Abstract
Feeds contribute highly to environmental impacts of livestock products. Therefore, formulating low-impact feeds requires data on environmental impacts of feed ingredients with consistent perimeters and methodology for life cycle assessment (LCA). We created the ECOALIM dataset of life cycle inventories (LCIs) and associated impacts of feed ingredients used in animal production in France. It provides several perimeters for LCIs (field gate, storage agency gate, plant gate and harbour gate) with homogeneously collected data from French R&D institutes covering the 2005–2012 period. The dataset of environmental impacts is available as a Microsoft® Excel spreadsheet on the ECOALIM website and provides climate change, acidification, eutrophication, non-renewable and total cumulative energy demand, phosphorus demand, and land occupation. LCIs in the ECOALIM dataset are available in the AGRIBALYSE® database in SimaPro® software. The typology performed on the dataset classified the 149 average feed ingredients into categories of low impact (co-products of plant origin and minerals), high impact (feed-use amino acids, fats and vitamins) and intermediate impact (cereals, oilseeds, oil meals and protein crops). Therefore, the ECOALIM dataset can be used by feed manufacturers and LCA practitioners to investigate formulation of low-impact feeds. It also provides data for environmental evaluation of feeds and animal production systems. Included in AGRIBALYSE® database and SimaPro®, the ECOALIM dataset will benefit from their procedures for maintenance and regular updating. Future use can also include environmental labelling of commercial products from livestock production.
Highlights
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stated that livestock farming systems are involved in 14.5% of human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [1]
The objectives of this collaborative work among institutes were to develop a dataset of life cycle inventories (LCIs) and environmental impacts of feed ingredients used for French livestock nutrition
The ECOALIM dataset provides life cycle impacts of feed ingredients used in French livestock production based on a standardised methodology and homogeneous foreground and background data
Summary
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stated that livestock farming systems are involved in 14.5% of human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [1]. ECOALIM: Environmental Dataset for Animal Nutrition decreasing environmental impacts of agricultural production. The FAO argued that no technically or economically viable alternative exists for intensive animal production to feed the world [3]. There is a clear debate on how to provide an adequate supply of nutrients to the world population by 2050, the scientific community agrees on the need to decrease pollutant emissions related to livestock production; it focuses on estimating environmental impacts of livestock production reliably enough to identify mitigation options [4]
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