Articles
Use of the life cycle assessment as a tool to decide on scenarios built for an organic apple orchard
Article number
1457_45
Pages
359 – 364
Language
English
Abstract
Romania is among the top five European nations in apple areas and production.
Orchards are structured and spread across the country, which affects how production is managed and utilized.
Agriculture significantly impacts the environment, necessitating analysis to develop measures that increase agricultural yields while protecting natural resources.
These specificities should be considered across the entire production chain, including materials and processes.
Recent studies confirm that life cycle assessment (LCA) is essential for evaluating climate change and resource efficiency in fruit production systems.
This study aims to evaluate the environmental impacts of organic apples produced in an experimental orchard, identify main impact categories, and extend these findings to the sector level.
Using LCA, the study identifies environmental impacts and supports sustainability initiatives.
The system boundaries include the following key stages: orchard establishment and production, postharvest processing, and transportation.
The functional unit (FU) is 1 kg of fresh apples.
Using dedicated tools and methods to assess environmental impacts and sustainability, the indicators examined included greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, acidification, eutrophication, energy use, and global warming potential (GWP). The primary goal is to reduce environmental impacts, with results guiding future measures to mitigate them.
Orchards are structured and spread across the country, which affects how production is managed and utilized.
Agriculture significantly impacts the environment, necessitating analysis to develop measures that increase agricultural yields while protecting natural resources.
These specificities should be considered across the entire production chain, including materials and processes.
Recent studies confirm that life cycle assessment (LCA) is essential for evaluating climate change and resource efficiency in fruit production systems.
This study aims to evaluate the environmental impacts of organic apples produced in an experimental orchard, identify main impact categories, and extend these findings to the sector level.
Using LCA, the study identifies environmental impacts and supports sustainability initiatives.
The system boundaries include the following key stages: orchard establishment and production, postharvest processing, and transportation.
The functional unit (FU) is 1 kg of fresh apples.
Using dedicated tools and methods to assess environmental impacts and sustainability, the indicators examined included greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, acidification, eutrophication, energy use, and global warming potential (GWP). The primary goal is to reduce environmental impacts, with results guiding future measures to mitigate them.
Publication
Authors
A.C. Butcaru, I.M. Vlad, F. Stănică, G. Fîntîneru, L.A. Bădulescu, C. Mihai
Keywords
global warming potential, greenhouse gas, environmental impact, sustainability
Online Articles (96)