Sources of site-dependency and importance of energy consumption in agricultural LCA: Apple production in New Zealand

Abstract

Research conducted in New Zealand apple orchards shows that farmers’ technique exerts a considerable effect on the LCA results, introducing variances of e.g. 30-50% in energy consumption when different farmers perform the same field operation. Energy consumption is found to be significantly higher in organic farming than in integrated farming in apple production in New Zealand, and it contributes above 50% to most impact categories considered in the study. Therefore, holistic approaches such as LCA covering the different environmental impacts from agriculture should be promoted when designing certification schemes or assessing the environmental soundness of agricultural technologies.