Sara Björg Guðjónsdóttir, Clara María Vásquez-Mejía, Sankalp Shrivastava and Ólafur Ögmundarson
Introduction: As the world population grows, demand for emission-intensive foods increases. To reduce the global warming effects from food systems, significant and immediate changes are needed, by adopting more environmentally sustainable production practices and changing diets. To evaluate these strategies in connection with their potential environmental impacts additional research is needed.
Methods: This study assessed the environmental impacts of broiler meat production in Iceland, which is an important protein source among Icelanders. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted. The focus was on the following environmental impacts: Global Warming Potential (GWP), Acidification Potential (AP), Eutrophication Potential (EP), and Abiotic Depletion Potential (Fossil Fuel) (ADPF). The system boundary was from cradle to slaughterhouse gate, with the functional unit (FU) of 1 kg broiler chicken, carcass weight, in the reference year 2022. Primary data was gathered from local companies, supplemented with reports published by the Icelandic Environmental Agency.
Results: The results for the following categories were GWP: 2.41 Kg CO2 eq, AP: 0.012 kg SO2 eq, EP: 0.014 kg PO4 eq, and ADPF: 11.8 MJ per kilogram of broiler chicken. Feed production has the greatest environmental impact within the life cycle of poultry production, mainly due to a handful of ingredients. Conclusion: the potential environmental impacts of Icelandic poultry meat production are lower than available international reports. However, sustainability strategies could be focused on feed formulation in order to meet global emission reduction targets.
