Evaluation of Environmental Impacts in Legume Crops: A Case Study of PGI White Bean Production in Southern Europe

Reina Pérez, Cecilia Fernández, Amanda Laca () and Adriana Laca
Additional contact information
Reina Pérez: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, C/ Julián Clavería s/n, 33071 Oviedo, Spain
Cecilia Fernández: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, C/ Julián Clavería s/n, 33071 Oviedo, Spain
Amanda Laca: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, C/ Julián Clavería s/n, 33071 Oviedo, Spain
Adriana Laca: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Oviedo, C/ Julián Clavería s/n, 33071 Oviedo, Spain

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 18, 1-17

Abstract: A small-scale organic crop producing the protected geographical indication (PGI) cultivar “Faba Asturiana”, located in northern Spain, was considered to be a case study for analyzing the environmental impacts associated with the production of this legume ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.). The life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was employed for the analysis with a “cradle-to-gate” perspective, with 1 kg of dry beans as the functional unit. The results demonstrated that the main contributor to the environmental impacts was electricity consumption (with percentages above 75% for ionizing radiation, freshwater eutrophication, terrestrial ecotoxicity, and non-carcinogenic toxicity). A carbon footprint (CF) of 1.20 kg CO 2 eq per kg of dry beans was obtained (around 1000 kg CO 2 /ha·y). Electricity consumption was the major contributor to the CF, followed by atmospheric emissions from waste incineration and diesel use. Furthermore, some environmental improvements were suggested, and three alternative scenarios were investigated. In conclusion, it can be established that the CF of the studied PGI bean is within the range reported by other researchers for leguminous crops. The easiest way to reduce the CF for this particular crop would be to compost the organic waste instead of burning it. Additionally, the most effective strategy would be to reduce energy consumption or use renewable energy sources. For example, if the energy supply were obtained through in situ solar production, the CF could be reduced by more than 40%.

Keywords: life cycle assessment; Phaseolus vulgaris; carbon footprint; environmental assessment; legume (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/8024/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/8024/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:18:p:8024-:d:1477692

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().