Berit Mattsson

Life cycle assessment of milk production — a comparison of conventional and organic farming

An LCA was performed on organic and conventional milk production at the farm level in Sweden. In the study, special focus was aimed at substance flows in concentrate feed production and nutrient flows on the farms. The different feeding strategies in the two forms of production, influence several impact categories. The import of feed by conventional dairy farms often leads to a substantial input of phosphorus and nitrogen. Organic milk production is a way to reduce pesticide use and mineral surplus in agriculture but this production form also requires substantially more farmland than conventional production. For Swedish conditions, however, a large use of grassland for grazing ruminants is regarded positively since this type of arable land use promotes the domestic environmental goals of biodiversity and aesthetic values.

Agricultural land use in life cycle assessment (LCA): case studies of three vegetable oil crops

Abstract A method for environmental assessment of agricultural land use is outlined. Environmental objectives and indicators of the land use quality are defined. The method is tested in case studies of cultivated vegetable oil crops: Swedish rape seed, Brazilian soybean and Malaysian oil palm. The results from this study lead us to believe that the indicators soil erosion, soil organic matter, soil structure, soil pH, phosphorus and potassium status of the soil, and the impact on biodiversity are a good choice of indicators. These indicators would give a good picture of long-term soil fertility and biodiversity. However, taking them together involves results that are a mix of quantitative and qualitative information, which makes it difficult to aggregate in an acceptable way. Therefore, land use assessment performed in this way includes not only quantitative results but also qualitative descriptions.

The feasibility of including sustainability in LCA for product development

Abstract The feasibility of combining the concept of sustainability principles and the methodology of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is examined. The goal is to achieve an operational tool that incorporates sustainability in product development and strategic planning. While the method outlined has the structure of LCA, it emphasises aspects and parameters often omitted from traditional LCA. The analysis and results can be either qualitative or semi-quantitative. Although a qualitative analysis is less time consuming, it can still highlight the important issues. Qualitative information, which is easily lost in a quantitative analysis, can be emphasised. One of the conclusions is that the method is well suited for screening analysis.

Environmentally Friendly Food Processing

Part 1 Assessing the environmental impact of food processing operations: Life cycle assement (LCA): an introduction LCA of vegetable products LCA of fruit products LCA of animal products Environmental impact assessment of seafood products. Part 2 Good practice: Environmental issues in the production of beverages: the global coffee chain Improving energy efficiency The environmental management of packaging Recycling of packaging materials Biobased food packaging Recycling food processing wastes Waste treatment Assessing the safety and quality of recycled packaging materials Environmental training for the food industry Comparing integrated crop management and organic production LCA of wine production.

Influence of derived operation-specific tractor emission data on results from an LCI on wheat production

The shortage of data for emissions from agricultural tractors contributes to LCA results on environmental load from modern crop production possibly having high error levels and high uncertainties.The first part of this work describes measurements and calculations made in order to obtain operation-specific agricultural emission data. Calculations are based on emission data measured on a standard 70 kW tractor of a widely available make. In the second part, results from an LCI on wheat production based on traditionally used emission data are calculated and compared with results obtained when using the emission data for specific working operations derived in part one.One conclusion of the study is that the emission values, when related to the energy in the used fuel, show very large variations between different driving operations. Another conclusion is that the use of the new data results in a marked reduction of the total air emissions produced in the wheat production chain, especially for CO and HC, but also for NOx and SO2.

Environmental Assessment of Plant Protection Strategies Using Scenarios for Pig Feed Production

Abstract Two scenarios for future pig meat production were constructed. The first was a “business as usual” scenario, where the pig feed was based on domestic grain and imported soy-meal, and no efforts were made to reduce pesticide use. The second scenario had a strong environmental focus, and both peas and rapeseed were grown at pig-farm level to produce grain and protein feed. Preventive measures, such as a more diverse crop rotation and mechanical weed control, were combined to reduce pesticide use. The two scenarios were environmentally assessed by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and a pesticide risk indicator model (PRI-Farm). The results showed environmentally sound possibilities to reduce pesticide dependency and risks by using altered plant protection strategies in pig-feed production. Organizing on-farm feed production so that protein feed crops are integrated with grain crops contributes to a more diverse crop rotation.