UNSW Water Research Centre, The University of New South Wales, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Environ Sci Technol. 2010 Feb 15;44(4):1327-32. doi: 10.1021/es901131e.
Greenhouse gas emissions from beef production are a significant part of Australia's total contribution to climate change. For the first time an environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) hybridizing detailed on-site process modeling and input-output analysis is used to describe Australian red meat production. In this paper we report the carbon footprint and total energy consumption of three supply chains in three different regions in Australia over two years. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy use data are compared to those from international studies on red meat production, and the Australian results are either average or below average. The increasing proportion of lot-fed beef in Australia is favorable, since this production system generates lower total GHG emissions than grass-fed production; the additional effort in producing and transporting feeds is effectively offset by the increased efficiency of meat production in feedlots. In addition to these two common LCA indicators, in this paper we also quantify solid waste generation and a soil erosion indicator on a common basis.
牛肉生产产生的温室气体排放是澳大利亚对气候变化总贡献的重要组成部分。本文首次使用结合详细现场过程建模和投入产出分析的环境生命周期评估（LCA）方法来描述澳大利亚的红肉生产。我们报告了在两年内澳大利亚三个不同地区的三个供应链的碳足迹和总能源消耗。将温室气体（GHG）排放量和能源使用数据与国际红肉生产研究进行比较，澳大利亚的结果处于平均水平或低于平均水平。澳大利亚越来越多的采用舍饲牛肉生产是有利的，因为这种生产系统产生的温室气体总排放量低于草饲生产；在生产和运输饲料方面的额外投入通过饲养场中肉类生产效率的提高得到有效弥补。除了这两个常见的 LCA 指标外，本文还在一个共同的基础上量化了固体废物产生和土壤侵蚀指标。
