Energy sustainability of Ecuadorian cacao export and its contribution to climate change. A case study through product life cycle assessment

Neira, David Pérez

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.11.003

Cited by 38 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…There are some authors that analyze specifically the raw material cultivation in different areas: Ghana (Ntiamoah and Afrane 2008), Colombia (Ortiz et al 2014) or Indonesia (Utomo et al 2016). Others also consider the manufacturing (Büsser and Jungbluth 2009;Pérez Neira 2016), or the transport and the transformation neglecting the cultivation step (Vesce et al 2016). Only packaging material can be also studied specifically (Allione et al 2011), whereas few works take into account the whole life cycle (Miah et al 2018;Recanati et al 2018;Konstantas et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental analysis along the supply chain of dark, milk and white chocolate: a life cycle comparison

Bianchi

Moreschi

Gallo

et al. 2020

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Purpose Environmental impact evaluation in the food sector is a key topic, due to both stricter legislations and higher consumer awareness towards sustainable choices. The case of chocolate is a remarkable example, owing to the increasing demand and the complex production process from cocoa beans to final bars. The present study aims at assessing the environmental impacts related to three chocolate types (dark, milk and white) through life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. Methods Consistent with food Product Category Rules (PCRs) and previous LCA literature, the study follows a cradle to grave approach. Among different raw material productions, it focuses above all on cocoa farming assuming three possible producer countries (i.e. Ghana, Ecuador and Indonesia), so that the influence of specific weather conditions and soil properties is underlined. Since the manufacturing step is supposed in the North Italian factory, different transport distances are also taken into account. Moreover, the work focuses on the possible use of several packaging materials and following disposal issues. In view of the open discussion about the most suitable functional unit in food sector, mass and energy amount approaches are compared. Results and discussion Along chocolate supply chain, different phases are evaluated according to LCA methodology. Among analyzed producer countries: Indonesia monoculture case results to be the most impacting situation, due to an intensive use of agrochemicals; pesticides give a wide contribution in Ecuador, whereas Ghana is penalized by the highest water consumption. The transport of beans to manufacturing plant influences mostly the GWP, owing to long travelled distances. Considering the whole production process, cocoa derivatives and milk powder are the main contributors to every impact category. From packaging point of view, the best solution is the use of a single polypropylene layer. A sensitivity analysis is performed to check the validity of different allocation procedures: both mass and energy content allocations lead to similar results. Conclusions Through LCA methodology, the life cycle of dark, milk and white chocolate is compared. The study assesses different potential environmental impacts, assuming mass and energy content as possible functional units and references for allocation procedures. For all combinations of functional units and allocation rules, dark chocolate globally presents the best environmental performance, whereas the other two types have similar environmental impacts.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental analysis along the supply chain of dark, milk and white chocolate: a life cycle comparison

Bianchi

Moreschi

Gallo

et al. 2020

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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“…Worldwide, LCA methodology has been used to evaluate a variety of policy scenarios that cover the adoption of transportation initiatives (Vedrenne, Pérez, Lumbreras, & Rodríguez, 2014), solid waste management systems (Liamsanguan & Gheewala, 2008;Wanichpongpan & Gheewala, 2007), and Ecolabelling Regulations and Green Product Procurement (European Commission, 2015;Schau & Fet, 2008). In Latin America, LCA studies have been mostly focused on the agricultural sector aiming to provide a comprehensive picture of the environmental impacts of that sector (Bojacá, Wyckhuys, & Schrevens, 2014;Perez Neira, 2016;Quispe, Vázquez-Rowe, Kahhat, Arena, & Suppen, 2017;Vazquez-Rowe, Kahhat, Quispe, & Bentín, 2016).…”

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confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment and socioeconomic evaluation of the illicit crop substitution policy in Colombia

Barrera‐Ramírez

Prado²,

Solheim

2019

J of Industrial Ecology

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The peace treaty of Colombia contemplates a crop substitution policy seeking to replace coca crops with legal alternatives. Although crop substitution diverts funding of illegal activities and provides an income to farmers, it is important to understand how the change to a variety of legal crops (coffee, sugarcane, and cacao) affects the income of farmers, and whether there is an environmental advantage of a crop over another. This study applies life cycle assessment (LCA) coupled with socioeconomic indicators to two regions, Putumayo and Catatumbo, over different policy scenarios. LCA results show that a policy success does not ensure a lower environmental impact across the board. Legal crops consume less fuel than coca crops, which reduce fuel‐related impacts, but the use of fertilizer in coffee and pesticide use in sugarcane increase toxicity‐related impacts. The results, however, are affected by a lack of characterization factors of agrochemicals, but once these are replaced by proxies, coca crops appear to have greater toxicity impacts. In terms of individual crops, cacao crops have a lower environmental impact than coffee and sugarcane, but it also takes the longest to harvest, which may pose a financial risk to farmers. The socioeconomic analysis reveals that for Catatumbo farmers, a policy success reduces the income, whereas for Putumayo farmers, a policy success increases income and job generation. In general, it was observed that the dynamics of the illegal supply chain vary for each region, influencing the environmental and socioeconomic outcome of the substitution policy.

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“…Income increase via productivity compensates for increments on the production costs associated with technified management. Neira (2016) showed how the increment of productivity does not compensate the increase in the use of non-renewable energy, causing a loss of efficiency in comparison with traditional managements. As proved by the data gathered for this work, this result may also be applied to the semi-intensification strategy of cacao production.…”

Section: Energy and Monetary Input Output And Indicators Of Cacaomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even though cacao, in Ecuador, is one of the most important crops in terms of territory (9 % of the cultivated area), economy (0.56 % of the GDP), and employment (4 % of the active population) (ProEcuador 2013), energy and techno-economic analyses at a farm level are rare. Pérez Neira (2016) analyzed the life cycle of cacao/chocolate in terms of energy differentiating the impact of cacao traditional and technified productions. Pino et al (2013) studied the economic profitability of cacao in the province of Guayas and provided aggregated values by municipality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy efficiency of cacao agroforestry under traditional and organic management

Neira

2016

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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The industrialization of agriculture has led to lower efficiency and greater dependence on non-renewable energy. Organic agriculture and traditional agriculture are thus potential alternatives. Cacao is a major crop in Ecuador. However, information on the energy efficiency and economic performance of Ecuadorian cacao in relation to the production management system is rare and basically inexistent in the case of organic management. Therefore, we studied here the energy and economic performance of the cacao production in the province of Guayas, Ecuador. Four types of management were identified in the province: traditional, semi-intensive, technified, and organic. On the basis of primary data, inputoutput and energy efficiency were estimated, with special attention given to the use of non-renewable energy and the monetary profitability of each management system. The total energy inputs of the different forms of management have been estimated at 3.04 for traditional, 12.47 for semi-intensive, 24.53 for technified, and 9.77 GJ ha −1 for organic. Irrigation, fertilization, and crop protection are the most important inputs for all four types of management, ranging between 85.7 and 97.7 %. The non-renewable external energy return on the investment (EROI) has been estimated at 1:2.93 for traditional, 1:1.85 for semi-intensive, 1:1.47 for technified, and 1:3.07 for organic. The different forms of management earned a net margin of 484 for traditional, 1051 for semi-intensive, 2323 for technified, and $1565 ha −1 for organic. Our findings show that the intensification of cacao production increases the net margin per hectare in relation to traditional cacao production, while it significantly reduces its non-renewable external EROI. Wellmanaged organic farms allow improving non-renewable external EROI by comparison with technified or semi-intensive management strategies, and it also improves the economic performance in relation to semi-intensive systems.

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Energy sustainability of Ecuadorian cacao export and its contribution to climate change. A case study through product life cycle assessment

Cited by 38 publications

References 18 publications

Environmental analysis along the supply chain of dark, milk and white chocolate: a life cycle comparison

Environmental analysis along the supply chain of dark, milk and white chocolate: a life cycle comparison

Life cycle assessment and socioeconomic evaluation of the illicit crop substitution policy in Colombia

Energy efficiency of cacao agroforestry under traditional and organic management

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