Environmental footprints of soybean production in China

Abstract

As a significant protein source for humans and animals, soybean ( Glycine max ) has experienced a fast growth with the rapid development of population and economy. Despite broad interest in energy consumption and CO 2 emissions generated by soybean production, there are few impact-oriented water footprint assessments of soybean production. This study evaluates the fossil energy, carbon, and water footprints of China’s soybean production so that key environmental impacts can be identified. To provide reliable results for decision-making, uncertainty analysis is conducted based on the Monte Carlo model. Results show that the impact on climate change, ecosystem quality, human health, and resources is 3.33 × 10 3 kg CO 2 eq (GSD 2 = 1.87), 6.18 × 10 −5 Species·yr (GSD 2 = 1.81), 3.26 × 10 −3 Disability-adjusted Life Years (GSD 2 = 1.81), and 81.51 $ (GSD 2 = 2.28), respectively. Freshwater ecotoxicity is the dominant contributor (77.69%) to the ecosystem quality category, while climate change (85.22%) is the dominant contributor to the human health category. Key factors analysis results show that diammonium phosphate and diesel, and on-site emissions, are the major contributors to the overall environmental burden of soybean production. Several policy recommendations are proposed, focusing on trade structure optimization, efficient resource use, and technological improvements. Such policy recommendations provide valuable insights to those decision-makers so that they can prepare appropriate mitigation policies.

A comparative cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of three cotton stalk waste sustainable applications

“…It was concluded that greenhouse gas emissions from bioethanol production utilizing sugar beet were between 20 and 49 g CO 2 eq, and between 20 and 90 g CO 2 from wheat grain. According to a study conducted by Zhang, et al 45 , a study that evaluated fossil energy and carbon footprints of soybean production in China so that key environmental impact can be recognized. The global warming and the terrestrial ecotoxicity of the production process of 1 kg of soybean adhesive were 2.79 kg CO 2 and 6.36 kg 1,4-DCB 6.36, respectively, this explains that the terrestrial ecotoxicity of the wood composite production scenario (2.538 Kg1,4-DCB-eq), was higher than that of bioethanol (0.734 Kg1,4-DCB-eq) and biogas production scenarios (0.768 Kg1,4-DCB-eq).…”

Dynamic effects of black soldier fly larvae meal on the cecal bacterial microbiota and prevalence of selected antimicrobial resistant determinants in broiler chickens

“…SBM is routinely added to poultry feed as the main source of crude protein and amino acids [ 3 ]. However, soybean production and its supply chain are associated with negative environmental consequences, including deforestation, biodiversity loss, pesticide use, soil depletion, water usage, and greenhouse gas emissions [ 4 – 8 ]. In addition to these environmental costs, there is also a growing global health concern regarding in-feed antibiotic use in poultry diets for growth promotion and prophylactic purposes, as the inappropriate use of antibiotics has been linked to promoting the emergence and dissemination of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) that threaten modern medicine [ 9 – 11 ].…”