Citation Information

  • Title : Moving toward scientific LCA for farmers.
  • Source : Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-Food Sector (LCA Food 2014)
  • Publisher : American Center for Life Cycle Assessment
  • Year : 2014
  • ISBN : 978-0-9882145-7-6
  • Conference Name : 9th International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-Food Sector (LCA Food 2014)
  • Document Type : Journal Article
  • Language : English
  • Authors:
    • Torres,C. M.
    • Anton,A.
    • Castells,F.
  • Climates: Hot summer continental (Dsa, Dfa, Dwa).
  • Cropping Systems: Corn. Maize. Fruit.
  • Countries: USA.

Summary

Certain complexities in the agricultural production differentiate this sector from the conventional industrial processes. The main feature to take into account is that the resources consumption and production is subjected to high variability in soil, rainfall and latitude. We show here an environmental tool developed in close cooperation with farmers in order to achieve applicability and comprehensibility. The procedure relies on the data retrieved from parcel management monitoring of different crops, mostly allocated in Catalonia and Ebro river watershed region (NE Spain). A set of comprehensive but also simple reports are provided, including material and energy balances, agronomic efficiencies and water and carbon footprints. The calculations also cover impacts due to infrastructure, including the estimation of materials in the use of greenhouses. Besides, a simple algorithm for reporting uncertainty using an approximation method of error propagation was added using the input uncertainties as defined by their data pedigree.

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