Assessment of an LCIA method for evaluating biodiversity impact from food production An LCA case study of pork
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Industrial ecology (MPTSE), MSc
Publicerad
2022
Författare
Häggström, Maja
Harisson Lundmark, Viktor
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
The global loss of biodiversity is mainly driven by land use and land use change due to e.g., agriculture and
food production. This study presents a case study of pork that assesses the applicability of the biodiversity
life cycle impact assessment method (LCIA) developed by Chaudhary & Brooks (2018). The purpose of
the study was to increase the understanding of the method in three aspects: (1) aspects of biodiversity
captured in relation to food production, (2) the potential inclusion of land transformational impact, and (3)
the spatial resolution. The outcome of the study was intended to provide valuable insights to the
development of a database for biodiversity impact from food carried out by RISE (Research Institutes of
Sweden), a database to be used for consumer communication purposes.
The case study consists of a life cycle assessment (LCA) of three pork production systems with different
feed compositions. The functional unit was 1 kg of edible pork meat and covered production phases from
cradle to farm-gate. Considerable weight was put on the inventory data collection for land occupation and
land transformation flows, where modelling the feed composition and the feed crop cultivation was an
essential part. Several methods to assess biodiversity impact in LCA are being developed, in this study one
of the most promising methods was selected. What aspects of biodiversity the method capture in relation
to food production, was assessed through mapping drivers of biodiversity loss and characteristics of
biodiversity to illustrate what parts of these were covered. The evaluation of which spatial resolution of
the method to be preferred and how to allocate the impacts from land transformation was assessed through
applying different characterization factors to demonstrate the variation in result depending on
methodological choices. In some respects, the studied method fails to cover the complexity of biodiversity
loss, as it only assesses species loss and how it is impacted by land use interventions, but no other indicator
or driver. Yet, the method was found relatively easy to apply and could be used when comparing products
of similar character for indicating land use impacts on species. For cropland, three intensity levels are
included. However, the method is not developed enough to show differences in a comparative LCA on crops
cultivated under different agricultural systems (e.g., differences between organic and conventional).
When applying the higher spatial resolution provided by the method, ecoregional approach, the results
differ from when applying a higher resolution using the country approach, although not by much. Since
applying high spatial resolution was found to be more complicated and time consuming, one should
consider focusing on other parameters that might have a larger influence, such as assessing a detailed feed
composition. The method is not yet developed enough to include several agricultural land use types nor
taxa groups (e.g., insects and microorganisms), two important factors potentially providing a larger
difference in result between products of different character. Altogether, the lower spatial resolution might in
many cases be good enough.
A harmonized way of applying the characterization factors for land transformation was not found.
However, when included using the approach of this study, the impact from land transformation had a large
contribution to the total biodiversity damage. Whether to include land transformation is suggested to be
decided by if the food products under study contributes or have contributed to land use change, and not
through system delimitations.
Altogether, despite highlighted drawbacks of the method, it serves a purpose by capturing potential
differences in biodiversity damage between food products. One should however keep in mind that the
method accounts for one only driver of biodiversity decline and one biodiversity indicator.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
biodiversity , life cycle assessment , life cycle impact assessment , land use , land use change