Life Cycle Assessment of fossil energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in Chinese pear production |
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| Authors: | Yuexian Liu Vibeke Langer Henning Høgh-Jensen Henrik Egelyng |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Agriculture and Ecology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Højbakkegaard Alle 9, DK-2630 Taastrup, Denmark;2. Information Institute, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, Beijing 100094, P.R. China;3. Department of Policy Analysis, National Environmental Research Institute, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark;4. Danish Institute for International Studies, Strandgade 56, DK-1401 Copenhagen, Denmark;1. Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, College Park, USA;2. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20460, United States;3. Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA;1. College of Resources and Environment, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University, Yangling, 712100, China;2. Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Blichers Alle 20, Post Box 50, DK-8830, Tjele, Denmark;1. Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Science, University of Torino, Via Leonardo da Vinci, 44, 10095 Grugliasco, TO, Italy;2. Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore S. Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127 Pisa, Italy;3. Ionian Department, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Lago Maggiore angolo via Ancona, 74121 Taranto, Italy;4. Department of Agriculture and Ecology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark;5. Italian LCA Network, Italy;1. Department of Economics, University of Foggia, Via Romolo Caggese, 1, 71121 Foggia Italy;2. Department of Economics and Business, University of Catania, Corso Italia, 55, 95129 Catania Italy;3. University of Tennessee, Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment, 311 Conference Centre Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-4134, USA;1. Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via Nazario Sauro, 85, 85100 Potenza, Italy;2. Università degli Studi di Catania, Via Santa Sofia, 100, 95123 Catania, Italy;3. Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy |
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| Abstract: | A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed to analyze environmental consequences of different pear production chains in terms of fossil energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in China. The assessment identified hotspots that contributed significantly to the environmental impacts of pear production from the cradle to the point of sale. The results showed that GHG emissions and fossil energy use varied in the different production chains because the environmental performance does not associate with the farming systems (i.e. organic vs. conventional), but is co-determined by farm topography and thus machinery use, by market demands to seasonality of products and thus the need for storage, and by local farming practices including manure management. The LCA could be used as a tool to guide selections of agricultural inputs with the aim of reducing environmental impacts. The results of the LCA analysis indicate that a list of choices are available to reduce energy use and GHG emission in the pear production chain, namely substitution of the traditional storage systems by an efficiently controlled atmosphere storage system, using manure for biogas production, conversion from the conventional farming to organic farming, and reduction of mechanical cultivation. |
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