Replacing fossil energy for organic milk production: potential biomass sources and greenhouse gas emission reductionsShow others and affiliations
2015 (English)In: Journal of Cleaner Production, ISSN 0959-6526, E-ISSN 1879-1786, Vol. 106, p. 400-407Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
There is a growing awareness of the climate impact of agricultural production, not least from cattle farms. Major sources of GHG emissions from milk production are enteric fermentation followed by fossil fuel use and manure/soil management systems. This study analyzes the potential to eliminate fossil fuel use from milk production farms in Sweden, by using residual farm resources of biomass to obtain self-sufficiency in fuel, heat and electricity. The change from a fossil-based energy system to a renewable system based on A) Biogas based on manure and straw and B) Biogas based on manure + RME were analyzed with consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA) methodology. Focus was energy use and GHG emissions and the functional unit was 1 kg of energy-corrected milk (ECM). The results show that organic milk producers can become self-sufficient in energy and reduce total GHG emissions from milk production by 46% in the Biogas system, or 32% in the Biogas + RME system compared to the Fossil system.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2015. Vol. 106, p. 400-407
Keywords [en]
Organic agriculture, Biomass, Biogas, Biodiesel, Life cycle assessment, Methane
National Category
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-2396DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.03.044Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84897364848OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-2396DiVA, id: diva2:959986
Note
Part of special issue: Bridges for a more sustainable future: Joining Environmental Management for Sustainable Universities (EMSU) and the European Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production (ERSCP) conferences
2016-09-072016-09-072025-02-07Bibliographically approved