Logo des Repositoriums

Auflistung nach Autor:in "Teixeira, Ricardo"

1 - 3 von 3
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    A review of tools for PCF and LCA in the agri-food sector
    (Innovations in Sharing Environmental Observations and Information, 2011) Teixeira, Ricardo; Gustavus, Lori; Himeno, Anne; Pax, Sara
    Today, there are more than 100 tools in the market for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Product Carbon Footprint (PCF). While some of these tools are full LCA/ISO compliant, others propose simplifications. The use of each tool depends on the expert level of target users and the objectives of the analysis. In this paper, we review the LCA/PCF market, from the standpoint of an informed LCA practitioner seeking a tool for use in an agri-food study. Overall 63 tools were reviewed from public information (general description, screenshots, technical documentation) displayed on each tool’s website. Out of these, 11 tools were tested in some capacity (i.e. trial period version, demo version, live demo). To complement this analysis, we conducted an LCA practitioner survey on a sample consisting mainly of well-experienced practitioners of agriculture and food LCAs working in academia and based in Europe. This procedure allowed us to analyze the way practitioners are using LCA/PCF compared to the tools that they are using. We found that full LCA/ISO compliant tools still hold the largest share of the market. Several similar tools are available to more experienced users; however, there is a growing trend for companies with full LCA tools on the market to develop simplified versions that meet other goals. This may be explained by several factors. First, there is a more practical, business-oriented approach to LCA gaining in acceptance. Second, practitioners claim to follow ISO standards in their studies, but they admit that they do not necessarily submit them for peer-review. This may mean that studies are mainly done to gather internal intelligence. In fact, LCA is now being integrated in product development as a proactive tool, instead of being just a post production assessment tool. Third, the main worry in the LCA community is data gathering and the quality of databases, which are also the more time-consuming steps.
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    Databases for agri-food products LCA – How much detail do we need?
    (Innovations in Sharing Environmental Observations and Information, 2011) Teixeira, Ricardo
    Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is being integrated into companies’ day-to-day operations, but companies lacking inhouse LCA expertise, or those with too many LCAs to perform, find the process too time- and resource-intensive. The business-oriented approach to LCA explained in this paper seeks simplification without compromising accuracy. In this paper, we test if simplified data (using standard emission factors measured in kg CO2e per kg of product) can provide accurate, statistically solid results to LCA studies in the agri-food sector. We build a linear statistical model to cluster agri-food records with statistically significantly similar average CO2e emissions. Preliminary results show that data clustered in high-level groups (e.g. wheat, butter) has high variance; however, using more clustering (e.g. butter with herbs and butter without herbs, instead of an overall number for butter), results in statistically significant “average” emission factors for GHG emissions. Even though variability in this sector is particularly high (emissions are highly dependent on production methods, fertilizers used and crop yields) it is possible to obtain “magic numbers” (i.e, statistically significant average CO2e emission factors for product clusters) that represent certain classes of products.
  • Konferenzbeitrag
    Linking PCF, LCA and ecodesign – A practical approach for the food sector
    (Innovations in Sharing Environmental Observations and Information, 2011) Schiesser, Philippe; Teixeira, Ricardo; Himeno, Anne; Southwood, Andrew
    Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for food and agriculture products is becoming more mainstream as more companies adopt and integrate the process. On the one hand, food products have one of the largest shares of carbon emissions. On the other hand, primary production sectors feel the effects of climate change before any others, in price and availability of inputs, in soil and water quality, and in yields. In response, PCF studies are progressively being integrated in companies’ day-to-day activities. Reducing the footprint of products can, however, be costly. First, assessing the impacts of products can be time and resource consuming. For this reason, it’s important to start simple and use screening tools providing insights on hotspots and chain management. In this paper, we discuss how PCF and LCA are being used by companies in the agri-food sector to turn the issue of sustainability around. Instead of being a cost-inducing burden, sustainability can be a profit-driving activity for business. To support this conclusion, we present different improvement scenarios studied for an agri-food company. We show how LCA-oriented changes in ingredients, packaging and energy use in food products can provide companies with win-win improvements to their operations.