1
|
Kissinger M, Triky S, Grinhut T, Malka H, Zaban S, Schcolnik T, Adin G. A multi-scale framework for advancing national dairy sector GHG mitigation in Israel. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 926:171705. [PMID: 38494034 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2023] [Revised: 02/22/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
Dairy production systems display a wide range of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission characteristics influenced by factors like geographical location, farm size, herd composition, milk yield, management practices, and existing infrastructure. Effective national GHG mitigation plans for the dairy industry should incorporate strategies that account for the diversity within this system. This paper aims to introduce a multi-scale framework to assess the GHG mitigation potential within the Israeli dairy system. It begins by analyzing the GHG intensity per unit of milk produced by a representative sample of 145 farms (20 % of the national dairy farms). It then extrapolates the data to the regional and national scales. The research reveals an average carbon footprint of 1.18 (ranging from 0.8 to 1.64) kg CO2e per kilogram of milk (FPCM) over the life cycle up to the farm gate. Upon scaling up, the study estimates the annual carbon footprint of the Israeli dairy industry at 1,777,800 t of CO2e. Consequently, this framework highlights areas with significant GHG emissions that require attention and opportunities for national mitigation based on the detailed characteristics of the studied systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Meidad Kissinger
- The Department of Environmental, Geoinformatics and Urban Planning Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.
| | - Shir Triky
- The Department of Environmental, Geoinformatics and Urban Planning Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
| | - Tzafrir Grinhut
- The Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Extension Service, Bayit Dagan, Israel
| | - Hillel Malka
- The Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Extension Service, Bayit Dagan, Israel
| | - Shaul Zaban
- The Department of Environmental Economics and Management, The Hebrew University, Israel
| | - Tal Schcolnik
- The Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Extension Service, Bayit Dagan, Israel
| | - Gaby Adin
- The Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Extension Service, Bayit Dagan, Israel
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Carvalho LS, Willers CD, Soares BB, Nogueira AR, de Almeida Neto JA, Rodrigues LB. Environmental life cycle assessment of cow milk in a conventional semi-intensive Brazilian production system. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2022; 29:21259-21274. [PMID: 34751877 PMCID: PMC8576314 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-17317-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The environmental performance of cow milk produced in a conventional semi-intensive system was assessed using a cradle-to-farm gate attributional life cycle assessment. The impacts of 1 kg FPCM-fat and protein corrected milk were obtained considering six midpoint impact categories from the ReCiPe 2016 method: climate change (CC), terrestrial acidification (TA), freshwater eutrophication (FE), land use (LU), water consumption (WC), and fossil resource scarcity (FRS). The modeling of the product system and calculating the environmental impacts considered the use of SimaPro™ software. Enteric methane and nitrogen emissions and inputs for feeding animals (fertilization for pasture production, use of seed in corn crops, and milk replacer in calves feed) were the main contributors to impacts in milk production in most categories. In addition, the indirect energy use and wastewater generation in milking and milk cooling also were relevant. Literature-based strategies are suggested to mitigate the identified environmental impacts to achieve the best environmental performance without decreasing technical and quality milk production. We emphasize the importance of improving productivity per milk cow, knowing the origin of the supply chain inputs, and using it efficiently to produce animal feeds as the main strategies to improve milk's environmental performance. Changes in allocation methods did not substantially differ in impact categories. Sensitivity analysis foregrounds the consistency of results and conclusions of the current study despite the uncertainties associated with methodological choices, simplifications, suppositions, and the use and adaptation of international databases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laurine Santos Carvalho
- Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia da Bahia-IFBA, Bahia, Seabra/Vitória da Conquista, Brazil
- Environmental Sciences Graduate Program, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia-UESB, Itapetinga, Bahia, Brazil
| | - Camila Daniele Willers
- Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia da Bahia-IFBA, Bahia, Seabra/Vitória da Conquista, Brazil
- Environmental Sciences Graduate Program, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia-UESB, Itapetinga, Bahia, Brazil
| | - Bruna Borges Soares
- Techno-Science and Innovation Centre, Universidade Federal do Sul da Bahia-UFSB, Itabuna, Bahia, Brazil
- Development and Environment Graduate Program, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz-UESC, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil
- Materials and Environment Research Group, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia-UESB, Itapetinga, Bahia, Brazil
| | - Alex Rodrigues Nogueira
- Materials and Environment Research Group, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia-UESB, Itapetinga, Bahia, Brazil
| | - José Adolfo de Almeida Neto
- Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz-UESC, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil
| | - Luciano Brito Rodrigues
- Materials and Environment Research Group, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia-UESB, Itapetinga, Bahia, Brazil.
- Department of Rural and Animal Technology, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia-UESB, BR 415, km 03, Itapetinga, Bahia, 45700-000, Brazil.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Liu K, Wang X, Zhang Z. Assessing urban atmospheric environmental efficiency and factors influencing it in China. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2022; 29:594-608. [PMID: 34341921 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-15692-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/23/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
With rapid urbanization and industrialization in developing countries, cities have become the major sources of air pollution. Studying urban atmospheric environmental efficiency has an important reference value for the prevention and control of air pollution. This study used data from 267 cities in China between 2001 and 2016 to assess the urban atmospheric environmental efficiency using the super-efficiency slacks-based measure model, to test the spatial characteristics of urban atmospheric environmental efficiency using the spatial autocorrelation method, and to identify factors influencing it using the Geodetector. The results are as follows: (1) The atmospheric environmental efficiency of most cities in China is increasing. The average efficiency in the entire country exhibits an upward "wavy" trend. The average urban atmospheric environmental efficiency in Eastern China is the highest, and that in Western China is the lowest. (2) The urban atmospheric environmental efficiency exhibits the characteristic of global spatial autocorrelation, and high-high and low-low are the main types of efficiency in local spatial autocorrelation. (3) Population density, industrialization, and science and technology are the main factors influencing urban atmospheric environmental efficiency.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kai Liu
- College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250358, China.
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Human-Nature and Green Development in Universities of Shandong, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250358, China.
| | - Xiaoyu Wang
- College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250358, China
| | - Zongbin Zhang
- School of Economics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250358, China.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Reinsch T, Loza C, Malisch CS, Vogeler I, Kluß C, Loges R, Taube F. Toward Specialized or Integrated Systems in Northwest Europe: On-Farm Eco-Efficiency of Dairy Farming in Germany. FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2021.614348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Intensive confinement (IC) systems for dairying have become widespread during the last decades. However, potential advantages of alternative systems such as full-grazing (FG) or integrated dairy/cash-crop (IFG) systems with regards to better provision of ecosystem services are widely discussed. To investigate performance and environmental impacts, we compared four prevailing dairy systems using an on-farm research study. The farm types differed in their share of pasture access and quantity of resource inputs: (i) an IC with a high import of supplements and mineral fertilizers; (ii) a semi-confinement (SC) with daytime pasture access during summer and moderate import of supplementary feeds representing the base-line scenario; (iii) a FG based on grazed seeded grass-clover swards with no purchased N-fertilizers and low quantities of supplementary feeds; and (iv) an IFG comparable to FG but based on grass-clover leys integrated in a cash-crop rotation. Results revealed highest milk productivity (16 t energy-corrected-milk (ECM) ha−1) and farm-N-balance (230 kg N ha−1) in IC; however, the highest product carbon footprint (PCF; 1.2 CO2eq kg ECM−1) and highest N-footprint (13 g N kg ECM−1) were found in the baseline system SC. The FG and IFG revealed on average similar forage dry matter yields (10 – 11 t DM ha−1) at similar crude protein and net-energy-lactation ratios per kg DM-intake compared to the IC and SC. The PCF in FG were comparable to IC (0.9 vs. 1.1 kg CO2eq kg ECM−1) but at a lower N-footprint (9 vs. 12 g N kg ECM−1). However, despite low measured N-losses in the FG system, the farm-N-surplus was exceeded by 90 kg N ha−1. A further reduction was only possible in the IFG (50 kg N ha−1) by accounting for a potential N-carry-over from N-rich plant residues to the cash-crop unit, leading to the lowest PCF (0.6 kg CO2eq kg ECM−1) for the IFG, with still moderate milk yield levels (~10,500 kg ECM ha−1). According to this bottom-up approach based on field data, improved integrated grazing systems could provide an important opportunity to increase the ecosystem services from dairy farming, operating with land use efficiencies similar to IC.
Collapse
|