Assessing agricultural soil acidification and nutrient management in life cycle assessment

Peters, Gregory; Wiedemann, Stephen; Rowley, Hazel V.; Tucker, Robyn W.; Feitz, Andrew; Schulz, Matthias

doi:10.1007/s11367-011-0279-5

Cited by 26 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The effects of grazing and nutrient losses from pastures are reflected, as proposed by Peters et al (2011), in indicators of terrestrial acidification observed in ES and IS systems, albeit differently. Although there is a less soil erosion in the IS due to the control of the animal's permanence in the paddocks and forage supply, there is decrease in soil cover and increased the potential losses of nutrients in the ES from the continuous selective grazing.…”

Section: Terrestrial Acidification and Freshwater Eutrophicationmentioning

confidence: 94%

Life cycle assessment of beef cattle production in two typical grassland systems of southern Brazil

Dick

Silva

Dewes

2015

Journal of Cleaner Production

118

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tThe importance of animal production in the overall context of human activity is undisputed and influences food supply, job security, income producing, as well as landscape and local ecosystems conservation. This relevance enhances the charges by society as the environmental impacts of various activities, especially in relation to ruminant production amid the current problems of climate changes. In this context, we analyzed the main environmental impacts of two typical beef cattle production systems from southern Brazil, namely the extensive system (ES) and the improved system (IS), and identified the components that have the greatest environmental impacts using the life cycle assessment method. The basis of the system construction was a cattle herd that originated from 100 weaned heifers, four weaned calves, and the progeny of these cattle during their productive life (12 years), and the land areas, external inputs, and other natural resources and technologies necessary to the operations. The functional unit was the production of 1 kg of live weight. The values of greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and freshwater depletion in the ES were higher compared with those values obtained for the IS (22.52 and 9.16 kg CO 2 equivalents; 234.78 and 21.03 m 2 a; and 0.217 and 0.0949 m 3 , respectively). These variations were attributed to the permanence time of the animals in each system and to the quality and production of the pastures. The ES presented lower potential impacts than the IS on metal depletion and soil acidification (0.000519 and 0.0536 kg Fe equivalents; and 0.0028 and 0.0038 kg SO 2 equivalents, respectively) mainly due to the pasture improvement practices and the salt supply to the animals. Moreover, the values of freshwater eutrophication and fossil depletion were higher in the ES than in the IS (0.00383 and 0.00219 kg P equivalents and 0.0042 and À0.1255 kg oil equivalents, respectively). While the pasture nutrient loss from runoff and leaching defined the values of eutrophication, the introduction of legumes compensates the use of fossil fuels. The diversity of the results provides a better understanding of the environmental impacts of different production systems and of regional singularities.

show abstract

Section: Terrestrial Acidification and Freshwater Eutrophicationmentioning

confidence: 94%

Life cycle assessment of beef cattle production in two typical grassland systems of southern Brazil

Dick

Silva

Dewes

2015

Journal of Cleaner Production

118

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Supplementation with AA reduced N in the feed and excreta, leading to reduced ammonia emissions. Peters et al (2011) suggested that reducing the leaching of soil N coming from manure might be the best way to balance the N budget without causing acidification. The minor difference in AP between A2 and A3 was due to the reduction in monocalcium phosphate, which is produced from burnt chalk (CaO) and phosphoric acid contributing to AP.…”

Section: Acidification Potentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental impact of using specialty feed ingredients in swine and poultry production: A life cycle assessment1

Kebreab

Liedke²,

Caro

et al. 2016

Journal of Animal Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Livestock production has a variety of environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, acidification, and primary energy consumption. The demand for livestock products is expected to grow substantially, creating even more environmental pressure. The use of specialty feed ingredients (SFI) such as supplemented AA and phytase can reduce nutrient input into the system without compromising productivity and consequently can reduce emissions. The global change impact of using SFI in pig and broiler production systems in Europe and North and South America was studied. A life cycle assessment according to international standards (ISO 14040/44) analyzed contributions from producing SFI and animals to global change. Three different alternatives were analyzed. In addition, partial sensitivity analysis was conducted using 5 scenarios for each region for both production systems. Specialty feed ingredient supplementation in pig and broiler diets reduced greenhouse gas emissions (cradle to farm gate) by 56% and 54% in Europe, 17% and 15% in North America, and 33% and 19% in South America, respectively, compared to an unsupplemented diet. A total of 136 Mt CO 2 equivalent (CO 2 eq) was saved in 2012, rising to 146 Mt CO 2 eq in 2050 on the basis of United Nations population projections. Considerable benefits of supplementation with SFI were apparent in European and South American diets when direct land use change was considered because of the reduced demand for soybean meal. The eutrophication potential of unsupplemented diets was reduced by up to 35% in pig and 49% in broiler production systems compared to supplemented alternatives. The acidification potential of supplemented strategies was reduced by up to 30% in pig and 79% in broiler production systems. The primary energy demand was similar in all alternatives, and this could be an area where the SFI industry can improve. Overall, SFI supplementation substantially reduced the global warming, eutrophication, and acidification potentials in all regions studied.

show abstract

“…Mechanisms for this acidification have been evaluated in many reports (e.g. Khan, ; Shi et al ., ; Peters et al ., ). Guo et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Excessive application of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers induces soil acidification and phosphorus enrichment during vegetable production in Yangtze River Delta, China

Liang

Zhao

et al. 2013

Soil Use and Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Intensive vegetable cultivation has developed very rapidly in China, and investigation of current soil nutrient problems in vegetable fields and their potential environmental risk is important for local soil nutrient management strategies. Three hundred and sixty-six soil samples were collected from greenhouse vegetable fields, open vegetable fields and rice/wheat rotation fields in southern Jiangsu Province, the most intensive vegetable-producing areas in Yangtze River Delta, China, for the analysis of their soil fertility status. Soil acidification and P enrichment were the main problems identified in this area of vegetable production, with about 20 and 17% of the open and greenhouse vegetable field soils, respectively, being extremely acid with soil pH values below 5.0. In contrast, no soils under rice/wheat rotation fields were as acidic. Percentages of sites with Olsen-P concentrations < 90 mg/kg were 61, 85 and 0% for soils growing greenhouse vegetable, field vegetable and rice/ wheat, respectively. The nitrogen (N) surplus for vegetable fields exceeded 170 kg/ha/crop, and the phosphorus (P) surplus exceeded 40 kg/ha/crop. Thus, current vegetable production leads to potential environmental risks of N and P pollution of nearby aquatic bodies. Insufficient supplementation with potassium fertilizers was found in some vegetable fields. Several ameliorative measures are proposed.

show abstract

Assessing agricultural soil acidification and nutrient management in life cycle assessment

Cited by 26 publications

References 38 publications

Life cycle assessment of beef cattle production in two typical grassland systems of southern Brazil

Life cycle assessment of beef cattle production in two typical grassland systems of southern Brazil

Environmental impact of using specialty feed ingredients in swine and poultry production: A life cycle assessment1

Excessive application of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers induces soil acidification and phosphorus enrichment during vegetable production in Yangtze River Delta, China

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About