Energy-environmental impact assessment of greenhouse Grown tomato: a case study in Almeria (Spain)

K. Hueso-Kortekaas, J.C. Romero, R. González-Felipe

World Vol. 2, nº. 3, pp. 425 - 441

Summary:

Tomato is one of the most common crops across the world, but also one of the types of food that generates most losses across its life cycle. This paper address this issue by providing a Life Cycle Analysis of greenhouse grown tomato in southern Spain. The results confirm that tomatoes are a thirsty and frail crop. Most of its energy demands and carbon emissions go to packaging (35%) and transportation (42%), as well as water into their growth. There seems to be room for improvement in the recovery of energy (54.6%) and CO2 emissions, mainly addressing waste treatment of packaging and plastic, as well as improving transportation. Despite being highly water demanding, irrigation processes are already efficient in industrial greenhouses and most of the water recovery will need to take place in the waste recovery stage. Food losses at the consumption phases do not constitute a significant loss in energy or a significant amount of carbon emissions saved.

Spanish layman's summary:

El tomate es uno de los cultivos más comunes en todo el mundo, pero también es uno de los tipos de alimentos que más pérdidas genera a lo largo de su ciclo de vida. Este artículo aborda esta cuestión mediante un análisis del ciclo de vida del tomate cultivado en invernadero en el sur de España. Los resultados confirman que el tomate es un cultivo sediento y frágil. La mayor parte de su demanda energética y de las emisiones de carbono se destinan al envasado (35%) y al transporte (42%), así como al suministro de agua para su crecimiento. Parece que hay margen de mejora en la recuperación de energía (54,6%) y en las emisiones de CO2, principalmente abordando el tratamiento de residuos de envases y plásticos, así como mejorando el transporte.

English layman's summary:

Tomato is one of the most common crops across the world, but it is also one of the types of food that generates the most losses across its life cycle. This paper addresses this issue by providing a Life Cycle Analysis of greenhouse grown tomato in southern Spain. The results confirm that tomatoes are a thirsty and frail crop. Most of its energy demands and carbon emissions go to packaging (35%) and transportation (42%) as well as supplying water for their growth. There seems to be room for improvement in the recovery of energy (54.6%) and CO2 emissions, mainly addressing the waste treatment of packaging and plastic as well as improving transportation.

Keywords: Life Cycle Analysis, Tomato, Environmental Impact.

DOI reference: https://doi.org/10.3390/world2030027

Published on paper: September 2021.

Published on-line: September 2021.

Citation:
K. Hueso-Kortekaas, J.C. Romero, R. González-Felipe Energy-environmental impact assessment of greenhouse Grown tomato: a case study in Almeria (Spain). World. Vol. 2, nº. 3, pp. 425 - 441, September 2021. [Online: September 2021]