We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Life cycle inventories for the Australian grains sector.
- Authors
Simmons, Aaron T.; Murray, Alexandra; Brock, Philippa M.; Grant, Timothy; Cowie, Annette L.; Eady, Sandra; Sharma, Bharat
- Abstract
Grain production is a key source of food globally and is an important agricultural system for the Australian economy. Environmental impacts such as the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) associated with grain production are well documented and the Australian grains industry has strived to ensure ongoing improvement. To facilitate this improvement, the industry funded the development of life cycle inventories to provide broad geographical coverage. Cradle-to-gate inventories for wheat were developed for each of the grains industry agro-ecological zones, and inventories were developed for minor cereal crops (e.g. barley, sorghum), oilseeds (i.e. canola) and legumes where relevant. Data for inventory development were taken from numerous sources and validated by using data collected through interviews with experts in each agro-ecological zone. Inventory data were also collected so that indicators in addition to global-warming impacts could be assessed. Global warming impacts for wheat production ranged from 193 to 567 kg carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2-e) t–1, and global warming impacts were 597–851, 333–361, 169–285 and 74–672 kg CO2-e t–1 for canola, sorghum, barley and grain-legume production, respectively. Results for eutrophication, freshwater ecotoxicity, land-use and abiotic depletion (fossil-fuel use) are also presented. Production of grains and oilseeds is associated with considerable environmental impacts such as GHG emissions and eutrophication. This research developed life cycle inventories that were used to estimate the climate change, land-use, ecotoxicity, eutrophication and abiotic depletion (fossil fuel) impacts for crop production in 14 regions across Australia. These inventories will be an asset to practitioners and researchers aiming to estimate the impacts of products that use Australian crops as an input.
- Subjects
AUSTRALIA; AGRICULTURAL productivity; INVENTORIES; ALTERNATIVE grains; GRAIN; LEGUMES; GRAIN trade
- Publication
Crop & Pasture Science, 2019, Vol 70, Issue 7, p575
- ISSN
1836-0947
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1071/CP18412