Environmental Impact Assessment of Sustainable Pig Farm via Management of Nutrient and Co-Product Flows in the Farm

Abstract

This study evaluates the environmental impact assessment of sustainable pig farm via management of nutrient and co-product flows in the farm. Manure management and biogas production are among the most promising pathways towards fully utilizing organic waste within a circular bioeconomy as the most environmentally friendly solution mitigating gaseous emissions and producing bioenergy and high-quality bio-fertilizers. The concept of farm management includes rearing pig, growing all the feeds needed, and managing the nutrients and co-product flows in the farm. A consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to examine three scenarios in which all the generated manure is used as fertilizer for barley cultivation and mineral fertilizer is used where necessary (SC1); produced surplus straw is used for thermal energy generation and maize is used for sale, substituting maize biomass in the market (SC2); and all co-products are circulated in a closed system (SC3). The functional unit (FU) was defined as a “farm with 1000 fattening pigs at farm gate”. The analysis showed that heat generation from wheat, barley and legumes straw has a significantly higher positive environmental impact than the use of these cereal straw for biogas production. The partial replacement of mineral fertilizers with digestate has positive environmental effects in terms of abiotic depletion, photochemical oxidation, terrestrial ecotoxicity, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity, human toxicity, and marine aquatic ecotoxic aspects. The amount of digestate generated on a farm is not sufficient to completely eliminate the use of mineral fertilizers for plant fertilization. The generated pig manure (SC1) and digestate (SC2) is only enough for the fertilization of 8.3% of the total cultivated land of farm applying 22.9 t/ha rate.

Environmental Assessment of Pig Manure Treatment Systems through Life Cycle Assessment: A Mini-Review

“…Fertilization and agricultural processes were cited in Studies 3, 6, 7, and 8 as the worst in environmental terms. Although fertilizers derived from pig manure are considered environmentally better than synthetic fertilizers, they can still have varied environmental impacts [26] and their excessive use can intensify greenhouse gas emissions [27].…”

Assessment of the Lithuanian Pig Farming Sector via Prospective Farm Size

“…To summarize the studies mentioned earlier by Lithuanian researchers, it can be stated that the research of Venslauskas et al [31] is connected with the cluster 1 topics, while the research of Jurk ėnait ė and Paparas [29] and Jurk ėnait ė and Syp [30] is linked with cluster 4 topics.…”

“…The European region contributes 68% of all publications. Lithuanian researchers contributed only three publications-Jurkėnaitė and Paparas [29], Jurkėnaitė and Syp [30], and Venslauskas et al [31]. Jurkėnaitė and Paparas's [29] and Jurkėnaitė and Syp's [30] articles investigate pigmeat price transmissions via supply chain.…”

“…The European region contributes 68% of all publications. Lithuanian researchers contributed only three publications-Jurk ėnait ė and Paparas [29], Jurk ėnait ė and Syp [30], and Venslauskas et al [31].…”

“…Jurkėnaitė and Paparas's [29] and Jurkėnaitė and Syp's [30] articles investigate pigmeat price transmissions via supply chain. Venslauskas et al [31] provided three nutrient flow scenarios on a farm to evaluate the environmental impacts of conventional and sustainable pig slurry management practices. However, the functional unit of the presented Jurk ėnait ė and Paparas's [29] and Jurk ėnait ė and Syp's [30] articles investigate pigmeat price transmissions via supply chain.…”