The urgent need to mitigate the emissions of gases that contribute to climate change is creating a new
scenario for the international trade of goods and services. Countries that are making efforts to reduce
those emissions are now demanding that imported goods contain low levels of embedded carbon for
those goods to fairly compete with locally produced products. For this purpose the implementation of
standards such as the “carbon footprint” becomes critical. Carbon footprint is an environmental sustainability
indicator that quantifies the emissions of greenhouse gases generated during the lifecycle of a
product. Argentina, as an exporter of agricultural products, has conducted initial studies to estimate the
carbon footprint of several food products of high impact in its exports such as meat and wine but yet
little had been done about honey production even though the country is one of the world's three largest
exporters. This study is the first assessment of the carbon footprint of honey produced in Argentina
where almost 95% of the production goes to the export markets. This study also adds scientific value by
comparing economic value-based allocation and production-based allocation.
Official information, interviews and surveys to key stakeholders in the Argentinean beekeeping chain
revealed that the cluster is characterized by low technology development and small-scale production
based exclusively in the sale of a commodity (bulk product without differentiation) but recognized by its
genuine quality valued on flavor and safety issues. Carbon footprint of honey evaluates greenhouse gas
emissions throughout the lifecycle; specifically carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. Activity data
collected includes annual honey production, geographical location of beehives and processing plants,
technology used, and fuels and energy consumption. Based on the ISO 14040 method that uses lifecycle
assessment, the calculated carbon footprint of honey is 2.5 ± 0.17 kg CO2e/kg honey, being the extraction
process responsible for the highest contribution to greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions (90.7%) in contrast
to hive management and freight emissions. A strong linear, positive correlation (R2 ¼ 0.999) is found
between process emissions and honey production pointing out a high dependence of the process with
the use of fossil energy. Carbon dioxide is the dominant GHG emitted (98%) compared to methane and
nitrous oxide emissions. The subdivision method applied to calculate emissions allows tracing the
burden of each phase of the production process; the functional unit used to estimate emissions proved
adequate for comparison purposes and the results achieved were close to those reported in the literature
in spite of honey carbon footprint is strongly dependent on the production practices and honey
beekeeping chain characteristics. From the results obtained, energy efficiency measures during the
processing stage could alleviate the carbon impact of honey production in Argentina.
The urgent need to mitigate the emissions of gases that contribute to climate change is creating a newscenario for the international trade of goods and services. Countries that are making efforts to reducethose emissions are now demanding that imported goods contain low levels of embedded carbon forthose goods to fairly compete with locally produced products. For this purpose the implementation ofstandards such as the “carbon footprint” becomes critical. Carbon footprint is an environmental sustainabilityindicator that quantifies the emissions of greenhouse gases generated during the lifecycle of aproduct. Argentina, as an exporter of agricultural products, has conducted initial studies to estimate thecarbon footprint of several food products of high impact in its exports such as meat and wine but yetlittle had been done about honey production even though the country is one of the world's three largestexporters. This study is the first assessment of the carbon footprint of honey produced in Argentinawhere almost 95% of the production goes to the export markets. This study also adds scientific value bycomparing economic value-based allocation and production-based allocation.Official information, interviews and surveys to key stakeholders in the Argentinean beekeeping chainrevealed that the cluster is characterized by low technology development and small-scale productionbased exclusively in the sale of a commodity (bulk product without differentiation) but recognized by itsgenuine quality valued on flavor and safety issues. Carbon footprint of honey evaluates greenhouse gasemissions throughout the lifecycle; specifically carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. Activity datacollected includes annual honey production, geographical location of beehives and processing plants,technology used, and fuels and energy consumption. Based on the ISO 14040 method that uses lifecycleassessment, the calculated carbon footprint of honey is 2.5 ± 0.17 kg CO2e/kg honey, being the extractionprocess responsible for the highest contribution to greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions (90.7%) in contrastto hive management and freight emissions. A strong linear, positive correlation (R2 ¼ 0.999) is foundbetween process emissions and honey production pointing out a high dependence of the process withthe use of fossil energy. Carbon dioxide is the dominant GHG emitted (98%) compared to methane andnitrous oxide emissions. The subdivision method applied to calculate emissions allows tracing theburden of each phase of the production process; the functional unit used to estimate emissions provedadequate for comparison purposes and the results achieved were close to those reported in the literaturein spite of honey carbon footprint is strongly dependent on the production practices and honeybeekeeping chain characteristics. From the results obtained, energy efficiency measures during theprocessing stage could alleviate the carbon impact of honey production in Argentina.
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