Environmental impact assessment of organic carrot production and supply in Sweden

Summary

This paper presents the results of life cycle analysis (LCA) of fresh and dried organic carrot produced and supplied in Sweden. Cumulative energy demand (CED) and climate change impact have been investigated using cradle-to-consumer gate approach. The functional unit (FU) was 1 ton of fresh product at farm. The major life cycle stages were agricultural production, post-harvest process, and transport. The total CED values were 2.64 GJ and 6.67 GJ per FU for fresh and dried carrot respectively. Regarding climate change impact, the values were 121 kg CO2 eq and 111 kg CO2 eq per FU for fresh and dried carrot respectively. The drying process increased CED but reduced the climate change impact. In addition to reducing climate change impact, the drying process increases shelf life and selling price.