Evaluation of life cycle assessment methodology for multiple agroecosystems

Goller, Ian

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/105264 Copy

Description

Title

Evaluation of life cycle assessment methodology for multiple agroecosystems

Author(s)

Goller, Ian

Issue Date

2019-04-25

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Guest, Jeremy S.

Department of Study

Civil & Environmental Eng

Discipline

Environ Engr in Civil Engr

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

Agroforestry, Multifunctional Woody Polyculture, Life Cycle Assessment, LCA, Perennial, Agriculture, Ecosystem Services, Polyculture

Abstract

Industrialized agricultural production of annual row crops, such as corn and soybeans, is a major contributor to several environmental problems, including climate change and eutrophication of waterways. Land use transition to multifunctional woody polyculture (MWP) agroecosystems has been proposed as a potential strategy for mitigating these harmful impacts while still yielding high value crops. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has the potential to meaningfully capture these impacts, enabling improved decision making in agricultural management. However, due to the differences in the life cycles of various agroecosystems, LCA methodology must be evaluated across multiple agroecosystems to ensure best practices in evaluating these systems. This study evaluated the importance of various LCA methodological decisions - including system boundary and functional unit selection, collection of uncertain inventory data, and modelling of ecosystem services – across ten agroecosystems, corn-soy rotation, four monoculture orchards, and five multifunctional woody polycultures. Environmental impacts across all agroecosystems were found to be dominated by emissions from the burning of fuel for agricultural machinery, and from the production and use of fertilizers and pesticides. The majority of these impacts are associated with the production phase of all crops’ life cycles, and suggestions are made for when all phases, including the nursery, transportation, establishment, production, and destruction of crops must be included in LCA. Results suggest that environmental impacts are more strongly related to management decisions, such as chemical application rate, than crop selection, but additional work is necessary to fully integrate the ecological variation of agroecosystems into a quantitative framework such as LCA.

Graduation Semester

2019-05

Type of Resource

text

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/105264

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2019 Ian Goller

Owning Collections