China’s Tea Industry: Net Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Mitigation Potential

Long Liang,Zhongbai Li,Liyuan Wang,Bin Xie,Bradley G Ridoutt,Minghong Li

doi:10.3390/agriculture11040363

Abstract

Tea is an important cash crop and a beverage that is widely consumed across the world. In China (the largest producer of tea), the industry is growing, and there is a need to understand current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sequestrations and the potential for mitigation so that climate action can be strategically undertaken. Life cycle assessment and carbon footprint methods were used to quantify emissions in tea cultivation and processing in the 16 major producing regions for the year 2017. The system boundary was from cradle to factory gate, which was divided into three subsystems, namely agricultural materials production, tea production and tea processing. Several units of analysis were chosen: the production region (province), the production area (ha) and the product (kg loose tea), etc. Total GHG emissions were 28.75 Mt CO2eq, which were mainly attributable to energy use in tea processing (41%), fertilizer production (31.6%) and soil emissions (26.7%). This equated to 12.0 t CO2eq per ha and 10.8 kg CO2eq per kg processed tea. Production in Hubei, Yunan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Fujian provinces contributed almost two thirds of industry emissions, representing priority areas for strategic action to reduce GHG emissions. At the same time, the total carbon sink amounted to 21.37 MtCO2, representing 74.3% of total GHG emissions. The proportions stored in soil, biomass, and tea production were 49.3%, 30.0%, and 20.7%, respectively. If best recommended management practices for fertilizer application were adopted and biomass was used as a source of energy for tea processing, the GHG emissions reduction potential was 16.66 Mt CO2eq, or 58% of total emissions. The GHG emissions associated with tea production and processing in China appeared high by comparison to other regions of the world. However, considering the carbon sink and emissions reduction potential, the tea industry should be viewed as an important sector for climate action. Moreover, the potential for substantial GHG emissions reduction through the adoption of improved practices seems very realistic. There may also be additional opportunities for GHG emissions reduction through the development of organic tea cultivation systems.

Highlights

This article is an open access articleIn 2018, anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs, including CO2, CH4, N2 O, and fluorinated gases) emissions exceeded 50 billion tons [1]
Vidanagama and Lokupitiya [20], Taulo and Sebitosi [21], and Pelvan and Özilgen [22] explored energy consumption by the tea industry, and the results showed that electricity, diesel and biomass were major energy sources in tea processing, but coal was still used in some regions such as Turkey
Total GHG emissions for the 16 provinces amounted to 907 × 104 t CO2 eq, of which the greatest contributions came from Hubei (156.3 × 104 ton CO2 eq), Guizhou (124.6 × 104 t CO2 eq), Yunnan

Summary

Introduction

In 2018, anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs, including CO2 , CH4 , N2 O, and fluorinated gases) emissions exceeded 50 billion tons [1]. Urgent action is needed to curb greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the most serious potential economic, social and environmental consequences of climate change. Agriculture is an important source of GHG emissions including carbon dioxide (CO2 ), methane (CH4 ) and nitrous oxide distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons. Agricultural soils and cropping systems have potential as carbon sinks due to the ability to absorb carbon dioxide and store carbon. Sustainability is a complex subject with inter-related economic and social warfare aspects in addition to environmental aspects that span climate change, water depletion and soil degradation, among others. Biggs et al [10]

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