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Life cycle analysis of semi-intensive and intensive sheep milk production

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Abstract

Purpose

Dairy farming is accountable for increased greenhouse gas emissions. Life cycle analysis constitutes a valuable tool determining the primary factors that increase carbon footprint and other important environmental indicators, under the prism of developing methods to reduce the environmental impact of the farms. The purpose of this study was to measure and evaluate the carbon footprint of raw milk production of sheep farming in Western Macedonia, Greece, for the first time, along with the environmental performance of the farming systems.

Methods

To achieve this goal, data on inputs and outputs were collected from 10 semi-intensive and 3 intensive farming systems of the Regional Units of Florina and Kozani. Data were collected using specifically configured questionnaires, which included questions concerning the amounts of fossil fuels, water, feed, electricity used in a year, as well as farm demographics and outputs. Life cycle analysis was carried out using the SimaPro 9.4.0.2 software.

Results

According to the results, the average carbon footprint of semi-intensive dairy sheep farming in Western Macedonia was 3.41 kg of CO2-eq/kg of fat- and protein-corrected milk, while the corresponding value for intensive sheep farming was 3.58 kg of CO2-eq/kg of fat- and protein-corrected milk. The results also indicate that in intensive systems, higher milk production is not consistent with a larger environmental footprint compared to semi-intensive farming systems. The use of soybean and maize for animal feed, along with emissions from enteric fermentation, is the main hotspots in milk production process.

Conclusions

The above findings can contribute to drawing conclusions concerning the management of the production hotspots, in an attempt to reduce the carbon footprint of the farms and propose a more sustainable plan for rearing animals.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available because all data have been collected by a questionnaire. They are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This research was carried out as part of the project «Development of an electronic platform for environmental and economic impact assessment of bio-energy production systems in C. Macedonia for sustainable and competitive management by companies in agri-chain» (Project code: ΚΜΡ6-0067147) under the framework of the Action «Investment Plans of Innovation» of the Operational Program «Central Macedonia 2014 2020» that is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Greece.”

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Ravani, M., Liantas, G., Alvanou, M.V. et al. Life cycle analysis of semi-intensive and intensive sheep milk production. Int J Life Cycle Assess 29, 218–239 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-023-02245-y

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