| 1. |
- Lindner, Jan Paul, et al.
(författare)
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Moving beyond land use intensity types: assessing biodiversity impacts using fuzzy thinking
- 2021
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Ingår i: International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1614-7502 .- 0948-3349. ; 26:7, s. 1338-1356
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: The impact of land use on biodiversity is a topic that has received considerable attention in life cycle assessment (LCA). The methodology to assess biodiversity in LCA has been improved in the past decades. This paper contributes to this progress by building on the concept of conditions for maintained biodiversity. It describes the theory for the development of mathematical functions representing the impact of land uses and management practices on biodiversity. Methods: The method proposed here describes the impact of land use on biodiversity as a decrease in biodiversity potential, capturing the impact of management practices. The method can be applied with weighting between regions, such as ecoregions. The biodiversity potential is calculated through functions that describe not only parameters which are relevant to biodiversity, for example, deadwood in a forest, but also the relationships between those parameters. For example, maximum biodiversity would hypothetically occur when the nutrient balance is ideal and no pesticide is applied. As these relationships may not be readily quantified, we propose the use of fuzzy thinking for biodiversity assessment, using AND/OR operators. The method allows the inclusion of context parameters that represent neither the management nor the land use practice being investigated, but are nevertheless relevant to biodiversity. The parameters and relationships can be defined by either literature or expert interviews. We give recommendations on how to create the biodiversity potential functions by providing the reader with a set of questions that can help build the functions and find the relationship between parameters. Results and discussion: We present a simplified case study of paper production in the Scandinavian and Russian Taiga to demonstrate the applicability of the method. We apply the method to two scenarios, one representing an intensive forestry practice, and another representing lower intensity forestry management. The results communicate the differences between the two scenarios quantitatively, but more importantly, are able to provide guidance on improved management. We discuss the advantages of this condition-based approach compared to pre-defined intensity classes. The potential drawbacks of defining potential functions from industry-derived studies are pointed out. This method also provides a less strict approach to a reference situation, consequently allowing the adequate assessment of cases in which the most beneficial biodiversity state is achieved through management practices. Conclusions: The originality of using fuzzy thinking is that it enables land use management practices to be accounted for in LCA without requiring sub-categories for different intensities to be explicitly established, thus moving beyond the classification of land use practices. The proposed method is another LCIA step toward closing the gap between land use management practices and biodiversity conservation goals.
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| 2. |
- Michelsen, Ottar, et al.
(författare)
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A comparison of three methods to assess land use impacts on biodiversity in a case study of forestry plantations in New Zealand
- 2014
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Ingår i: International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1614-7502 .- 0948-3349. ; 19:6, s. 1214-1225
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: The aim of this study is apply available methods to assess impacts on biodiversity from the land use caused by plantation grown radiata pine in New Zealand in a life cycle assessment framework. This is done both to quantify the impact as well as compare the results obtained by different methods. Methods: Data on location and productivity for wood supply regions in New Zealand was assessed using three methods identified as relevant for the purpose. All data were related to a functional unit of 1 m3 of timber production. Results and discussion: The results show both a significant difference in impact on biodiversity from land use in the different wood supply regions and a significant difference in the results from the three applied methods. Although some of the results obtained from the three methods were correlated, this was not consistent through all the results. The methodological variation emanates from the treatment of the characteristics of the wood supply regions and underlying assumptions, e.g. reference vegetation. Compared to a case study in Norway, the impact on biodiversity from plantation forestry in New Zealand is found to be relatively low following the applied methods and assumptions taken. Conclusions: The study shows a significant variation in how impacts on biodiversity are assessed following different approaches. Research to harmonize methods to quantify impact on biodiversity is recommended, as well as exploring effects of different weighting of crucial aspects of biodiversity, such as rarity, abundance and species richness.
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| 3. |
- Pernollet, Franck, et al.
(författare)
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Methods to simplify diet and food life cycle inventories: Accuracy versus data-collection resources
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-6526. ; 140, s. 410-420
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The number of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies on foods and diets steadily increases. However, due to lack of data on food products as well as time and resource constraints, many of these studies ignore part of the system (e.g. cooking and waste in the household), which may lead to underestimating impacts greatly. This LCA study compared diets using six methods with different system boundaries; three of these are simplified methods we developed. The aim was to identify which method best optimizes data collection for life cycle inventories from cradle to human mouth of food products and diets. The principle behind the three simplified methods was that, for many foods and impact categories, the farm (or fishery) is the life cycle stage that contributes most to impacts. One average, one healthy and one vegetarian diet, each composed of up to 105 foods, were assessed. Climate change, cumulative energy demand, eutrophication, acidification and land occupation impacts were estimated. Recommendations are given on which methods, depending on study goals, offer the best trade-off among available resources (time, money, and knowledge), while providing the required robustness of results. Compared to a full LCA, simplified LCA methods can yield more accurate results at a lower cost of data collection.
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| 4. |
- Vitolo Coelho, Carla Regina, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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A comparative life cycle assessment of cross-processing herring side streams with fruit pomace or seaweed into a stable food protein ingredient
- 2022
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Ingår i: Future Foods. - : Elsevier BV. - 2666-8335. ; 6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- One approach to improve the sustainability of food processing is the recovery of valuable compounds from food industry's side streams. In this study a life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to quantify the potential environmental impacts of cross-processing herring side streams with different antioxidant-rich biomasses, so-called helpers, for the extraction of a protein ingredient that is stable against lipid oxidation. New primary experimental data was combined with literature values to model cross-processing of herring with different helpers, namely, lingonberry pomace, apple pomace, and brown and green seaweed. Different addition ratios and delayed addition of the pomace were also assessed for cross-processing herring with lingonberry pomace. The environmental performance of the resulting protein ingredients were assessed on a mass and delivered protein basis. Potential environmental impacts for climate change, energy consumption, land occupation, and depletion of marine resources were addressed. No ingredient performed better in all environmental impact categories, but delaying the helper addition had the most significant influence in reducing the product's environmental impacts. This study's outcomes enable analysts to direct research towards the most relevant parameters for producing a protein ingredient with lower environmental impact.
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| 5. |
- Vitolo Coelho, Carla Regina, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Diets with Improved Omega-3 Fatty Acid Profiles
- 2016
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Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203 .- 1932-6203. ; 11:8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A high incidence of cardiovascular disease is observed worldwide, and dietary habits are one of the risk factors for these diseases. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the diet help to prevent cardiovascular disease. We used life cycle assessment to analyse the potential of two strategies to improve the nutritional and environmental characteristics of French diets: 1) modifying diets by changing the quantities and proportions of foods and 2) increasing the omega-3 contents in diets by replacing mainly animal foods with equivalent animal foods having higher omega-3 contents. We also investigated other possibilities for reducing environmental impacts. Our results showed that a diet compliant with nutritional recommendations for macronutrients had fewer environmental impacts than the current average French diet. Moving from an omnivorous to a vegetarian diet further reduced environmental impacts. Increasing the omega-3 contents in animal rations increased Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) in animal food products. Providing these enriched animal foods in human diets increased their EPA and DHA contents without affecting their environmental impacts. However, in diets that did not contain fish, EPA and DHA contents were well below the levels recommended by health authorities, despite the inclusion of animal products enriched in EPA and DHA. Reducing meat consumption and avoidable waste at home are two main avenues for reducing environmental impacts of diets.
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| 6. |
- Vitolo Coelho, Carla Regina, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Fish beyond fillets: Life cycle assessment of cross-processing herring and lingonberry co-products into a food product
- 2023
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Ingår i: Resources, Conservation and Recycling. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-3449 .- 1879-0658. ; 188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The food industry generates side streams that can be used as sources of valuable compounds. We carried out a life cycle assessment of a protein ingredient obtained by pH-shift processing co-products of herring (Clupea harengus) and lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) pomace. The assessment was based on a combination of primary and literature data to assess climate change, cumulative energy demand, land occupation, and depleted stock fraction impacts of marine resources. We analyzed the environmental profile of the fish protein ingredient on its own and as a consumable fish ball preparation. The potential impacts of the protein ingredient fish ball were compared with a benchmark fish ball and with salmon fillets. The results were generally favorable for the protein ingredient fish ball produced via cross-processing herring co-products and lingonberry pomace. This analysis supports the idea of further investment in cross-processing food sidestreams into a protein ingredient for food products.
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| 7. |
- Vitolo Coelho, Carla Regina, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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From lab to plate: life cycle assessment of herring and lingonberry co-product valorization
- 2022
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Food industry side streams can be a source of valuable raw materials, e.g., high-quality proteins from fish filleting co-products, and natural antioxidants from fruit pomace. pH-shifting is a food processing technique that allows the solubilization and extraction of proteins. Cross-processing fish co-products and a helper (e.g., lingonberry pomace), inhibits lipid oxidation during processing. We carried out a life cycle assessment of a pH-shift method for cross-processing herring heads and back bones with lingonberry pomace (CROSS). We modeled the resulting protein ingredient as input to a fish ball and compared that with a benchmark fish ball. We upscaled primary laboratory data for the cross-process following Piccinno et al. (2016). Life cycle inventory data for salmon production was based on Winther et al. (2020), including feed composed of agricultural, micro-ingredients, and 14 different fish species. We also included fishery discards following Pérez Roda (2019). Among other impact indicators we used the depleted stock fraction proposed by Hélias et al. (2018) to characterize impacts on marine resources. Fish balls produced with the cross-processed protein ingredient perform better than the benchmark option in all investigated categories. Using oils extracted during cross-processing in the fish ball formulation could reduce land use impacts of the final product and improve its nutritional profile.
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| 8. |
- Vitolo Coelho, Carla Regina, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Land use impacts on biodiversity from kiwifruit production in New Zealand assessed with global and national datasets
- 2014
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Ingår i: International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1614-7502 .- 0948-3349. ; 19:2, s. 285-296
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Habitat loss is a significant cause of biodiversity loss, but while its importance is widely recognized, there is no generally accepted method on how to include impacts on biodiversity from land use and land use changes in cycle assessment (LCA), and existing methods are suffering from data gaps. This paper proposes a methodology for assessing the impact of land use on biodiversity using ecological structures as opposed to information on number of species. Methods: Two forms of the model (global and local scales) were used to assess environmental quality, combining ecosystem scarcity, vulnerability, and conditions for maintaining biodiversity. A case study for New Zealand kiwifruit production is presented. As part of the sensitivity analysis, model parameters (area and vulnerability) were altered and New Zealand datasets were also used. Results and discussion: When the biodiversity assessment was implemented using a global dataset, the importance of productivity values was shown to depend on the area the results were normalized against. While the area parameter played an important role in the results, the proposed alternative vulnerability scale had little influence on the final outcome. Conclusions: Overall, the paper successfully implements a model to assess biodiversity impacts in LCA using easily accessible, free-of-charge data and software. Comparing the model using global vs. national datasets showed that there is a potential loss of regional significance when using the generalized model with the global dataset. However, as a guide to assessing biodiversity impact, the model allows for consistent comparison of product systems on an international basis.
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| 9. |
- Vitolo Coelho, Carla Regina, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Rethinking a product and its function using LCA - Experiences of New Zealand manufacturing companies
- 2012
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Ingår i: International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1614-7502 .- 0948-3349. ; 18:4, s. 872-880
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: It has been recognised that life cycle assessment (LCA) has a role in framing problem situations in environmental management. Yet relatively few studies have investigated whether the use of LCA does actually lead to the reconceptualisation of product systems as opposed to answering predefined questions. This paper discusses the experiences of six manufacturing firms that commissioned LCA studies as part of a life cycle management project managed by Landcare Research in New Zealand. Methods: The initial goal and scope of the study was developed by each company's representative in a workshop that was organised as part of the LCM project. The scope for three of the studies was subsequently redefined by the LCA specialists at Landcare Research and agreed with senior managers at the company. The LCA specialists undertook the LCA studies and presented the results to the companies. Results and discussion: A significant reconceptualisation of the product system took place in three of the six LCA studies. This reconceptualisation would not have taken place if the scope of the LCA studies had been restricted to address the questions originally asked by the companies. The three companies showed some resistance to expanding the scope. Conclusions: Use of LCA can lead to reconceptualisation of product systems by companies and quite different priorities for improvement options. Initial resistance to expanding a study's scope may be (partially) overcome by data collection activities and informal discussions between the LCA specialist and company staff during the process of undertaking the LCA study.
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