SALCA Swiss Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment

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Gilbert Hubbard
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1 Federal Department of Economic Affairs FDEA Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon Research Station ART Swiss Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment Thomas Nemecek Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon Research Station ART CH-8046 Zurich, Switzerland October 2013

2 : An integrated concept for agricultural environmental assessment = Swiss Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment consists of the following elements: Database for life cycle inventories for agriculture (in collaboration with ecoinvent) Models for the calculation of direct emissions from field and farm A selection of impact assessment methods (midpoints) Methods for the assessment of impacts on biodiversity and soil quality Calculation tools for agricultural systems (farm, crop) Interpretation scheme for agricultural LCA Communication concept for the environmental management of farms 2

3 Principles of tools: Organisational structure Generic LCA systems to cover all types of farms (farm) or crops (crop) within the validity range wide range of applications applicable for multiple purposes Standardised LCA calculation ensures consistency avoids redundancy Parameterisation inputs and processes defined by variables non-existing inputs and processes set to 0 hundreds to thousands of parameters Modular structure each module has clearly defined interfaces modules can also be used/tested independently complexity can be managed Illustrated by the example of crop 3

4 Levels of analysis of tools Crop (arable crops, permanent crops, grassland): one crop one cropping season Cropping system (crop rotation): several crops, several years Farm (includes also animals and feedstuffs, can have many fields and many crops): one calendar year (crop cycle for arable crops) crop farm 4

5 crop System boundary: 1 crop per growing season By multiple calculations it can represent also crop rotations and permanent crops 140 arable/permanent crops and vegetables covered Valid for Central Europe 5

6 Modular architecture of the -crop V3.1 Production inventory (data entry) Internal Links in EXCEL-sheet LIFE CYCLE INVENTORY (LCI) Production inventory: Common data entry of all parameters for all tools Input data heavy metals Input data (TEAM/SimaPro) Input data -soil quality Input data -erosion Input data -nitrate Input data -field PI transfer file Data transfer by macros LIFE CYCLE IMPACT ASSESSMENT (LCIA) -biodiversity module Data entry Calculations (separate module in Java) -Heavy metals module Calculations (TEAM/SimaPro) LCI Calculations (TEAM/SimaPro) LCIA Calculation -soil quality module Calculations -Erosion module Calculations -Nitrate module Calculations -Field module (other direct emissions) Calculations Transfer LCI data EXCEL EXCEL LCA software Java & EXCEL 6

7 Principles of tools: Software implementation Automated workflow efficient calculation procedure Batch processing mass calculation many farms or crops can be calculated in one run Core components (crop, farm) own programming Peripheral components IT service provider, parametrisable tools Illustrated by the example of farm 7

8 farm System boundary: farm / product group Can also be used for animal production systems Applicable for Swiss conditions Four system levels: Farm Product group (up to 14 product groups) Field Crop Allocation of inputs and outputs to the product groups by a set of allocation rules (economic, area, arable area, livestock units) 8

9 farm: Iterative calculation procedure at several levels Calculation level Module Crop Field Farm / product group erosion nitrate field heavymetals animal 9

10 Automated workflow as used in LCA-FADN AGRO-TECH Data collection prep Data extraction/export Data processing farm Erosion Animal NO3 HM TEAM Field LCA calculation -SQ -BD check Absolute values Comparison to ref. values relative values Evaluation, validation, data export FADN EXCEL Java EXCEL Access 10

11 Farm Trust and accounting office FADN evaluation centre Embedding into existing IT infrastructure Workflow in the project LCA-FADN LCA centre Accountancy- Software Farm management software (AGRO-TECH) Accountancy data Technical data Accountancy- Software (AGRO-TWIN) Accountancy Data prep data extraction farm LCA calculation Plausibility tests LCA data Export ÖB-Stelle check LCA validation and benchmarking FADN database Feedback to farmers Existing FADN accountancy data Synergies FADN LCA-FADN New FADN Life Cycle Assessment 11

12 Conclusions Advantages of generic LCA tools Consistent, standardised calculation of a large number of LCAs More efficient calculation allows to assess variability better Avoids redundancy changes and improvements made only once Flexibility by parameterisation Drawbacks of generic LCA tools Time-consuming development System gets more complex (need to consider all cases) modular structure required Generic LCA tools are required to handle large datasets to assess variability to foster agricultural LCA The advantages of generic LCA tools for agriculture 12

13 Outlook future (IT project) Fundamental revision of the tools Easier, faster, more user friendly data collection Better analysis tools, scientific support Import options for various data sources Easier maintenance 13

The advantages of generic LCA tools for agriculture: examples SALCAcrop and SALCAfarm

Federal Department of Economic Affairs FDEA Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon Research Station ART The advantages of generic LCA tools for agriculture: examples SALCAcrop and SALCAfarm Thomas Nemecek Ruth Freiermuth