [kg CO2-eq / kg cow milk] GHG fluxes [kg CO2-eq / kg beef] Beef 50 40 30 20 10 0-10 AT SK NL IT IR DE BL UK CZ EU SE HU PL SI FR RO EE EL LT DK ES PT BG MT FI LV CY EU member state Cow Milk Land use Land use change (scenario II) CO2 energy 3.0 2.5 2.0 N 2 O CH 4 Leip et al. (2010) Evaluation of the livestock sector's contribution to the EU greenhouse gas emissions (GGELS). Figure ES10 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0-0.5 AT IR IT EL BL UK FR DE CZ ES SE EU PT SK NL LT PL DK RO HU SI EE FI MT BG LV CY EU member state
Contribution of different stages of Danish pork production on GHG emissions Fuel use in housing 5% Slaughterhouse 5% Transport from slaghterhouse 1% Soybean production 11% Methane from slurry 21% Cereal production 57% Dalgaard et al. (2007) Danish Pork Production An Environmental Assessment
Marinated broiler production: LCA impact through the supply chain 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% GHG Acidification Eutrophication Delivery and trade Packaging Food industry Marinade/sauce chain Primary production Usva et al. (2009) Agricultural and Food Science 18:460-476
Part II REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION
Environmental impacts of cultured meat production Tuomisto, H.L. & Teixeira de Mattos, M.J. 2011. Environmental impacts of cultured meat production. Environmental Science & Technology, 45: 6117-6123
What is cultured meat? Also known as laboratory-grown meat or in vitro meat Produced by growing animal cells in a laboratory At a research stage Haagsman et al. (2009) Production of Animal Proteins by Cell Systems
Impacts of cultured meat production compared with conventionally produced meat in Europe (Tuomisto & Teixeira de Mattos, 2011)
Low-carbon farming practice project to assess policy options for promoting low carbon farming practices in the EU Develop an EU-wide farm-level carbon calculator Assesses the carbon footprint of a farm and its products Recommends mitigation options to reduce GHG emissions
Improvement possibilities at farm Improvements in feeding Replacement of imported soya with locally produced protein options/artificial amino acids Improve livestock productivity Optimisation of grazing Coverage of liquid manure Reduce methane from enteric fermentation Biogas production from manure
European Food Sustainable Production and Consumption Round Table Vision: Promote science-based, coherent approach to Sustainable Consumption and Production in the food sector, consider interactions across the entire food chain 3 Working areas: Methodology, communication, continuous improvement Members: EC, 24 European food chain business associations, The Sustainability Consortium, World Resources Institute EC co-chairs: DGs ENV, SANCO, JRC, ENTR Others: UN Environment Programme (UNEP), European Environment Agency, National governments, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UN Development Programme (UNDP), Eurogroup for Animals, Spanish Consumers Union
Key Objectives Establish scientifically reliable and uniform environmental assessment methodologies for food and drinks Identify suitable tools and guidance for voluntary environmental communication to consumers and other stakeholders Promote continuous environmental improvement measures along the entire food supply chain;
Environmental footprint of products and organisations DG Environment and JRC develops a harmonised methodology for the calculation of the environmental footprint of products Based on Life Cycle Assessment approach Includes specific rules for different product categories
European Platform on LCA Resource directory Website User forum European Reference Life Cycle Database (ELCD) International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) ILCD Handbook ILCD Data Network (new)
ILCD Data Network ILCD Data Network: a web-based infrastructure for better availability of consistent and qualityassured LCA data Open for all data providers: not in competition with other LCI databases Non-centralised: data kept and published on website of individual owner/developer (under own conditions) Emphasis on consistency and quality of datasets: requirements based on ILCD Handbook : Entry-level requirements Supporting tools and templates provided for free
Thank you! Links to the JRC projects: Low carbon farming and cultured meat production: hanna.tuomisto@jrc.ec.europa.eu GHG emissions of livestock production in the EU: http://afoludata.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.php/dataset/detail/ 236 Food Sustainable Production and Consumption Round Table: info@food-scp.eu, http://www.food-scp.eu/ Environmental footprint: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/product_footprint.h tm ILCD Data Network: lca@jrc.ec.europa.eu Other LCA related projects: http://lct.jrc.ec.europa.eu
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