| 1. |
- Arvidsson, Rickard, et al.
(författare)
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The Zinc Paradox – a Problem for USETox-based indicators of national chemical footprint
- 2016
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Considering the immense problem of chemical pollution worldwide, there is a great need for methods that can be used to calculate indicators of chemical footprints. Such indicators can be calculated for products and services using life cycle assessment (LCA), but also for whole nations. Indicators of natio- nal chemical footprints may include emissions within the nation’s borders only, or also emissions related to consumption (thus having a life cycle perspective). A limited number of studies (< 5) have attempted to calculate indicators of national chemical footprints using the USEtox consensus model for toxicity impact assessment in LCA. One of these is our calculation of indicators of a national chemical footprint for Sweden. Two other studies have made similar assessments for Europe. Using the national perspective of these studies enables a rough validation of USEtox results, since the indicators of national chemiABSTRACTS 62 63 cal footprint based on USEtox can be compared to non-LCA toxicity assessments done on national levels. Such validations are not possible for LCA studies of single products. Notably, the results of existing assessments of indicators of national chemical footprints, including our Swedish study, all pinpoint zinc as the dominating substance. Zinc typically accounts for >50% of the toxicity impacts for both ecotoxicity and human toxicity. For ecotoxicity, this is not unreasonable considering the notable toxicity of zinc to aquatic organisms. For human toxicity, this result is more surprising. Zinc is an essential trace element for humans that many take as a dietary supplement to prevent zinc deficiency. Non-LCA sources describe zinc as “relatively harmless” to human health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) does not list zinc among the top ten chemicals of major public health concern, although there are other metals on the list (mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic). These contradictory claims about zinc’s health impact seem to constitute a paradox. We present a review of existing studies assessing indicators of national chemical footprints, and of toxicological research related to zinc. We further discuss potential causes of this zinc paradox, as well as implications for assessments of indicators of national chemical footprints with USEtox.
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| 2. |
- Arvidsson, Rickard, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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The zinc paradox – a problem for USEtox-based indicators of national chemical footprints?
- 2016
-
Ingår i: SETAC Europe 22th Case Study Symposium, 20-22 September, Montpellier, France.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Considering the immense problem of chemical pollution worldwide, there is a great need for methods that can be used to calculate indicators of chemical footprints. Such indicators can be calculated for products and services using life cycle assessment (LCA), but also for whole nations. Indicators of national chemical footprints may include emissions within the nation’s borders only, or also emissions related to consumption (thus having a life cycle perspective). A limited number of studies ( 50% of the toxicity impacts for both ecotoxicity and human toxicity. For ecotoxicity, this is not unreasonable considering the notable toxicity of zinc to aquatic organisms. For human toxicity, this result is more surprising. Zinc is an essential trace element for humans that many take as a dietary supplement to prevent zinc deficiency. Non-LCA sources describe zinc as “relatively harmless” to human health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) does not list zinc among the top ten chemicals of major public health concern, although there are other metals on the list (mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic). These contradictory claims about zinc’s health impact seem to constitute a paradox. We present a review of existing studies assessing indicators of national chemical footprints, and of toxicological research related to zinc. We further discuss potential causes of this zinc paradox, as well as implications for assessments of indicators of national chemical footprints with USEtox.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Bengtsson, Janne, et al.
(författare)
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Framtidens landsbygdsprogram och olika utmaningar
- 2017
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Ingår i: Boken "Så här ligger landet-tankar om landsbygdsprogram och landsbygdsutveckling", Jordbruksverket, Jönköping. ; , s. 171-178
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Cederberg, Christel, 1959, et al.
(författare)
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Beyond the borders – burdens of Swedish food consumption due to agrochemicals, greenhouse gases and land-use change
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-6526. ; 214, s. 644-652
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Authors Sweden's environmental policy aims to solve domestic environmental problems without increasing environmental and health impacts overseas. Realizing this aim requires an indicator system with a consumption-based (or “footprint”) perspective that captures both local and global impacts and their development over time. In this paper, we present a set of novel footprint indicators to measure environmental pressures from Swedish food consumption. The indicators are calculated by combining data and statistics on agrochemicals and deforestation emissions with EXIOBASE3, a global Multi-Regional Input Output (MRIO) database with a unique and high level of product detail across countries. We estimate the use of pesticides and antimicrobial veterinary medicines associated with current Swedish food consumption and compare those footprint indicators with the EU-28. Carbon emissions from deforestation are calculated with a land balance model and included in the overall carbon footprint of food. We find that Sweden, with its large reliance of food imports, exert a significant agro-chemical and climate footprint overseas, mainly in the EU and Latin America. We point to a need for better data and statistics on the use of pesticides, veterinary medicines and agrochemicals residuals (especially in developing countries) as well as improved spatial data on agricultural activity to further reduce uncertainty in the environmental footprint of Swedish food consumption.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Cederberg, Christel, 1959, et al.
(författare)
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Ekonomi och ekosystemtjänster i gräsbaserad mjölk- och nötköttsproduktion
- 2018
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- En stor del av den svenska jordbruksmarken utgörs av gräsmarker som används till foderproduktion åt nötkreatur. Denna markanvändning är mycket viktig för leveransen av en rad betydelsefulla ekosystemtjänster till samhället och för bevarandet av den biologiska mång-falden. Pågående igenväxningen av gräsmarker pga. olönsamhet, i synnerhet naturbetes-marker, hotar dessa tjänster och är en orsak till att miljömålet ”Ett varierat odlingslandskap” inte beräknas nås till 2020. Naturvårdsverkets bedömning är att det behövs starkare incitament för djurägare att hålla djur på naturbetesmarker. Även hos allmänheten finns en betalnings-vilja för att bevara naturbetesmarkerna. Projektet har, i dialog med lantbrukare, analyserat ekonomi och ekosystemtjänster i gräsbase-rade produktionssystem för nötkreatur, med bete i fokus. Studien inkluderar några möjliga framtida system för mjölkproduktion där intensiteten i avkastning per ko är lägre än dagens och istället inriktad på en kombinerad produktion av mjölk och kött. Ekonomisk lönsamhet, utan tillägg av några jordbruksstöd, har beräknats för fem olika eko-logiska typgårdar, fyra med mjölkproduktion och en med dikoproduktion. Typgården ”inten-siv” motsvarar dagens ekologiska produktion framräknad till år 2030 (10 ton mjölk/ko och år), medan typgårdarna ”gräs” producerar på 6, 7 respektive 8 ton mjölk per ko och år med stor andel grovfoder och bete i foderstaterna. Alla ungdjur (utöver rekrytering) föds upp till slakt på gården och gårdens areal motsvaras av djurens behov av grovfoder och spannmål. Produktionskalkyler för olika storlek på naturbetesmarker togs fram i projektet. Mjölkproduktionen visade ett positivt ekonomiskt resultat (utan tillägg av några jordbruks-stöd) för alla typgårdar, medan all köttproduktion gick med förlust. Det sammanlagda netto-resultatet för mjölk och kött var positivt för de två typgårdarna ”intensiv” och ”gräs 8 ton” medan det var negativt för övriga; särskilt för dikogården var resultatet kraftigt negativt. Den ekonomiska lönsamheten påverkades starkt av skiftesstorlek pga. stora skillnader i bruknings-kostnader. För att nå lönsamhet krävs det högre ersättningar för naturbetesmarker och för brukandet av små åker- och betesskiften än vad dagens jordbruksstöd ger. Typgården ”diko”, där naturbetesmarker utgjorde det mesta av betet, skulle t.ex. behöva en ersättning motsva-rande 6000 kronor per hektar för dessa marker för att få lönsamhet. Analysen av olika stödtypers inverkan visar att ett omkretsbaserat ”kantstöd”, istället för dagens arealbaserade, kan gynna brukning av hotade gräsmarker och de ekosystemtjänster de levererar. För att bevara jordbrukets viktiga ekosystemtjänster menar vi att det behövs en diskussion kring hur de totala stödbeloppen till lantbruket fördelas mellan de båda ytterligheterna intensivt odlad åkermark med stora skiften och naturbetesmarker som ofta utgörs av små skiften med höga skötselkostnader per hektar. Leveransen av reglerande och kulturella eko-systemtjänster skiljer sig radikalt åt mellan dessa två ytterligheter av markanvändning. Brister i tillgängligt kunskaps- och dataunderlag för gräsmarker behöver åtgärdas för att säkerställa att beräkningar av ersättningar fördelas rätt mellan olika markanvändning och gynnar gräs-markernas ekosystemtjänster. Summary A large share of Swedish agricultural land is grasslands used for cattle production. These grasslands deliver a range of important ecosystem services and they are crucial for biodiver-sity conservation. The maintenance of grasslands, especially permanent pastures, are threat-ened by a decrease in the number of grazing cattle and lack of profitability for farmers with small-scale fields which leads to land abandonment and regrowth of forest. This is one reason why the environmental objective "A varied agricultural landscape" is not expected to be reached by 2020. According to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency there is a need of stronger incentives to farmers to keep grazing animals. There is also a public willingness to pay for conservation of permanent pastureland. The project has, in dialogue with farmers, analyzed the economy and ecosystem services in grass-based cattle production systems, with focus on grazing. The study includes scenarios for future milk production systems where the intensity of yield per cow is lower than today; instead milk production is focused on a combination of both milk and meat. Economic profitability, without any public support through the EU Farm Policy (CAP), was calculated for five modelled organic cattle farms, four with milk production and one with dedicated beef production. The most intensive dairy farm corresponded to current organic production projected at year 2030 (thus yielding 10 ton of milk/cow and year), while the "grass" farms produce 6, 7 and 8 ton of milk per cow and year respectively in 2030. In these grass scenarios, dairy cows´ feed rations had larger proportion of roughage and pasture. All young cattle (excl. replacement heifers) were bred at the farm for meat production and the acreage of the farm was matched by the animals’ need for pasture, roughage and grain. Cost estimates for pastureland were calculated based on data collected in the project. Milk production showed a positive economic result without public support through CAP, regardless of farm type and milk intensity, while all meat production yielded negative result. The total farm net income for milk and meat was positive for the intensive dairy farm and the modelled grass dairy farm producing 8 ton milk/cow and year, while it was negative for the other farm types. The dedicated beef farm showed a strong negative result. Economic profitability was strongly influenced by field size; the sensitivity analysis found this factor highly important for differences in operating costs. In order to reach profitability in grass-based cattle production, pastureland and small-scale fields need to be better compensated than present distribution of farm income support in the CAP. In order to maintain important ecosystem services in agriculture, a broad discussion is needed on how farm income support should be distributed between different uses of land, with inten-sively farmed cropland on large fields on one side and permanent pastureland on small fields (with high operating costs per hectare) on the other. The delivery of regulating and cultural ecosystem services differs significantly between these two very different types of land use. The project has identified several data gaps regarding grasslands, especially pasture, which needs to be addressed to ensure that cost-based payments and payments for ecosystem services for different land use are based on realistic numbers.
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| 10. |
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| 11. |
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| 12. |
- Cederberg, Christel, 1959, et al.
(författare)
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Jordbrukets ekosystemtjänster. Från koncept till gårdsbaserade indikatorer
- 2016
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Ekosystemtjänster kan definieras som de nyttigheter, i vid bemärkelse, som naturensekosystem ger oss människor. Det stora forskningsprojektet Millennium EcosystemAssessment som initierades av FN är en milstolpe som satte begreppet ekosystemtjänsterpå den politiska agendan på tidigt 2000-tal. Det markerar också startpunkten för en snabbtexpanderande vetenskaplig verksamhet inom området. Syftet med föreliggande rapport äratt beskriva jordbrukets ekosystemtjänster och undersöka vilka existerande förslag påindikatorer för ekosystemtjänster som finns i den vetenskapliga litteraturen och som kanvara användbara på gårdsnivå där besluten om produktion och markanvändning tas.Denna rapport, som baseras på en litteraturgenomgång genomförd i början av 2015, geren kort introduktion till begreppet ekosystemtjänster med utgångspunkt från definitioner ilitteraturen och utvecklingen inom området. Den skiftande terminologin inom området tasupp liksom olika begrepp och steg som är nödvändiga vid en kvantifiering och värderingav ekosystemtjänster. Förståelse om dessa begrepp är viktig vid tolkning av befintligaindikatorer såväl som vid utveckling av nya. Rapporten ger exempel från litteraturenpå indikatorer för ekosystemtjänster och konstaterar att dessa företrädesvis är utveckladeför större skalor som t ex landskap, region eller kontinent. Indikatorer som är framtagnaför ekosystemtjänster på gårdsnivå förekommer mindre ofta i litteraturen.Rapporten diskuterar möjligheter och svårigheter kopplade till att utveckla och användaindikatorer för ekosystemtjänster på gårdsnivå och konstaterar att tillgången på data är enutmaning men att det finns goda möjligheter att ytterligare utveckla indikatorer som kanvara meningsfulla på gården. Vissa ekosystemtjänster har dock större relevans förlandskapsnivån än för gårdsnivån och en utveckling av indikatorer för dessa ekosystemtjänsterutgör en särskild utmaning eftersom systemgränserna är svårdefinierade.Indikatorer för ekosystemtjänster kan dels användas inom gården som underlag för attfölja upp olika åtgärder, dels för att kommunicera kring gårdens produktion av olikaekosystemtjänster till aktörer i produktkedjan eller gentemot myndigheter ochbeslutsfattare. Vid utveckling av indikatorer för ekosystemtjänster i jordbruket behöverindikatorernas syfte, användningsområden och intressenternas behov klargöras ochbeaktas. När ekosystemtjänster bedöms är det viktigt att involvera olika intressenter, inteminst när man behöver bedöma avvägningar mellan olika typer av ekosystemtjänstervilket kan kräva engagemang och beslut på flera olika samhällsnivåer
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| 13. |
- Cederberg, Christel, 1959
(författare)
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Kombinerat mjölk och nötkött-effekter av lågintensiv ekologisk nötkreatursproduktion på markanvändning, miljö och ekosystemtjänster
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of Forage Conference 2017, Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet, Institutionen för växtproduktionsekologi. - 1653-5375. - 9789157694638 ; :Rapport nr 22, s. 102-103
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Här beskrivs två pågående forskningsprojekt som utvärderar framtida miljömässiga och ekonomiska skillnader mellan en nötsektor bestående av gräsbaserad och kombinerad ekologisk mjölk- och köttproduktion och en sektor av konventionell, specialiserad mjölk samt köttproduktion baserade på dikor. Vidare analyseras hur ekonomi och ekosystemtjänster kopplar till olika markanvändning och produktion, samt hur olika miljöersättningar kan designas för att främja produktion som levererar mat i form av mjölk och kött såväl som andra ekosystemtjänster som är viktiga för samhället
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| 14. |
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| 15. |
- Einarsson, Rasmus, 1988, et al.
(författare)
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Estimating the EU biogas potential from manure and crop residues — A spatial analysis
- 2015
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Anaerobic fermentation of agricultural wastes such as crop residues and animal manure, producing biogas, is an example of an advanced biofuel that can contribute to the EU target of a minimum 10% of transport fuels from renewable sources in 2020. Producing biogas from residues has received increasing attention following the debate on the impact conventional biofuel production has on food prices, poverty and land-use change. The EU, as well as major producers of biogas such as Germany and Italy, are currently revising their policy framework to incentivize the sourcing of biogas substrates from waste streams.Given these developments it is important to improve our understanding of how large the potential is for producing biogas and biomethane from agricultural wastes in the EU, how that potential is distributed across member states, and what the main limitations to this potential are. Previous studies on the potential for producing biogas from agricultural wastes in the EU, however, have either been local cases studies that account for a host of detailed economic and technical constraints, an approach that is almost impossible to scale up to the EU level, or top-down assessments of gross substrate potentials that do not account for any of the technical and economic limitations specific to biogas production.In this report we present a spatially explicit approach for estimating the availability of agricultural wastes - crop residues and animal manure - across the EU, which also allows for an analysis of how key economic and technical constraints such as minimum viable plant size, maximum collection distances for substrates, and substrate composition affects the total potential for biogas production.Our main results from this analysis can be summarized as follows:* Total annually available biogas substrates from agricultural wastes in the EU28 amounts to roughly 80 million tonnes of crop residues (dry matter) and 110 million tonnes (dry matter) of animal manure.* In our base case scenario, three quarters of the manure and a fifth of the crop residues are technically and economically exploitable for biogas production, yielding a total biogas potential from agricultural wastes of almost 700 PJ (HHV) per year.* Animal production and arable farming are spatially highly segregated in some parts of the EU28. This leads to some areas having considerable surpluses of either dry, carbon-rich crop residues or nitrogen-rich manures which cannot be fully utilized due to technical constraints on dry matter content and carbon-to-nitrogen ratios. There are, however, potential ways to relax these constraints, for example using dry fermentation technology or adding wet, carbon-rich co-substrates, such as energy crops.* If we assume a larger minimum viable biogas plant size of 8 MW, typical if the biogas is to be upgraded to vehicle fuel quality, the potential decreases by about a quarter. However, the base case potential can still be reached or even surpassed under this constraint if one allows for a somewhat increased collection radius for substrates or if the constraint on maximum dry matter content is relaxed.
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| 16. |
- Einarsson, Rasmus, 1988, et al.
(författare)
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Is the nitrogen footprint fit for purpose? An assessment of models and proposed uses
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Environmental Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0301-4797 .- 1095-8630. ; 240, s. 198-208
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The nitrogen footprint has been proposed as an environmental indicator to quantify and highlight how individuals, organizations, or countries contribute to nitrogen pollution. While some footprint indicators have been successful in raising awareness of environmental pressures among the public and policy-makers, they have also attracted criticism from members of the life cycle assessment (LCA) community who find some footprints confusing and misleading as they measure substance and energy flows without considering their environmental impacts. However, there are also legitimate reasons to defend footprints as a useful class of indicators despite their incompatibility with LCA principles. Here, in light of this previous research and debate, we critically assess models and proposed uses for the nitrogen footprint, and explore options for further development. As the nitrogen footprint merely quantifies gross nitrogen emissions irrespective of time, location, and chemical form, it is a crude proxy of environmental and health impacts compared to other, more sophisticated environmental impact indicators. However, developing the nitrogen footprint toward LCA-compatible impact assessment would imply more uncertainty, more complexity, and more work. Furthermore, we emphasize that impact assessment has an unavoidable subjective dimension that should be recognized in any development toward impact assessment. We argue that the nitrogen footprint in its present form is already fit for some purposes, and therefore further development towards impact assessment may be unnecessary or even undesirable. For some uses it seems more important that the footprint has a clear physical meaning. We conclude that the best way forward for the nitrogen footprint depends crucially on what story it is used to tell.
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| 17. |
- Einarsson, Rasmus, 1988, et al.
(författare)
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Nitrogen flows on organic and conventional dairy farms: a comparison of three indicators
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1385-1314 .- 1573-0867. ; 110:1, s. 25-38
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper analyzes nitrogen (N) flows on organic and conventional dairy farms in Sweden, and compares three indicators for the N pollution associated with the milk: (1) the farm-gate N surplus, (2) the chain N surplus, and (3) the N footprint. We find that, compared to indicators based on N surplus, the N footprint is a more understandable indicator for the N pollution associated with a product. However, the N footprint is not a replacement for the often-used farm-gate N surplus per unit area, since the two indicators give different information. An uncertainty analysis shows that, despite the large dataset, 1566 conventional and 283 organic farms, there is substantial uncertainty in the indicator values, of which a large part is due to possible bias in estimates of biological N fixation (BNF). Hence, although the best estimate is that conventional milk has 10–20% higher indicator values than organic, it is conceivable that improved estimates of BNF will change that conclusion. All three indicators simplify reality by aggregating N flows over time and space, and of different chemical forms. Thus, they hide many complexities with environmental relevance, which means that they can be misleading for decision-makers. This motivates further research on the relation between N surpluses and N footprints, and actual environmental damages.
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| 18. |
- Einarsson, Rasmus, 1988, et al.
(författare)
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The nitrogen footprint - environmentally relevant?
- 2017
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Ingår i: Conference proceedings, Innovative solutions for sustainable management of nitrogen. - 9788793398825 ; , s. 90-
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background and aimsThe nitrogen (N) footprint has been proposed as a tool to highlight and quantify contributions to N-related damages to the environment and to human health [1, 2]. It may succeed in raising awareness of consumers and decision-makers, not least due to its seeming simplicity and its catchy name, familiar from siblings like the ecological, carbon, and water footprints.However, the family of footprints has been called a “minefield” [3] since their definitions have been incoherent and inexact, leaving room for confusion and contradictions. Therefore, a task force of the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative has proposed some common ground rules for footprints [4], for example a set of four criteria for footprints: (1) transparent documentation, (2) accurate terminology, (3) directional consistency, and (4) environmental relevance. Here, we consider how well the N footprint lives up to the latter two of these.MethodThe two criteria are defined as follows [3]. Environmental relevance is that the footprint units have “environmental equivalence”, i.e., that each unit of footprint is considered equally harmful. Directional consistency is when “a smaller value is always preferable to a higher”. The N footprint is defined [1] as “the total amount of Nr [reactive N, all other forms than N2] released to the environment as a result of an entity's resource consumption”. We evaluated how well the N footprint satisifes the two criteria by examining examples from agriculture.The type and amount of damage an Nr molecule causes on its path through the N cascade depends on where, when, and in what chemical form it is released. For example, one product may be heavy in gaseous ammonia (NH3) emissions, and another in leached nitrate (NO3-). Local conditions then determine how the Nr is transformed, deposited, taken up by plants, etc, and in turn how the environment is affected, for example, whether critical loads are exceeded. This illustrates that a given amount of Nr release may cause very different combinations of acidification, eutrophication, climate change, etc. Furthermore, the relative importance of these damages is not set in stone, but ultimately a question of values.Results and conclusionsIn summary, we suggest that the N footprint definition does not guarantee environmental relevance or directional consistency. Two products can have equal footprints but qualitatively different environmental effects. Which product to prefer then depends both on situation-specific details and the values held by the footprint user. We will present examples to illustrate these problems, and discuss possibilities to further develop the N footprint to address them.
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| 19. |
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| 20. |
- Englund, Oskar, 1982, et al.
(författare)
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How to analyse ecosystem services in landscapes—A systematic review
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecological Indicators. - : Elsevier BV. - 1470-160X .- 1872-7034. ; 73, s. 492-504
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ecosystem services (ES) is a significant research topic with diverse modelling and mapping approaches. However, the variety of approaches—along with an inconsistent terminology—cause uncertainties concerning the choice of methods. This paper identifies and qualitatively assesses methods for mapping ES in terrestrial landscapes, based on a systematic review of the scientific literature. It further aims to clarify the associated terminology, in particular the concept of landscape and landscape scale. In total, 347 cases of ES mapping were identified in the reviewed papers. Regulating and maintenance services were most commonly mapped (165), followed by cultural (85), and provisioning services (73). For individual ES, a large variation in number of mapping cases was found. This variation may either reflect the perceived importance of the ES, or that different ES can be more or less easily mapped. Overall, Logical models and Empirical models were most commonly used, followed by Extrapolation, Simulation/Process models, Data integration, and Direct mapping. Only twelve percent of all ES mapping cases were validated with empirical data. The review revealed highly diverging views on the spatial extent of landscapes in studies of ES, and that the term landscape is sometimes used rather arbitrarily.
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| 21. |
- Heimersson, Sara, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Improved life cycle modelling of benefits from sewage sludge anaerobic digestion and land application
- 2017
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Ingår i: Resources, Conservation and Recycling. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-3449 .- 1879-0658. ; 122, s. 126-134
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter are valuable resources in sewage sludge. Life cycle assessment (LCA) can be useful for comparing the potential environmental risks of sludge management strategies to their potential environmental benefits. With growing interest in resource recovery from sludge, there is an increasing need to properly account for the benefits that can be achieved, and to handle the multi functionality issues that then arise in LCAs. So far, both of these aspects have often been handled in a generic and seemingly arbitrary way. The study identified and explored several alternative approaches to handle the multi-functionality in the LCA of a sludge handling system that generates both biogas and a sludge that is used on arable land; either through avoiding allocation by substituting for avoided products or services (e.g. fertilisers and natural gas), or by allocating the impact from the studied system between its functions based on economic terms. The choice of approach strongly influenced the overall LCA-result for the studied system, in particular for some of the studied impact categories. Although an attempt was made to apply economic allocation in this article, it can be concluded that no coherent basis for applying allocation was identified. Substitution was more easily applied, however, the results were highly dependent on the product assumed to be replaced by biogas and the modelling of avoided mineral fertiliser use. The previously neglected benefits related to organic matter provided by the sludge to arable land were potentially as important as the benefits of the nitrogen and phosphorus, although the quantification of such effects will need further refinement, and are only relevant for certain soil conditions. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 22. |
- Nordborg, Maria, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Assessing potential pesticide-related ecotoxicity impacts of food products across different functional units.
- 2016
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Ingår i: Book of Abstracts, 10th International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment of Food.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The study aims to 1) demonstrate and apply a method for assessing the potential freshwater ecotoxicity impacts due to pesticide use in the primary production associated with six food products (chicken fillet, minced pork, minced beef, drinking milk, pea soup and wheat bread), and 2) evaluate how five different functional units (FUs) influence the results. Pesticide emissions were inventoried using an extended, updated and site-specific version of the PestLCI v. 2.0.5 model. In the impact assessment, USEtox v. 2.01 was used. The results show that the choice of FU has little influence on the outcome: four out of five FUs yield the same ranking of the animal-based food products: impact potentials decrease in the order minced pork > chicken fillet > minced beef > milk. The plant-based food products score considerably lower than the animal-based food products, regardless of FU. Notably, impact potentials of beef are lower than of chicken and pork, regardless of FU, contrary to typical carbon footprint and land use results for meat products. We conclude that the choice of FU did not influence the ranking of animal vs. plant-based food products. Also, we conclude that carbon footprints are inadequate proxy indicators of ecotoxicity impacts of food products and that ecotoxicity impacts need to be considered specifically, alongside other important impact categories.
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| 23. |
- Nordborg, Maria, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Challenges in developing regionalized characterization factors in land use impact assessment: impacts on ecosystem services in case studies of animal protein production in Sweden
- 2017
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Ingår i: International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1614-7502 .- 0948-3349. ; 22:3, s. 328-345
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose The UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative has recently developed a guideline framework for land use impact assessment. This article evaluates the feasibility and highlights the challenges of applying a set of methods that adhere to this framework, and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the indicators used in these methods, for the purpose of supporting further methodological development. Methods The methods were tested in two case studies of animal protein production in Sweden: dairy milk and pork. The reference situations were defined as the potential natural vegetation. County-level characterization factors (CFs) were calculated and occupation impacts were assessed for five ecosystem services, using six ecosystem service indicators: carbon flow change, groundwater recharge, mechanical filtration capacity, physicochemical filtration capacity, soil loss, and soil organic carbon, at two geographic scales: county and biome. Strengths and weaknesses of the ecosystem service indicators were identified using an evaluation framework for selected quality characteristics: representativeness, reliability, feasibility, and transparency. Results and discussion Occupation impacts at the two geographic scales, and for the two production cases, differ both in absolute numbers, and – for mechanical and physicochemical filtration capacity – in the ranking of cases. Results at both geographic scales indicate positive effects – or lower negative impacts – in protein production from dairy milk compared to pork, due to grass production on dairy farms, and lower use of land per unit protein. However, some of the observed benefits may be exaggerated due to challenges in adequately representing the reference situations. Most indicators were assigned medium or high degrees of representativeness, feasibility, and transparency, but several were assigned low degrees of reliability, due to the weak scientific basis upon which they were selected, low degrees of accuracy, and insufficient information on how they should be assessed. Conclusions and recommendations Occupation impact results should be interpreted with caution due to challenges in applying the methods and use of indicators with identified weaknesses. The most challenging part of developing regionalized CFs was finding suitable land areas from which to derive representative data to parameterize the reference situations. More research is needed to provide adequate support to Life Cycle Assessment practitioners who wish to calculate regionalized CFs and to address the identified weaknesses.
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| 24. |
- Nordborg, Maria, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Freshwater ecotoxicity impacts from pesticide use in animal and vegetable foods produced in Sweden
- 2017
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 581-582, s. 448-459
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Chemical pesticides are widely used in modern agriculture but their potential negative impacts are seldom considered in environmental assessments of food products. This study aims to assess and compare the potential freshwater ecotoxicity impacts due to pesticide use in the primary production of six food products: chicken fillet, minced pork, minced beef, milk, pea soup, and wheat bread. The assessment is based on a detailed and site-specific inventory of pesticide use in the primary production of the food products, all of which are produced in Sweden. Soybeans, used to produce the animal-based food products, are grown in Brazil. Pesticide emissions to air and surface water were calculated using PestLCI v. 2.0.5. Ecotoxicity impacts were assessed using USEtox v. 2.01, and expressed in relation to five functional units. The results show that the animal-based food products have considerably larger impact potentials than the plant-based food products. In relation to kg pea soup, impact potentials of bread, milk, minced beef, chicken fillet and minced pork are ca. 2, 3, 50, 140 and 170 times larger, respectively. All mass-based functional units yield the same ranking. Notably, chicken fillet and minced pork have larger impacts than minced beef and milk, regardless of functional unit, due to extensive use of pesticides, some with high toxicity, in soybean production. This result stands in sharp contrast to typical carbon footprint and land use results which attribute larger impacts to beef than to chicken and pork. Measures for reducing impacts are discussed. In particular, we show that by substituting soybeans with locally sourced feed crops, the impact potentials of minced pork and chicken fillet are reduced by ca. 70 and 90%, respectively. Brazilian soybean production is heavily reliant on pesticides. We propose that weak legislation, in combination with tropical climate and agronomic practices, explains this situation.
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| 25. |
- Nordborg, Maria, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Modeling potential freshwater ecotoxicity impacts due to pesticide use in biofuel feedstock production - the cases of maize, rapeseed, Salix, soybean, sugarcane and wheat
- 2015
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Ecotoxicity impacts haveseldom been included inLife Cycle Assessments ofbiofuels. This reportdemonstrates an approachto model the potentialfreshwater ecotoxicityimpacts due to pesticideuse, using the PestLCI andUSEtox models. Themethod is applied to eightbiofuel feedstockproduction cases: maize inthe US (two cases),rapeseed and wheat inGermany, soybean (twocases) and sugarcane inBrazil, and Salix inSweden. Potentialfreshwater ecotoxicityimpacts vary by up to 3orders of magnitude withSalix at the lower end andwheat and rapeseed at thehigher end. Potentialmitigation strategiesinclude substitution to lesstoxic pesticides, andreduction of emissions tofreshwater ecosystems,through improvedmanagement, e.g. the useof buffer zones.
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| 26. |
- Nordborg, Maria, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Updated indicators of Swedish national human toxicity and ecotoxicity footprints using USEtox 2.01
- 2017
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Ingår i: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REVIEW. - : Elsevier. - 0195-9255. ; 62, s. 110-114
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In a recent paper, Sorme et al. (Environ. Impact Assess. Rev., 56, 2016), took a first step towards an indicator of a national chemical footprint, and applied it to Sweden. Using USEtox 1.01, they calculated national impact potentials for human toxicity and ecotoxicity. The results showed that zinc dominated impacts, both for human toxicity and ecotoxicity. We calculated updated indicators of the Swedish national human toxicity and ecotoxicity footprint using USEtox 2.01. We also compared impact potentials based on USEtox with the mass of chemical emissions. The two model versions produced relatively consistent results. Zinc is still a major contributor to the human toxicity and ecotoxicity impact potentials when-characterized with USEtox 2.01. The mass-based indicator pinpoints somewhat different substances than the impact-based indicators.
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| 27. |
- Olsson, Lisbeth, 1963, et al.
(författare)
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Jäst skogsavfall blir nylon
- 2017
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Ingår i: Kemivärlden Biotech med Kemisk tidskrift. ; :Nr 4 Juni 2017, s. 15-16
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 28. |
- Persson, Linn, et al.
(författare)
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Indicators for national consumption-based accounting of chemicals
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 215, s. 1-12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Increased chemical use is causing a growing number of environmental problems and chemical products are pervasive in societies within animal and crop-based agriculture, in industrial processes and in households. National environmental targets, as well as the global chemical-related goals in the 2030 Agenda, call for the monitoring of chemical use and emissions. The growing international trade of goods, where use and regulation of chemical inputs vary highly between countries, complicates measurements. This paper addresses these issues by deriving a set of indicators on chemical use and emissions and connect the global impacts to a country's total consumption, here using the case of Sweden. The indicators are based on a hybrid model combining the multi-regional input-output analysis database EXIOBASE with data from the Swedish System of Economic and Environmental Accounts together with a novel set of environmental extensions. A review of databases is conducted and discussed in relation to the driver-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) framework for indicators. Five indicators are calculated, showing the chemical use and emissions connected to consumption, both within a country and abroad. The indicators are: use of hazardous chemical products, use of pesticides, use of antimicrobial veterinary medicines, emissions of hazardous substances, and of the potential toxicity of these emissions. The results show that the impact of Swedish consumption in terms of use and emissions of hazardous substances is largely taking place outside the Swedish borders. Only 10e24% of the pressure from Swedish consumption is shown to occur within Sweden's borders, depending on the indicator. The use of hazardous chemical products and veterinary medicines related to Swedish consumption primarily takes place in other EU countries, whereas the use of pesticides as well as reported emissions of pollutants occur mainly in countries outside the EU. The results highlight the need for improved international accounting of chemical flows, as well as for strengthened policy frameworks to address cross-border impacts of consumption of hazardous chemical products.
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| 29. |
- Persson, Martin, 1976, et al.
(författare)
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Climate metrics and the carbon footprint of livestock products: where's the beef?
- 2015
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Letters. - : IOP Publishing. - 1748-9318 .- 1748-9326. ; 10:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The livestock sector is estimated to account for 15% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 80% of which originate from ruminant animal systems due to high emissions of methane (CH4) from enteric fermentation and manure management. However, recent analyses have argued that the carbon footprint (CF) of ruminant meat and dairy products are substantially reduced if one adopts alternative metrics for comparing emissions of GHGs-e.g., the 100 year global temperature change potential (GTP(100)), instead of the commonly used 100 year global warming potential (GWP(100))-due to a lower valuation of CH4 emissions. This raises the question of which metric to use. Ideally, the choice of metric should be related to a climate policy goal. Here, we argue that basing current GHG metrics solely on temperature impact 100 years into the future is inconsistent with the current global climate goal of limiting warming to 2 degrees C, a limit that is likely to be reached well within 100 years. A reasonable GTP value for CH4, accounting for current projections for when 2 degrees C warming will be reached, is about 18, leading to a current CF of 19 kg CO2-eq. per kilo beef (carcass weight, average European system), 20% lower than if evaluated using GWP(100). Further, we show that an application of the GTP metric consistent with a 2 degrees C climate limit leads to the valuation of CH4 increasing rapidly over time as the temperature ceiling is approached. This means that the CF for beef would rise by around 2.5% per year in the coming decades, surpassing the GWP based footprint in only ten years. Consequently, the impact on the livestock sector of substituting GTPs for GWPs would be modest in the near term, but could potentially be very large in the future due to a much higher (>50%) and rapidly appreciating CF.
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| 30. |
- Steinbach, Nancy, et al.
(författare)
-
Miljöpåverkan från svensk konsumtion - nya indikatorer för uppföljning. Slutrapport för forskningsprojektet PRINCE
- 2018
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- NATURVÅRDSVERKET RAPPORT 6842 Miljöpåverkan från svensk konsumtion - nya indikatorer för uppföljning Sammanfattning Projektet Policy Relevant Indicators for Consumption and Environment (PRINCE) har haft som syfte att analysera potentiell miljöpåverkan kopplad till svensk konsumtion, både i Sverige och utomlands, och att kvantifiera denna med indikatorer. För att kunna producera de föreslagna indikatorerna har projektet utvecklat en ny matematisk metod för att kombinera svenska miljöekonomiska data med en multiregional input-outputmodell, som är relativt lättarbetad och bevarar en flexibilitet som möjliggör ett byte till andra multiregionala modeller om så önskas. Baserat på detta har projektet konstruerat en ny indikatormodell, kallad PRINCE-modellen, och uppskattat en lång rad utsläpp och resursanvändning kopplat till svensk konsumtion med den. Detta inkluderar förutom växthusgasutsläpp och luftföroreningar, en rad naturresurser och utsläpp som tidigare inte har studerats lika mycket, såsom markanvändning, vattenanvändning, användning och utsläpp av kemikalier och växthusgasutsläpp från avskogning. För vissa variabler har projektet tagit fram indikatorer för ett visst år, och för vissa andra har vi producerat tidsserier för åren 2008-2014. För växthusgaser, utsläpp av kväveoxider, svaveldioxid och partiklar har utsläppen från svensk konsumtion minskat under denna tid. Även arealen mark som tagits i anspråk kopplat till den svenska konsumtionen har minskat något under denna tid, medan totala materialflöden ökat. Under denna tidsperiod har förädlingsvärdet, som är ett mått på ekonomisk aktivitet, ökat vilket visar på en absolut frikoppling mellan ekonomisk utveckling och utsläpp av växthusgaser (med reservation för att inga höghöjdseffekter av utsläpp från flyg har ingått i denna studie). Utsläppsminskningen är dock betydligt mindre än den som krävs för att vara i linje med globala överenskommelser om klimatet så frikopplingen har inte varit tillräckligt stor. Det svenska generationsmålet anger bland annat att de svenska miljöproblemen ska lösas utan att orsaka ökade miljö- och hälsoproblem utanför Sverige. För de indikatorer där en tidsserie producerats (växthusgaser, utsläpp av kväveoxider, svaveldioxid och partiklar) har andelen av utsläppen som sker i Sverige respektive utomlands kopplat till den svenska konsumtionen varit relativt oförändrad under den studerade tidsperioden. Då de totala utsläppen minskat så har även utsläppen som skett utomlands under perioden minskat något. Projektet har med indikatorernas hjälp studerat vilka geografiska områden där miljöpåverkan från svensk konsumtion är störst och vilka produktkategorier som ger stort utslag i uppföljningen. Resultaten är något olika för olika typer av miljöpåverkan men produkter från byggsektorn, livsmedel och jordbruksprodukter, samt hushållens direkta utsläpp bland annat från fossila bränslen är kategorier med stor miljöpåverkan. Miljöpåverkan kopplat till svensk konsumtion sker i många olika länder. Förutom i Sverige sker utsläppen bland annat i stora länder som Kina, Ryssland, Tyskland och USA men också i många andra länder som Sverige importerar ifrån. Projektet har också tagit fram en grupp med indikatorer som kan mäta kemikalieanvändningen och utsläpp på en övergripande nivå. De täcker både användning av farliga kemiska produkter och utsläpp av vissa farliga ämnen. Resultaten pekar bland annat på att både användning och utsläpp av farliga kemikalier i stor utsträckning sker utomlands. Till exempel sker endast 22% av användningen av farliga kemikalier och 20% av utsläppen av farliga ämnen, som ingår i indikatorn, för svensk konsumtions räkning inom Sveriges gränser. Kemikalieindikatorerna kräver ett visst fortsatt utvecklingsarbete, exempelvis med framtagande av tidsserier. Vidare har projektet tagit fram nya förslag på hur man kan följa upp miljöpåverkan av fiskkonsumtion beroende på typ av fisk som konsumeras och vilken fångstmetod som använts. Även fiskindikatorerna kräver fortsatt arbete innan de kan läggas till ordinarie uppföljningsprogram. Projektet har också undersökt metoder för att fördjupa analysen av miljöpåverkan av vattenanvändning i produktionen genom att urskilja vilka områden som har särskilda problem med vattenbrist. Detta är inte möjligt att göra med någon större precision i dagsläget. Två olika metoder provades inom projektet, en som använde vattenåtgång för jordbruksprodukter och en som använde data om vattenbrist per land. Slutligen har specialstudier även gjorts av viktiga produktgrupper som mat och dryck, IKT-sektorn (informations- och kommunikationsteknik), fossilbränsleanvändningen i sjöfarten med två olika metoder, samt socioekonomisk påverkan av svensk konsumtion i Kina. Baserat på resultaten har projektet genererat ett antal rekommendationer för hur arbetet med konsumtionsbaserade indikatorer kan drivas vidare: • SCB ändrar den tidigare beräkningsmetoden för att beräkna utsläpp från konsumtion och använder de multiregionala data som finns tillgängliga i EXIOBASE för att beräkna miljöpåverkan från import. • För utsläpp av växthusgaser samt för utsläpp till luft av kväveoxider, svaveldioxid och partiklar: generationsmålet följs upp med den utvecklade PRINCE-modellen som kombinerar svensk miljöekonomisk data med multiplikatorer som beräknas med en multiregional input-outputmodell. • Det internationella arbetet med förbättrad tillgång till harmoniserad miljöstatistik stöttas. • Arbetet med vidareutveckling av indikatorer för användning av naturresurser (som markanvändning och dess koppling till avskogning och biologisk mångfald, vattenanvändning, materialflöden och energi) fortsätter bland annat avseende kopplingen mellan dessa flöden och miljöpåverkan, de svenska miljömålen och de globala hållbarhetsmålen. • Forsknings- och utvecklingsarbetet med kemikalieindikatorerna fortsätter och tidsserier tas fram för att så småningom kunna ta in dem i analysen av generationsmålet. • Metoderna som föreslagits för att bedöma miljöpåverkan från fiskkonsumtion vidareutvecklas. • Metoderna som föreslagits för att beräkna utsläpp från internationella transporter vidareutvecklas.
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| 31. |
- Treu, Hanna, et al.
(författare)
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Carbon footprints and land use of conventional and organic diets in Germany
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-6526. ; 161, s. 127-142
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Organically produced food is often considered more environmentally friendly than conventionally produced food, and Germany is one of the most important and rapidly growing markets for organic food in Europe. However, the carbon footprints and land use of organic diets, and how they compare to conventional diets, have not yet been quantified. Using food consumption data from the German National Nutrition Survey II, and carbon footprint and land-use data from life cycle assessment studies of conventional and organic food products, carbon footprints and land use of conventional and organic diets in Germany were calculated for three consumer categories: men, women and their combined unweighted average. Conventional diets are defined as the average diet of consumers who do not buy organic food products; organic diets are the average diets of consumers whose food purchases include a large share of organic food products. Greenhouse gas emissions associated with land use change are not included. The carbon footprints of the average conventional and organic diets are essentially equal (ca. 1250 CO2-eq cap−1 year−1), while the land use to provide food is ca. 40% greater in the organic diet (ca. 1900 and 2750 m2 of land cap−1 year−1 in the conventional and organic diets, respectively). The average conventional diet contains 45% more meat than the average organic diet, which on the other hand contains 40% more vegetables, fruits, and legumes (combined). Animal-based food products dominate the carbon footprints and land use (ca. 70–75%) in both diets. The organic diet, in particular that of women, is more aligned with health-based dietary guidelines. Diet-related carbon footprints and land use can be reduced by shifting toward diets with less animal-based food products (other measures are also discussed). General conclusions about the overall performance of conventional and organic agriculture are not supported by this study since only carbon footprints and land use were assessed, while other important issues, such as biodiversity, ecotoxicity impacts and animal welfare, were not considered.
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| 32. |
- Trydeman Knudsen, Marie, et al.
(författare)
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Characterization factors for land use impacts on biodiversity in life cycle assessment based on direct measures of plant species richness in European farmland in the ‘Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forest`.
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 580, s. 358-366
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a widely used tool to assess environmental sustainability of products. The LCAshould optimally cover themost important environmental impact categories such as climate change, eutrophicationand biodiversity. However, impacts on biodiversity are seldom included in LCAs due tomethodological limitationsand lack of appropriate characterization factors. When assessing organic agricultural products theomission of biodiversity in LCA is problematic, because organic systems are characterized by higher species richnessat field level compared to the conventional systems. Thus, there is a need for characterization factors to estimateland use impacts on biodiversity in life cycle assessment that are able to distinguish between organic andconventional agricultural land use that can be used to supplement and validate the few currently suggested characterization factors. Based on a unique dataset derived fromfield recording of plant species diversity in farmlandacross six European countries, the present study provides newmidpoint occupation Characterization Factors(CF) expressing the Potentially Disappeared Fraction (PDF) to estimate land use impacts on biodiversity in the‘Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forest’ biome in Europe. The method is based on calculation of plant specieson randomly selected test sites in the biome and enables the calculation of characterization factors that are sensitiveto particular types ofmanagement.While species richness differs between countries, the calculated CFs areable to distinguish between different land use types (pastures (monocotyledons or mixed), arable land andhedges) and management practices (organic or conventional production systems) across countries. The new occupationCFs can be used to supplement or validate the fewcurrent CF's and can be applied in LCAs of agriculturalproducts to assess land use impacts on species richness in the ‘Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forest’ biome.
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| 33. |
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| 34. |
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