Net Zero and Resilient Farming, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 2SB, UK.
Net Zero and Resilient Farming, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 2SB, UK.
J Environ Manage. 2022 Sep 15;318:115563. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115563. Epub 2022 Jun 29.
Life cycle assessment is a multidisciplinary framework usually deployed to appraise the sustainability of various product or service supply-chains. Over recent decades, its use in the agri-food sector has risen sharply, and alongside this, a wide range of methodological advances have been generated. Spatial-life cycle assessment, defined in the current document as the interpretation of life cycle assessment results within a geographical nature, has not gone unexplored entirely, yet its rise as a sub-method of life cycle assessment has been rather slow relative to other avenues of research (e.g., including the nutritional sciences within life cycle assessment). With this relative methodological stagnation as a motivating factor, our paper combines a process-based model, the Catchment Systems Model, with various life cycle impact assessments (ReCiPe, Centre for Environmental Studies and Environmental Product Declaration) to propose a simple, yet effective, approach for visualising the technically feasible efficacy of various on-farm intervention strategies. As water quality was the primary focus of this study, interventions reducing acidification and eutrophication potentials of both arable and livestock farm types in the Southeast of England were considered. The study site is an area with a marked range of agricultural practices in terms of intensity. All impacts to acidification potential and eutrophication potential are reported using a functional unit of 1 ha. Percentage changes relative to baseline farm types, i.e., those without any interventions, arising from various mitigation strategies, are mapped using geographical information systems. This approach demonstrates visually how a spatially-orientated life cycle assessment could provide regional-specific information for farmers and policymakers to guide the restoration of certain waterbodies. A combination of multiple mitigation strategies was found to generate the greatest reductions in pollutant losses to water, but in terms of individual interventions, optimising farm-based machinery (acidification potential) and fertiliser application strategies (eutrophication potential) were found to have notable benefits.
生命周期评估是一个多学科框架，通常用于评估各种产品或服务供应链的可持续性。在最近几十年，它在农业食品领域的使用急剧增加，同时也产生了广泛的方法学进展。本文件中定义的空间生命周期评估，即在地理性质内解释生命周期评估结果，并非完全没有探索，但相对于其他研究途径（例如，将营养科学纳入生命周期评估），它作为生命周期评估的一个分支方法的发展速度相当缓慢。由于这种相对的方法学停滞是一个推动因素，我们的论文将基于过程的模型——集水区系统模型，与各种生命周期影响评估（ReCiPe、环境研究中心和环境产品声明）相结合，提出一种简单而有效的方法，用于可视化各种农场干预策略的技术可行效果。由于水质是本研究的主要重点，因此考虑了减少英格兰东南部耕地和畜牧业农场酸化和富营养化潜力的干预措施。研究地点是一个在农业实践强度方面具有明显差异的地区。所有对酸化潜力和富营养化潜力的影响都使用 1 公顷的功能单位进行报告。相对于基线农场类型（即没有任何干预措施的农场类型）的各种缓解策略的百分比变化，使用地理信息系统进行映射。这种方法直观地展示了空间定向生命周期评估如何为农民和政策制定者提供特定于区域的信息，以指导某些水体的恢复。发现多种缓解策略的组合可以最大程度地减少污染物向水中的流失，但就个别干预措施而言，优化农场机械（酸化潜力）和施肥策略（富营养化潜力）被发现具有显著的益处。
