European Tomatoes - Comparing global warming potential, energy use and water consumption from growing tomatoes in Sweden, the Netherlands and the Canary Islands using life cycle assessment

Abstract

Tomatoes consumed in Sweden originate mainly from Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands, and it is not obvious which tomatoes are best from an environmental point of view. This MSc thesis report use the framework of Life cycle assessment to compare global warming potential and energy use when growing tomatoes in the different countries, including transport to and storage and retail in Sweden. Data was collected from two growers in Sweden, one in the Canary Islands and one in the Netherlands. The results show that Swedish tomatoes emits the least amount of greenhouse gases, as long as they are heated with bio fuels, and that Spanish tomatoes use the least amount of energy, per kg tomatoes sold in Stockholm, Sweden.