Browsing by Subject "carbon footprint"
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(2022)Current climate change is based on growth of greenhouse gas emissions, which are mainly due to human activities. Activities related to the global food system are responsible for about fourth of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Thereby, the emissions of the food system, which are related to the products that it provides, should be decreased. Greenhouse gas emissions of products can be estimated and communicated by the indicator of carbon footprint, whereas reduced greenhouse gas emissions of the products’ users, resulting from the emission improvements related to the products, can be presented by the carbon handprint. The aim of this master thesis was to calculate the carbon footprint of a Finnish food business’ meat containing food product. In addition, the food product’s meat component was replaced with different meat alternatives in order to assess the carbon handprints, and to compare the carbon footprint and carbon handprint as information providers of climate impacts. The main method used in this thesis was life cycle assessment, while methodology of carbon handprint was used as an additional method. Life cycle assessment was used to assess the carbon footprint, and it was applied according to the ISO standards of 14040 and 14044. Primary data for the study was collected from the Finnish food business through interviews by phone and e-mail, while secondary data was gathered from different sources. The actual calculation process of the carbon footprint and carbon handprints were executed by using Excel. The carbon footprint of the studied food product was found to be 1,20 kgCO2eq/one packaged food product, while the handprints based on the meat alternatives were found to be 0,27-0,39 kgCO2eq/one packaged product. Carbon footprint and handprint were found to be different as communication tools of climate impacts. In addition, they were discovered to have their advantages and limitations depending on the chosen point of view.
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(2010)In this master´s thesis the quantity of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by food supply chain was studied. Also results from life cycle studies related to GHG emissions of bread, flour and some other food material were collected. In the experimental study the carbon footprints (GHG emissions, CO2 equivalents) of wheat and rye breads were calculated. Industrial scale production, Finnish grown wheat and rye, and simplified bread recipes were used as starting points. The life cycle calculations included cultivation, milling and baking phases and also consumer´s action. The amounts of GHG emissions for these phases were obtained from previous studies and the information reported by food enterprises and organizations. The cultivation of wheat and rye were studied separately, but the milling and baking processes were considered similar. The data were collected from two mills and seven bakeries and included details from energy and water consumption and the amount of organic waste and waste water produced. The emissions associated with the production of salt, baker´s yeast, vegetable fat, sugar and packaging material were also included. For consumer´s, there were two scenarios, one included transportation of bread from grocery by car, and 10 % wastage. The other included also toasting of the bread. It was calculated that the carbon footprint of bread was 1400-1500 g of CO2-equivalents/ kg bread. The cultivation´s share was 40 %, the mill´s share was 2 %, the bakery´s share was 45 % and the consumer´s share was 13 %. When the toasting of bread was included, this action alone resulted approximately 180 g more GHG emissions. There was a small difference between the carbon footprint of rye and wheat bread. The difference results mainly from differences in recipes of breads. There are not yet uniform standards to calculate the carbon footprint. Therefore a lot of generalizations and assumptions had to be made in the calculations. Nonetheless the carbon footprint obtained in this study is of the same magnitude as recently obtained in other studies performed in Europe.
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(2021)It is necessary actively seek effective ways to reduce agricultural emissions so that the proportion of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in total national emissions does not increase. The aim of this study was to evaluate with carbon footprint calculators different options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions of dairy production and the carbon footprint of energy-corrected milk. The scenarios included the changes in the dietary concentrate proportion, the proportion of grass in cultivation, the digestibility of roughage and the level of milk production. In addition, the effect of temperature on methane emissions from manure was examined. Data of a dairy farm located in Central Ostrobothnia from year 2020 were utilized in the study. The assessment was carried out by using the carbon footprint calculator developed by the European Commission and the Valio Carbo® environmental calculator. According to the results of both calculators, the effect of the changes in the concentrate proportion in the diet on the carbon footprint of milk was very small. Reducing the proportion of concentrate in the diet reduced total emissions. Reducing the proportion of rapeseed meal in feeding reduced total emissions more than reducing the proportion of barley. Increasing the proportion of grass in cultivation reduced the carbon footprint of milk and the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions with both calculators. According to the European Commission carbon calculator, increasing grass yield and also increasing the proportion of grain in cultivation reduced the carbon footprint of milk and the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions. With Valio Carbo® environmental calculator, increasing the proportion of grain in cultivation increased the carbon footprint of milk and the total emissions. According to European Commission calculator, the total emissions and the carbon footprint of milk decreased when the digestibility of roughage decreased. The increase of milk production level also clearly reduced the carbon footprint of milk with both calculators. However, the change in the milk production level had only a small effect on the amount of emissions produced. Reducing the conversion factor describing the effect of temperature on methane formation from slurry reduced the carbon footprint of milk. The decrease in the conversion factor reduced the emissions from the manure system by 51.3 percentage and reduced the milk carbon footprint from 1.21 to 1.15 kg CO2e/kg ECM. In conclusion, there are many feasible opportunities to reduce the carbon footprint. The most effective ways to reduce total emissions at farm level are to increase the proportion of grass in cultivation and to increase the yield of grass. Raising the milk production level effectively reduces the carbon footprint, but in the future the calculations must take into account that the dry matter intake is higher as the milk yield increases. The main differences between the calculators are currently in the coefficients they use. When comparing the results given by the calculators, it is important to note that the calculation principles cannot fully take into account the possible opposite effects of different factors. The results should be looked critically with a caution that the results given by different calculators are not directly comparable.
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(2022)Background: Food systems and diets affect both human health and the environment. As dietary behaviour adopted in childhood often track to adulthood, the meals served in daycare centres offer a good opportunity for promoting healthy and climate-friendly eating habits in both short- and long-term. Objectives: As part of the FoodStep project, the objectives of this study were to examine compliance with the food-level recommendations, nutrient content per child and climate impacts of the conventional menus in Finnish daycare centers, as well as the potential changes in the compliance with the food-level recommendations, nutrient content per child and climate impacts of the FoodStep menus, modified towards more plant-based diet. Methods: Menus, recipes, and planned portion sizes were used to create hypothetical food diaries, representing the planned foods per child during a full-day daycare. Nutrient calculations were performed for conventional menus and modified FoodStep menus for four Finnish municipalities. Climate impacts of the same meals were calculated at Natural Resources Institute of Finland. Results: In the conventional menus, food-level serving frequency recommendations were not met for several food groups, but the compliance was clearly improved in the modified FoodStep menus in all the municipalities. At nutrient-level, the issues in the two menus were similar in every municipality: compared to the recommendations for daycares, too low proportion of energy was derived from fat and too high from protein. In addition, the planned salt supplies were excessive. The planned supplies of energy and micronutrients fulfilled the recommendations with the only exception of iron in the conventional menu of one municipality. In three of the four municipalities, the FoodStep menu modifications led to markedly reduced climate impacts. Conclusions: More focus in daycare menu planning would be needed to meet both the food- and nutrient-level recommendations. Moderate modifications of the conventional daycare menus – increasing vegetables, fruits, and berries, and sustainable fish species and decreasing meat and dairy products – can improve the compliance with the food-level recommendations and decrease the climate impacts of the menus without negative effects on the nutrient supplies.
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