Life Cycle Assessment

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
   1. Objectives
   2. Learning goals
   3. Teacher page
2. Course content: Life cycle assessment (LCA) of pork chains
   1. What are the environmental impact of food production?
   2. Global warming
   3. GWP of different foods
   4. Nutrient enrichment (eutrophication)
   5. Acidification
3. How to access environmental impact of pork?
   1. LCA of 1 kg Danish Pork
   2. What is included in a LCA?
   3. Phase 1
   4. Phase 2
   5. Phase 3
   6. Phase 4
   7. System expansion and allocation
4. LCA for different production Systems
   1. The Danish standard system
   2. The Danish organic system
   3. The French standard system
   4. The Alternative French system: Porc Basque
   5. Summary of performance and LCA in the four systems
5. Completion
   1. Comments
   2. Self-assessment
   3. Key messages
   4. Further reading and references
   5. Evaluation
   6. Acknowledgement

Further reading and references

Dalgaard, R., Halberg, H. & Hermansen, J.E., 2007. Danish pork production - An environmental assessment. DJF Animal Science No. 82. 34 pp.

Halberg, N., Hermansen, J.E., Kristensen, I.S., Eriksen, J., Tvedegaard, N. & Petersen, B.M, 2010. Impact of organic pig production systems on CO2 emission, C sequestration and nitrate pollution. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 30 (4), 721-731.

Hermansen, J.E. & Kristensen, T., 2011. Management options to reduce carbon foot print of livestock products. Animal Frontier (in press).

Hermansen, J.E. & Nguyen, T.L., 2009. The environmental profile of the European pork sector and how to model it. Q-PorkChains Newsletter Nr. 4.

http://www.lcafood.dk/

IPCC, 2007. IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) - Climate Change 2007. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007. Available online at: www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/gl/invs1.htm

Mogensen, L., Hermansen, J.E., Halberg, N., Dalgaard, R., Vis, J.C. & Gail Smith, B., 2009. Life Cycle Assessment Across the Food Supply Chain. In: Baldwin, C.J. (Editor), Sustainability in the Food Industry. 115 - 144.

Nguyen, T.L.T., Hermansen, J.E. &Mogensen, L., 2011. Environmental assessment of Danish pork. Report No. 103, Aarhus University.

Nguyen, T.L.T., Hermansen, J.E. & Mogensen, L., 2010a. Environmental consequences of different beef production systems in the EU. Journal of Cleaner Production 18, 756-766.

Nguyen, T.L.T., Mogensen, L. & Hermansen, J.E., 2010b. Fossil energy and GHG saving potentials of pig farming in the EU. Energy Policy 38 (5), 2561-2571.

Tukker A, G. Huppes, J. Guinée, R. Heijungs, A. de Koning, L. van Oers, S. Suh, T. Geerken, M. Van Holderbeke, B. Jansen, P. Nielsen. 2006. Environmental impacts of products (EIPRO). Analysis of the life cycle environmental impacts related to the total final consumption of the EU-25. Sevilla: Institute for Prospective Technological Studies. (EUR 22284 EN).

Williams, A.G., Audsley, E. & Sandars, D.L., 2006. Final report to Defra on project IS0205: Determining the environmental burdens and resource use in the production of agricultural and horticultural commodities. London: Defra.