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Abstract

The agricultural industry today consumes large amounts of fossil fuels. This study used consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) to analyse two potential energy self-sufficient systems for organic arable farms, based on agricultural residues. The analysis focused on energy balance, resource use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A scenario based on straw was found to require straw harvest from 25% of the farm area: 45% of the total energy produced from the straw was required for energy carrier production and GHG emissions were reduced by 9% compared with a fossil fuel-based reference scenario. In a scenario based on anaerobic digestion of ley, the corresponding figures were 13%, 24% and 35%. The final result was sensitive to assumptions regarding, e.g., soil carbon content and handling of by-products. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords

LCA; Agricultural residues; Energy self-sufficiency; Organic farming

Published in

Bioresource Technology
2011, volume: 102, number: 2, pages: 1425-1432
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCI LTD

SLU Authors

Global goals (SDG)

SDG2 Zero hunger
SDG12 Responsible consumption and production

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science
Bioenergy

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2010.09.068

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/60133