Greenhouse Gas Reduction in Off-Season Cucumber Production by Improving Energy Efficiency: A Case Study from Punjab, Pakistan

Ali, Qamar; Khan, Muhammad Tariq Iqbal; Ashfaq, Muhammad

doi:10.15244/pjoes/68179

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…All inputs were calculated per hectare basis. The amount of each input is multiplied by their relevant energy equivalent coefficient [28]. The energy equivalent coefficient showed the amount of generated energy from one unit of input such as 1.96 MJ/h human labor [31,32], 62.7 MJ/h machinery [33], 43.5 MJ/l diesel, 92.1 MJ/kg nitrogen, 13.4 MJ/kg phosphorus, 9.2 MJ/kg potassium [32], 0.3 MJ/tonne manure [34], 102.1 MJ/kg chemicals [35], 1.02 MJ/m 3 water [36,37], 1 MJ/kg onion [19] and tomato [34] seeds and 3.6 MJ/kg potato seeds [38].…”

Section: Data Calculation and Methods Conversionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Life Cycle Assessment of the Cultivation Processes for the Main Vegetable Crops in Southern Egypt

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Due to the increasing concern about climate change and environmental sustainability, the investigation of energy consumption represents a very intriguing and undeniable subject. This study was directed to investigate energy footprints, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and life cycle assessment (LCA) of the main vegetable crops cultivated under open field conditions in southern Egypt. Potato production required the maximum energy amount (112.3 GJ/ha) compared to 76 GJ and 96 GJ for onion and tomato, respectively. Based on energy indices, potato gave (energy ratio > 1; energy productivity > 1; energy profitability > 1; net energy > 0), while onion and tomato production shared the same indicators (energy ratio < 1; energy productivity > 1; energy profitability < 0; net energy < 0). However, GHG emissions generated for producing one ton of potato tubers registered the least amount by 76.0 kg CO2 eq. The same GHG amount was produced by 834 kg of onion bulbs and 940.6 kg of tomato fruits. The emission rates were more a consequence of diesel, followed by inorganic fertilizer and manure. In addition to carbon emissions, every production process causes several other environmental problems, thus a comprehensive analysis of environmental impact categories is required. The openLCA program performed LCA and ten impact categories were considered to transform the inventory data into several indicators. Producing one ton of potato tubers has the least footprint on the environment and the ecosystem, such as global warming (GW)—238.8 kg CO2 eq. t−1; human toxicity (HT)—288.3 kg 1,4-DB eq. t−1; fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity (FAEF)—160.44 kg 1,4-DB eq. t−1); marine aquatic ecotoxicity (MAET)—365,636 kg 1,4-DB eq. t−1); and terrestrial ecotoxicity (TE)—1.18 kg 1,4-DB eq. t−1). The analyses indicated that machinery and diesel fuel had the highest impact on all the studied categories.

show abstract

Section: Data Calculation and Methods Conversionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sample farms were randomly chosen using a stratified random sampling technique. The permissible sample size error was defined as 5% and the sample size was estimated as 120 farmers [27,28].…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%