dr. kim stackhouse - what we learned conducting an industry farm to fork life cycle assessment (lca)...
TRANSCRIPT
WHAT WE LEARNED
CONDUCTING AN
INDUSTRY FARM TO
FORK LCA FOR
BEEF, THE DOS &
DON’TS”
Kim Stackhouse, P.h.D
2
• Committed to a journey
• Benchmark research
• Trust
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
3
Important to remember that there are tradeoffs
and food production will result in an impact –
the goal is improvement over time
ZERO IMPACT IS NOT POSSIBLE
4
• Improved over time
• 6 years we have improved 5% Environmental and
social, 7%
• Innovations within the food system
• Crop yields, machinery and irrigation technology,
manure management, precision farming, and
animal performance
• Biogas capture, closed-loop water cooling
systems, waste water recycling, and “right size”
packaging
WHAT DID WE FIND?
5
• Vast definitions of sustainability
• Lack of comments on GHGs, more on animal
welfare, traceability, etc.
• Food waste
WHAT SURPRISED US?
6
8
Eco-Efficiency
Portfolio
LCA
2005 2011
Pre-harvest
USDA-ARS
Post-harvest
BASF
2005 2011
LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
9
ECO-EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIO
10
ENVIRONMENTAL FINGERPRINT
11
kg
mu
nic
ipa
l wa
ste
eq
. /
UB
SOLID WASTE EMISSIONS
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
2005 2011
Consumer
Retail
Case Ready
Harvesting
On Farm
Since 2005 emissions to soil
have been reduced by 7%
12
kg
CO
2 e
/ U
B
GREENHOUSE GASES
0
5
10
15
20
25
2005 2011
Consumer
Retail
Case Ready
Harvesting
On Farm
Since 2005 greenhouse gas emissions
have been reduced by 2%
13
kg
SO
2 e
/ U
B
ACIDIFICATION POTENTIAL
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
2005 2011
Consumer
Retail
Case Ready
Harvesting
On Farm
Since 2005 acidification potential
emissions
have been reduced by 3%
14
gre
y w
ate
r (I
dilu
ted
H2Oe
/ U
B)
WATER EMISSIONS
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
2005 2011
Consumer
Retail
Case Ready
Harvesting
On Farm
Since 2005 emissions to water
have been reduced by 10%
15
no
rma
lize
d a
nd
we
igh
ted
/
UB
OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESSES
AND ACCIDENTS
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
2005 2011
Consumer
Retail
Case Ready
Harvesting
On Farm
Since 2005 occupational illnesses and
accidents have been reduced by 32%
16
L H
2O
/ U
B
WATER USE
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
2005 2011
Consumer
Retail
Case Ready
Harvesting
On Farm
Since 2005 water use
have been reduced by 3%
17
m2a
/ U
B
LAND USE
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
2005 2011
Consumer
Retail
Case Ready
Harvesting
On Farm
Since 2005 land use
has been reduced by 4%
18
MJ/
UB
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
2005 2011
Consumer
Retail
Case Ready
Harvesting
On Farm
Since 2005 energy use has been
reduced by 2%
19
MJ/
UB
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
2005 2011
Non-Renewable
Renewable Non-
Bio-Based
Renewable Bio-
Based
20
• Can’t tell you everything
• Don’t always give you the complete story
• Rules/standards that may not apply to beef
• Beef is COMPLEX
• Grazing, ecosystems, bi-products, embodied
energy
• Biogenic carbon
LCAs
21
• Spend time on social indicators (yet)
• Send surveys first, start with a data set
• Expect an LCA to answer biodiversity
questions
DON’T
22
• Tell our story
• Good science baseline
• Supply chain focus in the right areas for
improvement
BENEFITS BEEF LCA?
23
• Continuous improvement over time
• A journey, NOT a destination
• Have a sustainable product today and we
want a more sustainable product
tomorrow
KEEP IN MIND
THANK [email protected]