Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Sustainability And Health Impacts Of Pulse Crops In The United States Using Life Cycle Assessment, Prathamesh A. Bandekar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Environmental sustainability and human health impact of pulses produced and consumed in the United States was assessed using life cycle assessment (LCA). The study included three objectives 1) to estimate environmental impact of current production and consumption practices in the United States using attributional LCA; 2) to estimate environmental and human health impact of iso-caloric diets containing varying amounts of pulses using Hybrid-LCA and Combined Nutritional and Environmental-LCA (CONE-LCA); and 3) to estimate environmental impact of increased demand for pulses using consequential LCA. Scope of the study varied for each objective with system boundary encompassing cradle-to-grave activities for objective 1 …

A Comparison Of The Environmental Effects Of Renewable And Non-Renewable Energies, Jordan Moore

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study presents current energy data from the United States and data from literature reviews to create life cycle assessments (LCA) for comparing the environmental impacts of wind and coal-fired energy generation and use. The environmental impacts were evaluated using emissions data, principally carbon dioxide emissions and carbon dioxide equivalents from methane. Other environmental impacts such as avian mortality and land use were compared as well. The LCA includes four phases: raw materials, transportation, use/retail, and waste. Overall, wind energy has a smaller environmental impact than coal-fired energy for the raw materials, transportation, use/retail, and waste phases. Wind energy resulted …

Life Cycle Assessment Of Alternative Swine Management Practices, Prathamesh Avadhut Bandekar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) are quantitative analyses of complex systems for evaluation of impacts and risk associated with management decisions. LCAs can be effective tools for determining comparative advantages of management strategies across specific impact concern. In this study, life cycle assessments of pork production management alternatives was performed. The alternative management practices included in this study were production of entire males (boars), use of pens for gestation housing, immunocastration, production without growth promoting antimicrobials, production without growth promoting and preventive antimicrobials, and production without ractopamine. These LCAs evaluated the impact of each management strategy on greenhouse gas emission (GHG), …

A Cradle To Farm Gate Life Cycle Analysis Of Land Use In U.S. Pork Production, William Benjamin Putman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study was to conduct a detailed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the U.S. live swine production supply chain to quantify land use requirements and to assess the impact associated with various ration compositions. The functional unit was defined as one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of live swine at the farm gate, ready for transport to the abattoir. This assessment focused on the three highest producing USDA regions, which encompassed the Midwest (Regions 5 and 7) and the Southeast (Region 4), representing 86% of U.S. market hog production.

First, a literature review was conducted to summarize the most …