Avaliação de ciclo de vida da produção de leite: um estudo de caso em Minas Gerais e no Paraná

Abstract

The agricultural sector faces related environmental challenges, such as climate change, environmental degradation and the intensive use of natural resources. Different production systems can determine relevant factors in terms of emissions, productivity and environmental impacts. Therefore, the objectives of these articles are (i) to estimate potential environmental impacts and impacts, from three semi-confinement and confinement production systems, to identify hotspots focusing on five environmental impacts: altered change, eutrophication, acidification of activity, photochemistry, depletion of the ozone layer (iii) propose solutions for mitigating impacts and for protection. For this, a life cycle assessment (LCA) of milk production in the Southeast and South regions, which concentrate the largest volumes of production in Brazil, was explored. The data collected were primary and used to build milk life cycle inventory (LCI) located in the states of Minas Gerais and Paraná. The data were validated by reviewers, which makes the study innovative, as well as the use of secondary data from LCIs corresponding to national products. A sensitivity analysis was performed to identify the flows with the highest percentage of contribution to the assessed impact categories. Inorganic fertilizer applied in food production was most responsible for potential impacts in the acidification, eutrophication categories. Biogenic methane was more representative for the categories of climate change and photochemical oxidation. The production of diesel and the transport stage were the most responsible for the potential impact on the depletion of the ozone layer. These results may support the formulation of lines of research and public policy strategies, aimed at improving the environmental performance of milk production suited to the country's condition