Work

Evaluating the environmental impact of two beef production systems using life cycle assessment

Year: 2015

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: Beef production has been identified as an important source of environmental impacts. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been applied worldwide to identify key processes/phases for environmental improvement in beef production. In this study, LCA is used to assess the environmental impacts of beef produced in two different production systems, namely extensive and intensive fattening. A “cradle-to-gate” approach is adopted and the functional unit is 1 kg of beef carcass weight at the farm gate. The results show that the environmental “hot spots” are related with feed production and on-farm related emissions in both systems. The results also suggest that the use of extensive production during the fattening stage has lower environmental impacts per kg of carcass. The largest differences between the two systems were found in marine eutrophication category.

Source: Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT)

Authors: Belo, Sara, Dias, Ana Cláudia, Feliciano, Manuel, Sousa, Fernando Ruivo de, Almeida, José Carlos, Trindade, Henrique, Arroja, Luís

Language: English

Topic: Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact

Subfield: Ecology

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Responsible consumption and production, Zero hunger, Climate action

Open Access status: green

Funder: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Awards: G5618159784, G8868700560

OpenAlex ID: W7000317046

FWCI:

Cites:

Cited by: 1

Related to: 10