IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i18p8024-d1477692.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluation of Environmental Impacts in Legume Crops: A Case Study of PGI White Bean Production in Southern Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Reina Pérez

    (Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, C/ Julián Clavería s/n, 33071 Oviedo, Spain)

  • Cecilia Fernández

    (Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, C/ Julián Clavería s/n, 33071 Oviedo, Spain)

  • Amanda Laca

    (Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, C/ Julián Clavería s/n, 33071 Oviedo, Spain)

  • Adriana Laca

    (Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, C/ Julián Clavería s/n, 33071 Oviedo, Spain)

Abstract

A small-scale organic crop producing the protected geographical indication (PGI) cultivar “Faba Asturiana”, located in northern Spain, was considered to be a case study for analyzing the environmental impacts associated with the production of this legume ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.). The life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was employed for the analysis with a “cradle-to-gate” perspective, with 1 kg of dry beans as the functional unit. The results demonstrated that the main contributor to the environmental impacts was electricity consumption (with percentages above 75% for ionizing radiation, freshwater eutrophication, terrestrial ecotoxicity, and non-carcinogenic toxicity). A carbon footprint (CF) of 1.20 kg CO 2 eq per kg of dry beans was obtained (around 1000 kg CO 2 /ha·y). Electricity consumption was the major contributor to the CF, followed by atmospheric emissions from waste incineration and diesel use. Furthermore, some environmental improvements were suggested, and three alternative scenarios were investigated. In conclusion, it can be established that the CF of the studied PGI bean is within the range reported by other researchers for leguminous crops. The easiest way to reduce the CF for this particular crop would be to compost the organic waste instead of burning it. Additionally, the most effective strategy would be to reduce energy consumption or use renewable energy sources. For example, if the energy supply were obtained through in situ solar production, the CF could be reduced by more than 40%.

Suggested Citation

  • Reina Pérez & Cecilia Fernández & Amanda Laca & Adriana Laca, 2024. "Evaluation of Environmental Impacts in Legume Crops: A Case Study of PGI White Bean Production in Southern Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:18:p:8024-:d:1477692
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/8024/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/8024/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Julien Bongono & Birol Elevli & Bertrand Laratte, 2020. "Functional Unit for Impact Assessment in the Mining Sector—Part 1," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-12, November.
    2. Jianling Fan & Cuiying Liu & Jianan Xie & Lu Han & Chuanhong Zhang & Dengwei Guo & Junzhao Niu & Hao Jin & Brian G. McConkey, 2022. "Life Cycle Assessment on Agricultural Production: A Mini Review on Methodology, Application, and Challenges," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-16, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Inês Costa-Pereira & Ana A. R. M. Aguiar & Fernanda Delgado & Cristina A. Costa, 2024. "A Methodological Framework for Assessing the Agroecological Performance of Farms in Portugal: Integrating TAPE and ACT Approaches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-21, May.
    2. Zhang, Can & Su, Bo & Beckmann, Michael & Volk, Martin, 2024. "Emergy-based evaluation of ecosystem services: Progress and perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    3. Marinos Stylianou & Iliana Papamichael & Irene Voukkali & Michail Tsangas & Michalis Omirou & Ioannis M. Ioannides & Antonis A. Zorpas, 2023. "LCA of Barley Production: A Case Study from Cyprus," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-16, January.
    4. Chisenga Emmanuel Mukosha & Jan Moudrý & Magdaléna Lacko-Bartošová & Lucia Lacko-Bartošová & Festus Onyebuchi Eze & Reinhard W. Neugschwandtner & Elnaz Amirahmadi & Jiří Lehejček & Jaroslav Bernas, 2023. "The Effect of Cropping Systems on Environmental Impact Associated with Winter Wheat Production—An LCA “Cradle to Farm Gate” Approach," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-15, October.
    5. Koblianska, Inna & Kalachevska, Larysa & Schlauderer, Ralf, 2024. "Agricultural life cycle assessment: a system-wide bibliometric research," Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, vol. 10(1), March.
    6. Kamran Kheiralipour & Miguel Brandão & Malgorzata Holka & Adam Choryński, 2024. "A Review of Environmental Impacts of Wheat Production in Different Agrotechnical Systems," Resources, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-14, July.
    7. Oriana Gava & Zahra Ardakani & Adela Delalic & Stefano Monaco, 2024. "Environmental Impacts of Rice Intensification Using High-Yielding Varieties: Evidence from Mazandaran, Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-32, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:18:p:8024-:d:1477692. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.