Life Cycle Assessment Archives

2023 New Zealand

Towards use of life cycle–based indicators to support continuous improvement in the environmental performance of avocado orchards in New Zealand

Authors: Majumdar, Shreyasi; McLaren, Sarah J.

PURPOSE: A life cycle assessment (LCA) study was undertaken for the orchard stage of the NZ avocado value chain, to guide the development of indicators for facilitating continuous improvement in its environmental profile. METHODS: The functional unit (FU) was 1 kg Hass avocados produced in NZ, up to the orchard gate. The baseline model assessed avocados produced in fully productive orchards, using input data collected from 49 orchards across 281 ha in the three main avocado growing regions of New Zealand. In addition, the non-productive and low production years of avocado orchards were assessed using data from four newly established avocado operations spread across 489 ha. Climate change, eutrophication, water use, freshwater ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity results were calculated for each orchard. Finally, national scores were calculated for each impact category from the weighted averages of the individual orchard results in the baseline sample of the three studied regions. RESULTS: There was significant variability between orchards in different input quantities, as well as impact scores. The impact assessment results showed that fuel use and fertiliser/soil conditioner production and use on orchard were consistently the main hotspots for all impact categories except water use, where impacts were generally dominated by indirect water use (irrespective of whether the orchards were irrigated or not). When considering the entire orchard lifespan, the commercially productive stage of the orchard life contributed the most to all impact category results. However, the impacts associated with 1 kg avocados, when allocated based on the total impacts across the orchard lifespan, were 13–26% higher than the baseline results which considered only the commercially productive years of the orchard life. CONCLUSION: The study identified the priority areas for focussed improvement efforts (in particular, fertiliser and fuel use for all impact categories, and agrichemical use for the ecotoxicity impacts). Second, the regional- and national-level impact scores obtained in this study can be used as benchmarks in indicator development to show growers their relative ranking in terms of environmental performance. When using the indicators and benchmarks in a monitoring scheme, consideration should be given to developing separate benchmarks (using area-based functional units) for young orchards. It will also be necessary to develop a better understanding of the reasons for the variability in inputs and impacts so that benchmarks can be tailored to account fairly and equitably for the variability between orchards and regions.

Read full article

2024 South Africa

Life Cycle Assessment of an Avocado: Grown in South Africa-Enjoyed in Europe

Authors: Blaauw, Sheldon A.; Broekman, André; Maina, James W.; Steyn, Wynand J. v. d. M.; Haddad, William A.

"Food production is known to have significant environmental impacts, with the main contributors residing in the farming and transportation life cycle phases. Of the various food products transported around the world, avocados have increasingly gained attention as a high-commodity superfood. Avocados require specific climatic and agricultural conditions for farming, with the most fertile land and conditions located outside Europe. Consequently, most avocados consumed in Europe are imported over vast geographical distances, with little information available to quantify the environmental impacts of this imported superfood. This paper aims to present the most detailed life cycle assessment results of an avocado cultivated, grown and harvested in the Limpopo Province of South Africa and exported to the European market for sale and consumption. A life cycle assessment was developed for the farming, harvesting, handling, packaging, ripening, transportation, and carbon sequestration potential of the avocado, and it was used to conduct a holistic life cycle assessment. Input data was obtained through an 18-month data collection campaign across the relevant stakeholders. A baseline 'business-as-usual' scenario is focused on throughout this study, and scope for optimisation is identified for each life cycle phase where applicable, accompanied by uncertainty analyses. Results show a total carbon input of 904.85 kg CO₂e/tonne. Mitigating this, 521.88 kg CO₂e/tonne is offset, resulting in a net carbon footprint of 382.97 kg CO₂e/tonne with uncertainty ranges of −23.22 to +58.69 kg CO₂e/tonne, normalised to 57.45 g CO₂e/avocado grown in South Africa and sold in Europe. The environmental impacts of the avocado industry under consideration are largely mitigated by the ""nature first"" philosophy of the farming and logistics enterprises, which have made significant investments in reducing emissions. Sensitivity analyses indicate that implementing large-scale renewable energy, using alternative packaging instead of cardboard, and selling avocados unripened could further enable the farming enterprise to achieve Net Zero objectives. These measures could reduce baseline emissions from 382.97 kg CO₂e/tonne to a theoretical −68.54 kg CO₂e/tonne, representing a 117.9% decrease. Although this study does not quantify climate change impacts, qualitative analyses suggest that climate change will have a net negative effect on the avocado industry in South Africa. These regions, typically located in micro-climates, are projected to become wetter and warmer, adversely affecting crop phenology, pest control, road conditions, management complexity, farmer livelihoods, and food security. The study recommends large-scale implementation of the optimisation strategies identified to achieve Net Zero objectives and the development of proactive climate change mitigation strategies to enhance the resilience of avocado supply chains to future stressors. These insights are crucial for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and consumers aiming to promote sustainability in the avocado market."

Read full article

2014 Mexico

Energy balance and greenhouse gas emissions in organic and conventional avocado orchards in Mexico

Authors: Astier, M.; Merlín-Uribe, Y.; Villamil-Echeverri, L.; Garciarreal, A.; Gavito, M.; Masera, O.

There is a worldwide growing awareness of the negative impacts of the increasing fossil fuel reliance and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture, in particular for intensive crop systems. We analyze the energy balances and greenhouse gas emissions from export-oriented avocado orchards in Mexico. Avocado is a very important export crop and one of the main drivers of land-use change in the country. We compared 12 avocado orchards under organic and conventional management during two production

Read full article

2013 Colombia

Resource use and GHG emissions of eight tropical fruitspecies cultivated in Colombia

Authors: Graefe, S.; Tapasco, J.; Gonzalez, A.

The cultivation of high-value fruit species is a profitable agricultural activity in many tropical countries; however, intensive fruit cultivation may depend on high amounts of external inputs. The objective of our study was to quantify and compare the resource use during the cultivation of eight tropical fruit species (Rubus glaucus, Solanum quitoense, Passiflora edulis, Cyphomandra betacea, Physalis peruviana, Ananas comosus, Persea americana and Mangifera indica) commonly cultivated in Colombia.

Read full article

2019 Mexico

Life Cycle Assessment of Three Tropical Fruits (Avocado, Banana, Pineapple)

Authors: Hadjian, P.; Bahmer, T.; Egle, J.

As the concern for global warming rises, many people try to reduce their footprints in different ways. Driving less, trying to reduce the usage of electricity, eating foods with less impacts on the environment are just a few examples. Consumers have great power to make a difference if they are educated to know about the footprints of different types of foods. This life cycle assessment (LCA) study compares three tropical fruits and their impact on the environment. The fruits chosen are avocado, banana

Read full article

2022 New Zealand

Carbon and water footprinting of avocado production in New Zealand

Authors: Majumdar, S.; McLaren, S.; Sorensen, S.; Siebert, B.

"The avocado sector in New Zealand is growing rapidly and is driven particularly by demand in overseas markets. To develop a better understanding of the environmental impacts associated with the New Zealand avocado supply chain, an environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was undertaken of this sector, focusing on climate change and water use.
For the carbon footprint, it was found that fertiliser production and use, and fuel use, dominated the climate change impact category for orchard activities.

Read full article