led to the development of recommendations for sustainable production and the
inclusion of datasets in the ecoinvent database.
A methane inhibitor (3NOP) can be used to reduce the enteric emissions of dairy
cows, leading to an 18% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with no
observable trade-off in the other impact categories. Variable Frequency Drives
(VFD) that reduce the electricity demand for pumping water, led to a reduction of
34% of GHG emissions from maize cultivation. The environmental impacts arising
from irrigated maize fodder production could be reduced by 47% by using solar
powered irrigation compared to using South African grid electricity. The addition of
a methane inhibitor only reduced the climate change impact category but did not
have a significant effect on the other impact categories. Additionally, the long-term
safety needs to be proven and public acceptance needs to increase.
It was clear that the irrigation of maize for feed production benefitted from the
use of both VFD and, to an even greater extent, from solar photovoltaic energy use.
All three options can generally be recommended and early implementation of
cleantech could potentially have a significant effect. Different cleantech measures
could also be combined to minimise the environmental impacts of milk production.
2.3 Pork Meat Production in South Africa
Valentina Russo from the University of Cape Town analysed the water footprint of
the commercial pork value chain in South Africa [8]. Meat production in South
Africa is on the rise and there is a perception that the water footprints of meat
products are large. In addition, South Africa is a water stressed country with
physical water scarcity predicted by 2040. The goals of this study were to assess the
stress-adjusted blue consumptive water footprint in order to locate the environmental hotspots in meat production and to determine whether South Africa should
be concerned about meat consumption in regards to water intensity.
The WSI & AWARE methods were used to determine the water footprint. The
water stress index (WSI [9]) relates water consumption to water scarcity in the same
watershed and the AWARE method [10] indicates the available water remaining
and quantifies the potential of water deprivation, either to humans or to ecosystems.
The study concluded that the centre of South Africa and the Western Cape are
hotspots for meat production. Most of the water is used for feed production (43%)
and farming activities (54%). It was recommended that feed production be located
in water management areas that experiences less stress and that practices should
move away from irrigation or toward more efficient irrigation systems. Water use,
water stress and water efficiency need to be considered in feed optimisation for
intensive animal finishing.
Greening Agri-food Value Chains in Emerging Economies
111
inclusion of datasets in the ecoinvent database.
A methane inhibitor (3NOP) can be used to reduce the enteric emissions of dairy
cows, leading to an 18% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with no
observable trade-off in the other impact categories. Variable Frequency Drives
(VFD) that reduce the electricity demand for pumping water, led to a reduction of
34% of GHG emissions from maize cultivation. The environmental impacts arising
from irrigated maize fodder production could be reduced by 47% by using solar
powered irrigation compared to using South African grid electricity. The addition of
a methane inhibitor only reduced the climate change impact category but did not
have a significant effect on the other impact categories. Additionally, the long-term
safety needs to be proven and public acceptance needs to increase.
It was clear that the irrigation of maize for feed production benefitted from the
use of both VFD and, to an even greater extent, from solar photovoltaic energy use.
All three options can generally be recommended and early implementation of
cleantech could potentially have a significant effect. Different cleantech measures
could also be combined to minimise the environmental impacts of milk production.
2.3 Pork Meat Production in South Africa
Valentina Russo from the University of Cape Town analysed the water footprint of
the commercial pork value chain in South Africa [8]. Meat production in South
Africa is on the rise and there is a perception that the water footprints of meat
products are large. In addition, South Africa is a water stressed country with
physical water scarcity predicted by 2040. The goals of this study were to assess the
stress-adjusted blue consumptive water footprint in order to locate the environmental hotspots in meat production and to determine whether South Africa should
be concerned about meat consumption in regards to water intensity.
The WSI & AWARE methods were used to determine the water footprint. The
water stress index (WSI [9]) relates water consumption to water scarcity in the same
watershed and the AWARE method [10] indicates the available water remaining
and quantifies the potential of water deprivation, either to humans or to ecosystems.
The study concluded that the centre of South Africa and the Western Cape are
hotspots for meat production. Most of the water is used for feed production (43%)
and farming activities (54%). It was recommended that feed production be located
in water management areas that experiences less stress and that practices should
move away from irrigation or toward more efficient irrigation systems. Water use,
water stress and water efficiency need to be considered in feed optimisation for
intensive animal finishing.
Greening Agri-food Value Chains in Emerging Economies
111