IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i3p2417-d1050783.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

LCA of Barley Production: A Case Study from Cyprus

Author

Listed:
  • Marinos Stylianou

    (Laboratory of Chemical Engineering and Engineering Sustainability, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, Open University of Cyprus, Giannou Kranidioti 33, Latsia, Nicosia 2220, Cyprus)

  • Iliana Papamichael

    (Laboratory of Chemical Engineering and Engineering Sustainability, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, Open University of Cyprus, Giannou Kranidioti 33, Latsia, Nicosia 2220, Cyprus)

  • Irene Voukkali

    (Laboratory of Chemical Engineering and Engineering Sustainability, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, Open University of Cyprus, Giannou Kranidioti 33, Latsia, Nicosia 2220, Cyprus)

  • Michail Tsangas

    (Laboratory of Chemical Engineering and Engineering Sustainability, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, Open University of Cyprus, Giannou Kranidioti 33, Latsia, Nicosia 2220, Cyprus)

  • Michalis Omirou

    (Department of Agrobiotechnology, Agricultural Research Institute, Nicosia 1516, Cyprus)

  • Ioannis M. Ioannides

    (Department of Agrobiotechnology, Agricultural Research Institute, Nicosia 1516, Cyprus)

  • Antonis A. Zorpas

    (Laboratory of Chemical Engineering and Engineering Sustainability, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, Open University of Cyprus, Giannou Kranidioti 33, Latsia, Nicosia 2220, Cyprus)

Abstract

Greenhouse gas emissions (i.e., carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide) produced by agriculture contribute to global warming and climate change. Various practices followed by farmers in different environmental conditions contribute to the increase in the phenomena, and there is a need for immediate measures. The current study examines the environmental impact of barley production under rain-fed conditions in Cyprus. For this, four different nutrient management scenarios were investigated in order to evaluate the environmental performance of crop production, namely: (1) Nitrogen (20%), Phosphorous (20%), Potassium (10%); (2) Nitrogen (20%), Phosphorous (20%), Potassium (10%) and manure; (3) Nitrogen (25%), Phosphorous (10%), Potassium (0%); and (4) Nitrogen (25%), Phosphorous (10%), Potassium (0%) and manure. Data were collected from two different areas of Cyprus (Nicosia and Larnaca) through on-site visits and questionnaires. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was used as a method to quantify environmental impacts which were categorized into six impact categories: (i) acidification potential (AP), (ii) eutrophication potential (EP), (iii) global warming potential (GWP), (iv) ozone depletion potential (ODP), (v) photochemical, ozone creation potential (POCP), and (vi) terrestrial ecotoxicity (TAETP). LCA was used with system boundaries from field to harvest and a functional unit (FU) of one bale of hay. Research results showed that the addition of manure increased values in all impact categories. Comparing scenarios without manure (1 and 3) and with manure (2 and 4), the main process which contributed to GWP was field preparation, which resulted in 3 t CO 2 -Eq∙FU −1 and 46.96 t CO 2 -Eq∙FU −1 , respectively. Furthermore, the highest contribution of sub-processes to GWP (kg CO 2 -Eq∙FU −1 ) was machinery maintenance (scenarios 2 and 4). The potential to reduce environmental impacts from barley and moreover, to mitigate the footprint of the agriculture sector in Cyprus is proposed by changing existing practices such as decreasing fuel consumption by agricultural machinery, and monitoring fertilizing and seeding. Conclusively, the carbon footprint of barley can be decreased through the improvement of nutrient management and cropping practices.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:2417-:d:1050783
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2417/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2417/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michail Tsangas & Ifigeneia Gavriel & Maria Doula & Flouris Xeni & Antonis A. Zorpas, 2020. "Life Cycle Analysis in the Framework of Agricultural Strategic Development Planning in the Balkan Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-15, February.
    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.
    3. Antonis A. Zorpas & Maria K. Doula & Mejdi Jeguirim, 2021. "Waste Strategies Development in the Framework of Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-5, December.
    4. Kashyap, Durba & Agarwal, Tripti, 2021. "Carbon footprint and water footprint of rice and wheat production in Punjab, India," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    5. Montanarella, Luca & Panagos, Panos, 2021. "The relevance of sustainable soil management within the European Green Deal," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    6. Y. Lechon & H. Cabal & R. Saez, 2005. "Life cycle analysis of wheat and barley crops for bioethanol production in Spain," International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 4(2), pages 113-122.
    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. Sergio Cappucci & Serena Nappi & Andrea Cappelli, 2022. "Green Public Areas and Urban Open Spaces Management: New GreenCAL Tool Algorithms and Circular Economy Implications," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-25, June.
    2. Tomasz Jałowiec & Henryk Wojtaszek, 2021. "Analysis of the RES Potential in Accordance with the Energy Policy of the European Union," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-33, September.
    3. Emmanouil Tziolas & Eleftherios Karapatzak & Ioannis Kalathas & Chris Lytridis & Spyridon Mamalis & Stefanos Koundouras & Theodore Pachidis & Vassilis G. Kaburlasos, 2023. "Comparative Assessment of Environmental/Energy Performance under Conventional Labor and Collaborative Robot Scenarios in Greek Viticulture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-21, February.
    4. Marc Dressler, 2023. "Generic strategic profiling of entrepreneurial SMEs – environmentalism as hygiene factor," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 121-150, March.
    5. Marek Zieliński & Piotr Koza & Artur Łopatka, 2022. "Agriculture from Areas Facing Natural or Other Specific Constraints (ANCs) in Poland, Its Characteristics, Directions of Changes and Challenges in the Context of the European Green Deal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-22, September.
    6. Daniela Bona & Andrea Cristoforetti & Roberto Zanzotti & Daniela Bertoldi & Nicole Dellai & Silvia Silvestri, 2022. "Matured Manure and Compost from the Organic Fraction of Solid Waste Digestate Application in Intensive Apple Orchards," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-15, November.
    7. Grażyna Żukowska & Magdalena Myszura-Dymek & Szymon Roszkowski & Magdalena Olkiewicz, 2023. "Selected Properties of Soil-like Substrates Made from Mine Coal Waste and Their Effect on Plant Yields," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-19, September.
    8. Jonas Volungevicius & Kristina Amaleviciute-Volunge, 2023. "A Conceptual Approach to the Histosols Profile Morphology as a Risk Indicator in Assessing the Sustainability of Their Use and Impact on Climate Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-14, September.
    9. Teresa Rodríguez-Espinosa & Jose Navarro-Pedreño & Ignacio Gómez Lucas & María Belén Almendro Candel & Ana Pérez Gimeno & Manuel Jordán Vidal & Iliana Papamichael & Antonis A. Zorpas, 2022. "Environmental Risk from Organic Residues," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    10. Barbara Breza-Boruta & Justyna Bauza-Kaszewska, 2023. "Effect of Microbial Preparation and Biomass Incorporation on Soil Biological and Chemical Properties," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-19, April.
    11. Westin, Kerstin & Bolte, Andreas & Haeler, Elena & Haltia, Emmi & Jandl, Robert & Juutinen, Artti & Kuhlmey, Katharina & Lidestav, Gun & Mäkipää, Raisa & Rosenkranz, Lydia & Triplat, Matevž & Skudnik,, 2023. "Forest values and application of different management activities among small-scale forest owners in five EU countries," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    12. Liejia Huang & Yue Feng & Boqing Zhang & Weiyan Hu, 2021. "Spatio-Temporal Characteristics and Obstacle Factors of Cultivated Land Resources Security," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-19, July.
    13. Latika Bhatia & Harit Jha & Tanushree Sarkar & Prakash Kumar Sarangi, 2023. "Food Waste Utilization for Reducing Carbon Footprints towards Sustainable and Cleaner Environment: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-20, January.
    14. Schatz, Eva-Maria & Bovet, Jana & Lieder, Sebastian & Schroeter-Schlaack, Christoph & Strunz, Sebastian & Marquard, Elisabeth, 2021. "Land take in environmental assessments: Recent advances and persisting challenges in selected EU countries," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    15. Patrizia Ghisellini & Amos Ncube & Gloria Rotolo & Chiara Vassillo & Serena Kaiser & Renato Passaro & Sergio Ulgiati, 2023. "Evaluating Environmental and Energy Performance Indicators of Food Systems, within Circular Economy and “Farm to Fork” Frameworks," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-38, February.
    16. Guillermo Alexis Vergel-Rangel & Pablo Emilio Escamilla-García & Raúl Horacio Camarillo-López & Jair Azael Esquivel-Guzmán & Francisco Pérez-Soto, 2021. "The environmental impact of nopal (Opuntia ficus-indica) production in Mexico City, Mexico through a life cycle assessment (LCA)," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(12), pages 18068-18095, December.
    17. Roudbari, Maziyar Vaez & Dehnavi, Ali & Jamshidi, Shervin & Yazdani, Mohamadreza, 2023. "A multi-pollutant pilot study to evaluate the grey water footprint of irrigated paddy rice," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    18. Kristina Amaleviciute-Volunge & Jonas Volungevicius & Justinas Ceponkus & Rasa Platakyte & Ieva Mockeviciene & Alvyra Slepetiene & Viia Lepane, 2023. "The Impact of Profile Genesis and Land Use of Histosol on Its Organic Substance Stability and Humic Acid Quality at the Molecular Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-22, March.
    19. Orestis Kairis & Chrysoula Aratzioglou & Athanasios Filis & Michel van Mol & Costas Kosmas, 2021. "The Effect of Land Management Practices on Soil Quality Indicators in Crete," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-18, August.
    20. Sam, Kabari, 2023. "Uncertainty in policy transfer across contaminated land management regimes: Examining the Nigerian experience," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).

    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:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:2417-:d:1050783. 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.