Dynamic LCA model for estimating environmental effects of Finnish beef production (FootprintBeef)

摘要

As ruminants cause a large proportion of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other environmental impacts of agriculture, studying the energy and nutrient flows in beef production systems is of high importance. A dynamic system model that integrates animal production, manure production and management, feed cultivation and their environmental impacts was developed to give a holistic view of the system and its hotspots in Finland. Production systems tor both dairy and beef breeds were assessed andproduction intensity scenario studies were conducted for the different systems. With the most adequate production methods and animal material available, the reduction potential of current production is almost 25%. Still, many improvement options cause conflicting changes in different impact categories. For example, minimising the use of N fertilisers not only decreases nitrogen emissions, but also decreases dry matter yield, resulting in demand for a larger area for feed production. This leads to increasing P losses in surface runoff per kg of beef produced and compromises the environmental benefit of reducing N fertilisation. However, some improvement options cause conflicting changes in different impact categories. Thus, it is valuable that scenarios can be built combining multiple improvement options simultaneously.