A life cycle assessment perspective on food

Andrew D Moore lifecyclelogic.com.au © 2013

2

Envi

ron

men

tal i

mp

act

HOTSPOT

PRODUCTION USE END OF LIFE

The aim of life cycle assessment is to identify

and target the environmental hotspots

and to improve the sustainability over the whole life cycle from

cradle to grave.

What is life cycle assessment?

3

Envi

ron

men

tal i

mp

act

HOTSPOT

PRODUCTION USE END OF LIFE

For different products the environmental hotspots can be in

different parts of the life cycle. For solar PV it is the production.

4

Myth: “It takes more energy to

produce a solar electric system

than it will ever generate”

The energy payback period for a solar photovoltaic system produced in Germany, transported and

installed in Perth is less than 2 years which is a small part of the 30+ year life of the system.

source: http://www.lcanz.org.nz/sites/default/files/lca_decision_support_4_moore_a.pdf

Life cycle of food

5

cradle to grave

paddock to plate / farm to fork

grower to grocer

cradle to gate

Life cycle assessment can explore different parts of the life cycle from cradle to grave.

7 source: http://conference.alcas.asn.au/alcasprogram/Renouf_Review_Agriculture_Paper.pdf

Growth of food LCA studies in Australia

The number of food studies is growing,

but, as the results can be location specific, there is still lots of

work to do.

8

To grow each punnet

of strawberries

it can take…

3 DROPS OF PESTICIDE

170 ML DIESEL

1 TEASPOON OF FERTILISER

14 LITRES WATER

source: doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.12.031

It may not be romantic but this is

the sort of information that is gathered during life cycle assessment.

9 9

54% 14% 26% 7% 0.8

1.2

0.5

FARM

PROCESSING &

STORAGE

source: doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.12.031

FARM

SUPPLIES

TOTAL kg CO2-e/250g

81% 8% 5% 6% 81%

54%

48% 13% 35% 4% 48%

Grower to grocer (WA)

DISTRIBUTION

Different foods can have different hotspots and

different carbon footprints.

10 10

45% 0.2

CRADLE TO

FARM GATE

source: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.03.036

TOTAL kg CO2-e/250g

Tomatoes grown for Sydney market

55%

94% 2% 0.5

GROWN IN A

LOCAL

HIGH TECH

GREENHOUSE

YEAR ROUND

DISTRIBUTION

How and when the food is grown can affect the carbon footprint more

than where the food is grown.

FIELD GROWN

SEASONALLY

1500 KM FROM

MARKET

87%

11 11 source: http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/

FARM

SUPPLIES

TOTAL kg CO2-e/250g

How about Australian milk?

0.3 14%

FARM

57% 18%

Emissions from cows can account for 57%

of the carbon footprint of average Australian milk, from

cradle to the farm gate.

Italian pasta

12

21% 37% 4% 38%

PRODUCTION

COOKING

TOTAL kg CO2-e/250g FARM

source: http://environdec.com/Articles/EPD/Declaring-the-impact-of-pasta/#.Uos1Pvlgd8E

0.5

DISTRIBUTION

Italian pasta cooked in Italy, using gas, has hotspots in both

the farm and the cooking.

Italian pasta

13

FARM PRODUCTION DISTRIBUTION

TOTAL kg CO2-e/250g COOKING

source: http://environdec.com/Articles/EPD/Declaring-the-impact-of-pasta/#.Uos1Pvlgd8E

13% 23% 2% 62% 0.9

If the pasta is cooked in Italy using electricity, rather than

gas, the story changes and the hotspot becomes the cooking.

Italian pasta (cooked in Perth)

14

FARM PRODUCTION DISTRIBUTION

TOTAL kg CO2-e/250g COOKING

source: http://environdec.com/Articles/EPD/Declaring-the-impact-of-pasta/#.Uos1Pvlgd8E

69% 9% 16% 5% 1.2

If you transport the Italian pasta 15,000 km and cook using electricity in Perth (Australia) the carbon footprint increases. The increase is due to the source of the

electricity rather than the transport. How you cook the food can matter more than how far it is transported.

Food Waste (Tesco UK)

15 source: http://www.tescoplc.com/

Tesco UK showed that too much food is wasted across the life cycle.

More research is needed to identify opportunities to improve in Australia

too.

Disposal

16

source: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/policy/lead-market-initiative/files/waste_mng_leaflet_en.pdf

How should we dispose of our food waste? A French study found that up to 65% of households home

compost were poorly so they could be better off sending food waste for industrial processing to generate electricity. More

research is needed to work out what is best for each city.

Use a life cycle perspective

Transport can be OK

Eat seasonal produce

Minimise food waste

More research

What can we do?

17

31

www.lifecyclelogic.com.au

Australian Life Cycle Assessment Society

(alcas.asn.au)

More information

18

Also look for the references in this section on the preceding slides.