LCA of Local Bio-chp Fuelled Greeenhouses Versus Mediterranean Open Fiel Tomatoes for Consumption in Northern Scandinavia

Abstract

Tomatoes are a commonly used product in the Scandinavian countries, where locally grown tomatoes generally have to be cultivated in greenhouses, heated for most part of the year. Tomatoes imported from the Mediterranean area will not need heated greenhouses, but are transported a longer distance. Earlier studies have shown imported tomatoes over long distances are environmentally preferable when compared to tomatoes produced in greenhouses. In this study, tomatoes for the Trøndelag market in Norway locally grown in greenhouses with heat from biofuelled CHP generation have been studied using life cycle assessment (LCA). An LCA model for the biofuel heated greenhouse tomatoes was created and compared to a model of field grown tomatoes in Spain. In a sensitivity analysis a fossil energy scenario for the greenhouse tomatoes was studied. The biofuelled greenhouse tomatoes was found to be better in all studied life cycle impact categories compared to the long-distance transported field grown tomatoes. The scenario with fossil energy to the greenhouse give much higher impacts compared to the long distance transported tomatoes in most categories studied. A shift towards more renewable energy systems is one important task for a more sustainable agriculture.