Browsing by Author "Goglio, Pietro"
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Item Open Access Addressing crop interactions within cropping systems in LCA(Springer, 2017-09-08) Goglio, Pietro; Brankatschk, Gerhard; Trydeman Knudsen, Marie; Williams, Adrian G.; Nemecek, ThomasPurpose The focus of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of an agricultural plant product is typically on one crop. However, isolating one crop from the cropping system that it belongs to is often challenging because the crops are often interlinked with the other crops in the cropping system. The main objectives of this discussion article are: i) to discuss the characteristics of cropping systems which might affect the LCA methodology, ii) to discuss the advantages and the disadvantages of the current available methods for the life cycle assessment of cropping systems and iii) to offer a framework to carry out LCA of crops and cropping systems. Methods The definition of cropping systems is provided together with a description of two types of LCA: product LCA and system LCA. The LCA issues related to cropping systems characteristics have been classified as 1) crop interrelationship, 2) crop management and emissions, and 3) functional unit issues. The LCA approaches presented are: Cropping System, Allocation approaches, Crop-by-Crop approach, Combined approaches. The various approaches are described together with their advantages and disadvantages, applicability, comprehensiveness and accuracy. Results and discussion The Cropping System approach is best suited for system LCA. For product LCA, none of the methods is fully exhaustive and accurate. The crop sequence approach takes into consideration cropping systems issues if they happen within the year or season and cannot be applied for intercropping and agroforestry systems. The allocation approaches take into consideration cropping system effects by establishing a mathematical relationship between crops present in the cropping systems. The Model for integrative Life Cycle Assessment in Agriculture (MiLA) approach considers cropping systems issues if they are related to multiproduct and nutrient cycling; while the Crop-by-Crop approach is highly affected by assumptions and considers cropping system issues only if they are related to the analysed crop. Conclusions Each LCA approach presents advantages and disadvantages. For system LCA, the Cropping Systems approach is recommended. For product LCA, environmental burdens should be attributed applying the following hierarchy: 1) attributed to the crop if based on a clear causality; 2) attributed with combined approaches and specific criteria; 3) attributed with allocation approaches and generic criteria. These approaches should be combined with the Cropping System approach.Item Open Access Advances and challenges of life cycle assessment (LCA) of greenhouse gas removal technologies to fight climate changes(Elsevier, 2019-10-14) Goglio, Pietro; Williams, Adrian G.; Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye; Harris, Neil R. P.; Williamson, Phillip C.; Huisingh, Donald; Zhang, Zhe; Tavoni, MassimoSeveral greenhouse gas removal technologies (GGRTs), also called negative emissions technologies (NET) have been proposed to help meet the Paris Climate Agreement targets. However, there are many uncertainties in the estimation of their effective greenhouse gas (GHG) removal potentials, caused by their different levels of technological development. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been proposed as one effective methodology to holistically assess the potential of different GGRT removal approaches but no common framework is currently available for benchmarking and policy development. In this article, challenges for LCA are reviewed and discussed together with some alternative approaches for assessment of GGRTs. In particular, GGRTs pose challenges with regards to the functional unit, the system boundary of the LCA assessment, and the timing of emissions. The need to account within LCA of GGRTs for broader implications which involve environmental impacts, economic, social and political drivers is highlighted. A set of recommendations for LCA of GGRTs are proposed for a better assessment of the GGRTs and better accounting of their carbon removal potentials to meet the targets established within the Paris Agreement.Item Open Access An anticipatory life cycle assessment of the use of biochar from sugarcane residues as a greenhouse gas removal technology(Elsevier, 2021-06-02) Lefebvre, David; Williams, Adrian; Kirk, Guy J. D.; Meersmans, Jeroen; Sohi, Saran; Goglio, Pietro; Smith, PeteGreenhouse gas removal technologies are needed to reach the targets of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement. Among existing technologies, the use of biochar is considered promising, particularly biochar derived from the large quantities of sugarcane residues available in South America and elsewhere. However, the net greenhouse gas removal potential of sugarcane biochar has not been assessed hitherto. We use a scenario-based anticipatory life cycle assessment to investigate the emissions associated with a change from the combustion of sugarcane residues in a combined heat and power plant to the pyrolysis of these residues for biochar production and field application in São Paulo State, Brazil. We define scenarios based on different mean marginal electricity production and biochar production share. The results indicate that emissions from covering the electricity deficit generated by partial combustion of biomass during biochar production is the main emitting process. Overall, the processes associated with biochar production lower the net greenhouse gas benefits of the biochar by around 25%. Our analysis suggests that allocating 100% of the available sugarcane residues to biochar production could sequester 6.3 ± 0.5 t CO2eq ha−1 yr−1 of sugarcane in São Paulo State. Scaled up to the entire State, the practice could lead to the removal of 23% of the total amount of GHGs emitted by the State in 2016.Item Open Access Assessing the environmental impacts of healthier diets. Final report to Defra on project FO0427(2018-09-27) Williams, Adrian; Morris, Joe; Audsley, Eric; Hess, Tim; Goglio, Pietro; Burgess, Paul; Chatterton, Julia; Pearn, Kerry; Mena, Carlos; Whitehead, PeterSummary: oncern about the public health impacts of dietary habits in the UK have led to initiatives to encourage healthier eating, notably in the dietary guidelines represented of the eatwell plate (FSA, 2007) and the Eatwell Guide (NHS, 2016c). A change in UK dietary habits towards healthier eating would result in changes in the type and quantities of food items in the national diet, with implications for agricultural, food and allied industries. More specifically, this could lead to changes in land use and farming practices, both for the UK and its trading partners, with associated effects on greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts. In this context, and sponsored by Defra, this study set out using a series of scenarios to assess the environmental impacts of changing dietary habits and specifically the adoption of healthier eating in the UK, and in broad terms some of the likely social and economic impacts on the agricultural and food sector, through a set of hypothetical scenarios. The main objectives were to: i) determine the consumption of food under possible future food consumption scenarios in the UK, including the eatwell plate; ii) quantify the production of agricultural commodities needed to meet the food needs of each scenario; iii) quantify the environmental impacts of food commodity production and consumption by scenarios, and iv) identify, in broad terms, the possible economic and societal impacts of dietary changes.Item Open Access Assessing the potential of soil carbonation and enhanced weathering through Life Cycle Assessment: a case study for Sao Paulo State, Brazil(Elsevier, 2019-06-11) Lefebvre, David; Goglio, Pietro; Williams, Adrian; Manning, David A. C.; de Azevedo, Antonio Carlos; Bergmann, Magda; Meersmans, Jeroen; Smith, PeteEnhanced silicate rock weathering for long-term carbon dioxide sequestration has considerable potential, but depends on the availability of suitable rocks coupled with proximity to suitable locations for field application. In this paper, we investigate the established mining industry that extracts basaltic rocks for construction from the Paraná Basin, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. Through a Life Cycle Assessment, we determine the balance of carbon dioxide emissions involved in the use of this material, the relative contribution of soil carbonation and enhanced weathering, and the potential carbon dioxide removal of Sao Paulo agricultural land through enhanced weathering of basalt rock. Our results show that enhanced weathering and carbonation respectively emit around 75 and 135 kg carbon dioxide equivalent per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent removed (considering a quarry to field distance of 65 km). We underline transportation as the principal process negatively affecting the practice and uncover a limiting road travel distance from the quarry to the field of 540 ± 65 km for carbonation and 990 ± 116 km for enhanced weathering, above which the emissions offset the potential capture. Regarding Sao Paulo State, the application of crushed basalt at 1 t/ha to all of the State's 12 million hectares of agricultural land could capture around 1.3 to 2.4 Mt carbon dioxide equivalent through carbonation and enhanced weathering, respectively. This study suggests a lower sequestration estimate than previous studies and emphasizes the need to consider all process stages through a Life Cycle Assessment methodology, to provide more reliable estimates of the sequestration potential of greenhouse gas removal technologies.Item Open Access Characterising the biophysical, economic and social impacts of soil carbon sequestration as a greenhouse gas removal technology(Wiley, 2019-09-18) Sykes, Alasdair J.; Macleod, Michael; Eory, Vera; Rees, Robert M.; Payen, Florian; Myrgiotis, Vasilis; Williams, Mathew; Sohi, Saran; Hillier, Jon; Moran, Dominic; Manning, David A. C.; Goglio, Pietro; Seghetta, Michele; Williams, Adrian; Harris, Jim A.; Dondini, Marta; Walton, Jack; House, Joanna; Smith, PeteTo limit warming to well below 2°C, most scenario projections rely on greenhouse gas removal technologies (GGRTs); one such GGRT uses soil carbon sequestration (SCS) in agricultural land. In addition to their role in mitigating climate change, SCS practices play a role in delivering agroecosystem resilience, climate change adaptability, and food security. Environmental heterogeneity and differences in agricultural practices challenge the practical implementation of SCS, and our analysis addresses the associated knowledge gap. Previous assessments have focused on global potentials, but there is a need among policy makers to operationalise SCS. Here, we assess a range of practices already proposed to deliver SCS, and distil these into a subset of specific measures. We provide a multi‐disciplinary summary of the barriers and potential incentives toward practical implementation of these measures. First, we identify specific practices with potential for both a positive impact on SCS at farm level, and an uptake rate compatible with global impact. These focus on: a. optimising crop primary productivity (e.g. nutrient optimisation, pH management, irrigation) b. reducing soil disturbance and managing soil physical properties (e.g. improved rotations, minimum till) c. minimising deliberate removal of C or lateral transport via erosion processes (e.g. support measures, bare fallow reduction) d. addition of C produced outside the system (e.g. organic manure amendments, biochar addition) e. provision of additional C inputs within the cropping system (e.g. agroforestry, cover cropping) We then consider economic and non‐cost barriers and incentives for land managers implementing these measures, along with the potential externalised impacts of implementation. This offers a framework and reference point for holistic assessment of the impacts of SCS. Finally, we summarise and discuss the ability of extant scientific approaches to quantify the technical potential and externalities of SCS measures, and the barriers and incentives to their implementation in global agricultural systems.Item Open Access A comparison of methods to quantify greenhouse gas emissions of cropping systems in LCA(Elsevier, 2017-03-23) Goglio, Pietro; Smith, Ward N.; Grant, B. B.; Desjardins, R. L.; Gao, X.; Hanis, K.; Tenuta, M.; Campbell, C. A.; McConkey, B. G.; Nemecek, Thomas; Burgess, Paul J.; Williams, Adrian G.Carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide are two important greenhouse gases (GHG) released from cropping systems. Their emissions can vary substantially with climate, soil, and crop management. While different methods are available to account for GHG emissions in life cycle assessments (LCA) of crop production, there are no standard procedures. In this study, the objectives were: (i) to compare several methods of estimating CO2 and N2O emissions for a LCA of cropping systems and (ii) to estimate the relative contribution of soil GHG emissions to the overall global warming potential (GWP) using results from a field experiment located in Manitoba, Canada. The methods were: (A) measurements; (B) Tier I and (C) Tier II IPCC (Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change) methodology, (D) a simple carbon model combined with Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) Tier II methodology for soil N2O emissions, and (E) the DNDC (DeNitrification DeComposition) agroecosystem model. The estimated GWPs (−7.2–17 Mg CO2eq ha−1 y−1; −80 to 600 kg CO2eq GJ−1 y−1) were similar to previous results in North America and no statistical difference was found between GWP based on methods D and E and GWP based on observations. The five methods gave estimates of soil CO2 emissions that were not statistically different from each other, whereas for N2O emissions only DNDC estimates were similar to observations. Across crop types, all methods gave comparable CO2 and N2O emission estimates for perennial and legume crops, but only DNDC gave similar results with respect to observations for both annual and cereal crops. Whilst the results should be confirmed for other locations, the agroecosystem model and method D can be used, at certainly one selected site, in place of observations for estimating GHGs in agricultural LCA.Item Open Access Data underpinning research article "Techno-environmental analysis of battery storage for grid level energy services"(Cranfield University, 2020-07-17 09:07) Chowdhury, Jahedul; Ozkan, Nazmiye; Goglio, Pietro; Hu, Yukun; Varga, Liz; McCabe, LeahThis file includes data from the National Grid, UK for electricity supply and demand which was modified according to the research methodology laid out in the paper here (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110018). Also, all the data needed for reproducing figures presented in the journal article are also included in the data file.Item Open Access Development of Crop.LCA, an adaptable screening life cycle assessment tool for agricultural systems: a Canadian scenario assessment(Elsevier, 2017-06-22) Goglio, Pietro; Smith, Ward N.; Worth, Devon E.; Grant, Brian B.; Desjardins, Raymond L.; Chen, Wen; Tenuta, Mario; McConkey, Brian G.; Williams, Adrian; Burgess, PaulThere is an increasing demand for sustainable agricultural production as part of the transition towards a globally sustainable economy. To quantify impacts of agricultural systems on the environment, life cycle assessment (LCA) is ideal because of its holistic approach. Many tools have been developed to conduct LCAs in agriculture, but they are not publicly available, not open-source, and have a limited scope. Here, a new adaptable open-source tool (Crop.LCA) for carrying out LCA of cropping systems is presented and tested in an evaluation study with a scenario assessment of 4 cropping systems using an agroecosystem model (DNDC) to predict soil GHG emissions. The functional units used are hectares (ha) of land and gigajoules (GJ) of harvested energy output, and 4 impact categories were evaluated: cumulative energy demand (CED), 100-year global warming potential (GWP), eutrophication and acidification potential. DNDC was used to simulate 28 years of cropping system dynamics, and the results were used as input in Crop.LCA. Data were aggregated for each 4-year rotation and statistically analyzed. Introduction of legumes into the cropping system reduced CED by 6%, GWP by 23%, and acidification by 19% per ha. These results highlight the ability of Crop.LCA to capture cropping system characteristics in LCA, and the tool constitutes a step forward in increasing the accuracy of LCA of cropping systems as required for bio-economy system assessments. Furthermore, the tool is open-source, highly transparent and has the necessary flexibility to assess agricultural systems.Item Open Access Livestock and climate change: impact of livestock on climate and mitigation strategies(Oxford University Press, 2018-11-12) Grossi, Giampiero; Goglio, Pietro; Vitali, Andrea; Williams, Adrian G.Introduction: According to the United Nations (UN, 2017), the world population increased by approximately 1 billion inhabitants during the last 12 years, reaching nearly 7.6 billion in 2017. Although this growth is slower than 10 years ago (1.24% vs. 1.10% per year), with an average increase of 83 million people annually, global population will reach about 8.6 billion in 2030 and 9.8 billion in 2050. Population growth, urbanization, and income rise in developing countries are the main driver of the increased demand for livestock products (UN, 2017). The livestock sector requires a significant amount of natural resources and is responsible for about 14.5% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (7.1 Gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents for the year 2005; Gerber et al., 2013). Mitigation strategies aimed at reducing emissions of this sector are needed to limit the environmental burden from food production while ensuring a sufficient supply of food for a growing world population. The objectives of this manuscript are to 1) discuss the main greenhouse gas emissions sources from the livestock sector and 2) summarize the best mitigation strategies.Item Open Access Modelling the potential for soil carbon sequestration using biochar from sugarcane residues in Brazil(Nature Publishing Group / Nature Research / Springer Nature, 2020-11-10) Lefebvre, David; Williams, Adrian; Meersmans, Jeroen; Kirk, Guy J. D.; Sohi, Saran; Goglio, Pietro; Smith, PeteSugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) cultivation leaves behind around 20 t ha−1 of biomass residue after harvest and processing. We investigated the potential for sequestering carbon (C) in soil with these residues by partially converting them into biochar (recalcitrant carbon-rich material). First, we modified the RothC model to allow changes in soil C arising from additions of sugarcane-derived biochar. Second, we evaluated the modified model against published field data, and found satisfactory agreement between observed and predicted soil C accumulation. Third, we used the model to explore the potential for soil C sequestration with sugarcane biochar in São Paulo State, Brazil. The results show a potential increase in soil C stocks by 2.35 ± 0.4 t C ha−1 year−1 in sugarcane fields across the State at application rates of 4.2 t biochar ha−1 year−1. Scaling to the total sugarcane area of the State, this would be 50 Mt of CO2 equivalent year−1, which is 31% of the CO2 equivalent emissions attributed to the State in 2016. Future research should (a) further validate the model with field experiments; (b) make a full life cycle assessment of the potential for greenhouse gas mitigation, including additional effects of biochar applications on greenhouse gas balances.Item Open Access Potentials of load-shifting with renewable energy storage: An environmental and economic assessment for the UK(US Association for Energy Econimics, 2018-09-26) Chowdhury, Jahedul Islam; Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye; Goglio, Pietro; Hu, Yukun; Varga, Liz; McCabe, LeahThe Paris Agreement set targets to limit global warming to less than 2°C above the pre-industrial level to significantly reduce the risks and impacts associated with climate change [1]. Globally, the energy supply sector is responsible for 25% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [2]. In addition to ratifying Paris Agreement, the UK government has adopted legally binding 80% emissions reduction target from 1990 levels by 2050 as outlined in Climate Change Act. The decarbonisation of power supply, along with electrification of heat and transport, are highlighted as key elements of this transition by both policy and academic research [3]–[5]. Storage systems, via the multiple services they offer across the electricity supply chain [6] at different operational scales stand to create system-wide benefits, enhanced flexibility and reliability for effective management of the grid [7]. The potential contributions storage systems can make towards minimizing the carbon intensity of UK grid with high levels of renewables is recognised by the government as well [8]. This study aims i) to determine the amount of load shifting that can be achieved by the combination of current renewable energy mainly wind and solar and UK grid level storage, ii) analyse the amount of renewable energy generation and storage (RES) needed to phase out programmable gas power generation during the periods of peak demand and iii) assess their economic and environmental implications. The environmental impacts considered are the life cycle emissions associated with electricity generation from the UK mix and the production, installation and use of batteries. The analysis will be extended to cover the future energy scenarios.Item Open Access Techno-environmental analysis of battery storage for grid level energy services(Elsevier, 2020-06-10) Chowdhury, Jahedul Islam; Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye; Goglio, Pietro; Hu, Yukun; Varga, Liz; McCabe, LeahWith more and more renewable energy sources (RES) going into power grids, the balancing of supply and demand during peak times will be a growing challenge due to the inherent intermittency and unpredictable nature of RES. Grid level batteries can store energy when there is excess generation from wind and solar and discharge it to meet variable peak demand that is currently supplied by combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants in the UK. This paper assesses the potential of battery storage to replace CCGT in responding to variable peak demand for current and future energy scenarios (FES) in the UK from technical and environmental perspectives. Results from technical analysis show that batteries, assuming size is optimised for different supply and demand scenarios proposed by the National Grid, are able to supply 6.04%, 13.5% and 29.1% of the total variable peak demand in 2016, 2020 and 2035, respectively while CCGT plants supply the rest of the demand. Particularly, to phase out CCGT variable generation from the UK grid in 2035, electricity supply from wind and solar needs to increase by 1.33 times their predicted supply in National Grid’s FES. The environmental implications of replacing CCGT by batteries are studied and compared through a simplified life cycle assessment (LCA). Results from LCA studies show that if batteries are used in place of CCGT, it can reduce up to 87% of greenhouse gas emissions and that is an estimated 1.98 MtCO2 eq. for an optimal supply, 29.1%, of variable peak demand in 2035