Compilation of life cycle assessments of cultivated blue mussels : recalculation of the inventory assessments

With a growing world population there is an increased demand of sustainable and nutritious food. There is not much more land to farm on whether for food or for feed for livestock. Aquaculture increases more than any other production method, however there is still often a need for feed. Mussels are l...

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Autor principal: Runesson, Elisabet
Formato: H2
Lenguaje:Inglés
sueco
Publicado: SLU/Department of Molecular Sciences 2020
Materias:
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author Runesson, Elisabet
author_browse Runesson, Elisabet
author_facet Runesson, Elisabet
author_sort Runesson, Elisabet
collection Epsilon Archive for Student Projects
description With a growing world population there is an increased demand of sustainable and nutritious food. There is not much more land to farm on whether for food or for feed for livestock. Aquaculture increases more than any other production method, however there is still often a need for feed. Mussels are low trophic species that grow without input of feed, additives and antibiotics. They are filter feeding organisms consuming planktonic particles. Therefore, when harvested, nutrients are removed from the environment, reducing eutrophication. Life cycle assessment is a standardised method of calculating environmental impact. The goals of this thesis were to compile life cycle assessments about cultivated blue mussels through a literature review and to recalculate the carbon footprint and the marine eutrophication potential. The inventory assessments of six published mussel LCA studies and one dataset were analysed. Harmonization of methodologies was performed and a uniform functional unit of one tonne of Blue mussels produced was chosen. The recalculation resulted in a mean of 0,95 kg CO2-equivalents/kg mussel with shells at harvest and 5 mg N-equivalents/kg produced of mussels with shells at harvest. Hotspots identified were production of material used in cultivation, followed by energy and fuel use. Even though mussels have a low environmental impact, using more energy efficient boats or farmers sharing vessels could further reduce the emissions. Mussels have a high nutritional value and are relatively sustainable, making them an interesting future food product or ingredient in new products.
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institution Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
language Inglés
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publishDate 2020
publishDateSort 2020
publisher SLU/Department of Molecular Sciences
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spelling RepoSLU163752021-01-23T02:01:24Z Compilation of life cycle assessments of cultivated blue mussels : recalculation of the inventory assessments Sammanställning av livscykelanalyser av odlade blåmusslor : omräkning av inventeringsdata Runesson, Elisabet LCA Blue mussels sustainability production With a growing world population there is an increased demand of sustainable and nutritious food. There is not much more land to farm on whether for food or for feed for livestock. Aquaculture increases more than any other production method, however there is still often a need for feed. Mussels are low trophic species that grow without input of feed, additives and antibiotics. They are filter feeding organisms consuming planktonic particles. Therefore, when harvested, nutrients are removed from the environment, reducing eutrophication. Life cycle assessment is a standardised method of calculating environmental impact. The goals of this thesis were to compile life cycle assessments about cultivated blue mussels through a literature review and to recalculate the carbon footprint and the marine eutrophication potential. The inventory assessments of six published mussel LCA studies and one dataset were analysed. Harmonization of methodologies was performed and a uniform functional unit of one tonne of Blue mussels produced was chosen. The recalculation resulted in a mean of 0,95 kg CO2-equivalents/kg mussel with shells at harvest and 5 mg N-equivalents/kg produced of mussels with shells at harvest. Hotspots identified were production of material used in cultivation, followed by energy and fuel use. Even though mussels have a low environmental impact, using more energy efficient boats or farmers sharing vessels could further reduce the emissions. Mussels have a high nutritional value and are relatively sustainable, making them an interesting future food product or ingredient in new products. SLU/Department of Molecular Sciences 2020 H2 eng swe https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/16375/
spellingShingle LCA
Blue mussels
sustainability
production
Runesson, Elisabet
Compilation of life cycle assessments of cultivated blue mussels : recalculation of the inventory assessments
title Compilation of life cycle assessments of cultivated blue mussels : recalculation of the inventory assessments
title_full Compilation of life cycle assessments of cultivated blue mussels : recalculation of the inventory assessments
title_fullStr Compilation of life cycle assessments of cultivated blue mussels : recalculation of the inventory assessments
title_full_unstemmed Compilation of life cycle assessments of cultivated blue mussels : recalculation of the inventory assessments
title_short Compilation of life cycle assessments of cultivated blue mussels : recalculation of the inventory assessments
title_sort compilation of life cycle assessments of cultivated blue mussels : recalculation of the inventory assessments
topic LCA
Blue mussels
sustainability
production