Haruvy ecological impacts__english_ed2

Economic Evaluation of Local and

Global Ecological Services-

for Various Agricultural Branches

Prof. Nava Haruvy

Sarit Shalhevet

[email protected]

Prof. Nava Haruvy, Local Economy Congress

mailto:[email protected]

Background

There is an increase in the awareness of environmental issues.

Agriculture makes an important contribution to the environment through landscape conservation.

But agriculture also uses chemicals – fertilizers and pesticides – with negative environmental impacts.

However, local agricultural production substitutes imported produce, thereby reducing the environmental impacts caused by transporting produce, through energy and vehicle usage.

Background


Goal

To analyze the environmental impacts of local agricultural

production compared to the alternative of imports.

We ask: In which crops does the local production reduce

the environmental impacts caused by food imports?

The selected crops are

Crops with high import volume in Israel:

Apples, pears, almonds, walnuts, onions, potatoes, garlic

and chickpeas.

The method

Life Cycle Assessment.

Goal


Life Cycle Assessment

A method for evaluation environmental impacts along the entire life cycle – starting from the stage of obtaining the raw materials, through the stages of production, packing, product usage, and until the end-of-life (disposal) stage.

The analysis involves collecting data on the use of materials, energy, and the waste created in each stage of the product life cycle.

The environmental impact was examined for each environmental component separately, and for the weighted total environmental impact.

LCA


1. Human Health

Carcinogens.

Organic chemicals.

Inorganic chemicals.

The ozone layer.

Global climate change.

2. Ecosystems

Eco-toxicity.

Acidification.

Land use.

Specific Categories

3. Natural resources

Non-renewable minerals.

General Categories

1. Human health.

2. Ecosystems.

3. Natural resources.

Categories


Evaluation of Environmental Impacts

Human Health

Decrease in life expectancy: DALY -Disability Adjusted

Life Years.

Ecosystems

Percent of potentially disappearing species in

different regions (multiplied by the region size and

the damage time span).

Natural resources

Additional energy needed for obtaining these

materials in the future.

Evaluation


Calculating the Environmental Impact

Local production– use of chemicals.

Local production- use of water resources.

Imports- use of transportation.

Calculation


Calculating the Environmental Impact of Local

Production (detailed)

Use of chemicals (fertilizers and pesticides)

o Data on the use of fertilizers and pesticides was taken

from the extension service crop budgets.

o The average damage was calculated for the total

quantity (without division into specific types).

Use of water resources

o We assumed that it will be necessary to desalinate all

the water for agricultural use.

o The damage was calculated based on the amount of

energy needed for water desalination using the

reverse osmosis technology.

It was found that the environmental impact of potential water

desalination is much lower than the use of chemicals.

Local production


Calculating the Environmental Impacts of Imports

• The environmental damage from imports is caused by

the impact of the use of vehicles (airplane, ship, truck),

and the energy required for transportation.

• The weighted distance that the product travels from its

production area to the Tel Aviv wholesale market was

calculated as “food miles”.

• It was based on the distance from each exporting

country, multiplied by the relative share of that country

in the imports to Israel.

Imports


Environmental Impact for each crop by specific category

(weighted impact in points)- Local production (chemicals)

Resourc

es

EcosystemsHuman health

Non-

renewabl

e

minerals

Land

use

Acidific

ation

Eco-

toxicity

Ozone

layer

Radi

ation

Global

climate

change

Inorga

nic

chemic

als

Organ

ic

chemi

cals

Carci

nogen

s

Crop

0.1310.4600.2110.0140.028X0.9142.7000.0240.027Apples

0.2520.9870.3450.0310.060X1.7304.9100.0490.056Pears

1.5303.9203.3600.1270.247X11.20035.7000.2510.277

Almonds

0.1220.2740.2930.0090.018X0.9072.9700.0190.021Onions

0.2180.6500.4220.0210.040X1.5604.8200.0380.042

Potatoes

In local production- the main environmental damages by specific

category are caused by: human health- inorganic emissions and global

climate change, and by natural resource depletion.

Local production- Specific category


Environmental Impact for each crop by specific category

(weighted impact in points)- Imports

Resour

ces

EcosystemsHuman health

Non-

renewab

le

minerals

Land

use

Acidific

ation

Eco-

toxicit

y

Ozone

layer

Radia

tion

Global

climate

change

Inorgani

c

chemica

ls

Organi

c

chemic

als

Carcin

ogens

Crop

5.4701.0800.9420.2190.0150.0053.5308.0200.0720.509Apples

4.6500.9300.5740.1830.0130.0042.6405.6000.0600.425Pears

5.5401.1100.6840.2180.0160.0053.1506.6700.0710.506Almonds

1.7700.3490.3050.0710.0050.0021.1402.6000.0230.165Onion

1.8900.3720.3260.0760.0050.0021.2202.7700.0250.176

Potatoes

Also in imports- the main environmental damages by specific category are

caused from: human health- inorganic emissions and global climate

change, and natural resource depletion.

Imports- Specific category


Weighted environmental impact for each crop - by general

categories

TotalResourcesEcosystemsHuman

health

Crop

4.5070.1310.6863.690ApplesChemicals

8.4220.2521.3606.810Pears

56.5301.5307.40047.600Almonds

4.60.1220.5763.930Onions

7.7980.2181.0906.490Potatoes

19.8105.4702.24012.100ApplesImports

15.0804.6501.6908.740Pears

17.9505.5402.01010.400Almonds

6.4351.7700.7253.940Onions

6.8641.8900.7744.200Potatoes

•The main damage in local production and import is affecting human health.

•The environmental impact is higher for imports - apples, pears and onions.

•The environmental impact is higher for chemicals- almonds and potatoes.

Local production & imports- General categories


Figure 1: Environmental Impact of Imports

The crops are shown from left to right in ascending

order of environmental damage

Imports- Environmental damage


Figure 2: Environmental Impact of Chemicals

The crops are shown from left to right in

ascending order of environmental damage

Local production- Environmental damage


Figure A: Apples – Cumulative environmental impacts - by

specific category

Detailed Analysis by Crop - Apples

In apples- the environmental damage from imports is almost 4 times higher

than the damage from local production – mainly inorganic chemicals,

minerals and climate change.

Apples- Cumulative- Specific category


Figure B: Apples – Cumulative environmental impacts -

by general category

In apples:

•The environmental damage from imports- is mainly human health,

resources and ecosystems.

•The environmental damage from chemicals- is mainly human health, and

ecosystems.

Apples- Cumulative- General category


Figure C: Apples – Environmental impacts – Comparison by

specific category

In apples- the environmental damage from imports is higher in

every specific category (including climate change).

Apples- Comparison- Specific category


Figure D: Apples – Environmental impacts – Comparison by

general category

In apples- the environmental damage from imports is higher than chemicals in

every general category.

Therefore, from the viewpoint of the impact on the environment, it is

better to grow apples locally than to import them.

Apples- Cumulative- General category


Apples- Emissions with the main impact on global climate change

Chemical emittedProduction

process:

fertilizers &

pesticides

Production

process:

Desalination

Process:

Imports

Total1.37E-0051.11E-0075.30E-005

Carbon dioxide1.14E-005x3.33E-005

Carbon dioxide, fossilX1.08E-0071.67E-005

Methane1.80E-006x1.39E-006

Di-nitrogen monoxide3.36E-0071.15E-0091.16E-006

Methane, fossilX2.64E-0092.51E-007

Carbon monoxide2.28E-007x1.50E-007

Carbon dioxide, biogenicX9.39E-0094.23E-008

The main factor affecting global climate change is carbon dioxide

Inventory Analysis

Apples- Inventory analysis


Figure A: Almonds – Cumulative environmental impacts -

by specific category

In almonds- the environmental damage from local production is about 3 times higher

than the damage from imports – mainly inorganic chemicals and climate change.

Detailed Analysis by Crop - AlmondsAlmonds- Cumulative- Specific category


Figure B: Almonds – Cumulative environmental impacts -

by general category

In almonds:

•The environmental damage from imports- is mainly human health, resources and

ecosystems.

•The environmental damage from chemicals- is mainly human health, and

ecosystems.

Almonds- cumulative- General category


Figure C: Almonds – Environmental impacts – Comparison

by specific category

In almonds :

•The environmental damage from local production is higher in the

categories of: inorganic chemicals and climate change,

•The impact of imports is higher in the category of non-renewable mineral

resource use.

Almonds- Comparison- Specific category


Figure D: Almonds – Environmental impacts – Comparison

by general category

In almonds- the environmental damage from chemicals is higher than imports in

every general category.

Hence, from the viewpoint of the impact on the environment, it is better to

import almonds than to grow them locally.

Almonds- Cumulative- General category


Calculation of the Economic Value

Positive impacts in local production

Calculated by value of agricultural scenery and profits for the farmers.

o Estimation of the farmers’ income (extension service

budgets).

o Estimation of the value of agricultural scenery

(willingness-to-pay surveys).

Economic value- Positive impacts


Calculation of the Economic Value- continued

Negative impacts in local production and in imports

Value calculated for human health damages by

o Decrease in life expectancy- DALY (Disability Adjusted Life Years),

o Income per person

o Exposure ratio (impact on the entire population of the country).

We assumed that only about 0.1% of the people that live in rural areas (which is 8.3% of the total country population), is exposed to most of the environmental impacts of crop production.

Economic value- Negative impacts


The economic value per capita of the crops’ environmental

impacts (NIS/year per ton of produce)

Human health (negative impact)

Scenic value

(positive

impact)*

Water

desalination

Chemicals in

crop

productionImportsCrop

1.390.011.705.59Apples

1.790.013.144.04Pears

34.840.2022.004.80Almonds

0.930.011.821.82Onions

1.120.013.001.94Potatoes

* The value of scenery per hectare of production is in similar order of magnitude

for all the crops, and the large gaps in the value of the scenery per ton of produce

are caused by the large variation in yield per hectare between crops.

Economic value- per capita


Profits

for

farmers

Value of the

agricultural

scenery

Negative

environmental

impacts of

local

production

Negative

environmental

impacts of

importCrop

5443791,0043,276Apples

1,6584881,8492,364Pears

9,8189,48713,0072,813Almonds

382601,0681,066Onions

2293121,7621,136Potatoes

The economic value for the entire population of Israel of the

crops’ environmental Impacts (NIS/year per ton of produce)

Economic value- total population


Calculation of the economic value under varying

assumptions (NIS/year per ton of produce)

3) Local production

from the global

perspective:

2) Local production

(including import

prevention)

1) Local production

Crop

4,2003,196-81Apples

4,5102,661297Pears

22,1189,1116,298Almonds

1,364296-770Onions

1,678-85-1,221Potatoes

Definitions

1) Local production:

Profit + Scenery – Environmental impacts of local production.

2) Local production including import prevention:

Profit + Scenery – Environmental impacts of local production + Environmental

Impacts of imports.

3) Local production from the global perspective:

Profit + Scenery + Environmental Impacts of imports (Without the environmental

impacts of local production)

Economic value- varying assumptions


Calculation of the economic value under varying

assumptions (NIS/year per ton of produce)

3) Local

production from

the global

perspective:

2) Local

production

(including

import

prevention)

1) Local

production:Crop

4,2003,196-81Apples

4,5102,661297Pears

22,1189,1116,298Almonds

1,364296-770Onions

1,678-85-1,221Potatoes

Conclusions

•The economic value of local production (without accounting for the prevention of

imports) is high for pears and almonds, and low for apples, onions and potatoes.

•When the environmental damage of imports is taken into account, it is better to grow

locally all the crops in the list, except for potatoes.

•From the global perspective, local production is preferred.

Economic value- varying assumptions- conclusions


Summary

The main damage from local production and imports, is damage to human health

In the category of impact on human health – the value of inorganic chemicals (respiratory damage) is the highest, followed by the impact on climate change.

The main impacts on the environment by specific category –are inorganic chemicals emissions, global climate change, and use of non-renewable minerals.

The environmental damage of water desalination is relative low, and does not in itself justify imports.

According to inventory analysis – carbon dioxide emissions have the greatest impact on global climate change.

Summary


Conclusions

From environmental view-point

The environmental damage from imports is higher -

for apples, pears and onions, which it is better to

grow locally.

The environmental damage of local production is

higher –for almonds and potatoes, which it is better

to import.

Conclusions- environmental


Conclusions- continued

Regarding also economic value

The economic value of local production (without

accounting for the prevention of imports) is high for

pears and almonds, and low for apples, onions and

potatoes.

When the environmental damage of imports is taken

into account, it is better to grow locally all the crops

in the list, except for potatoes.

Conclusions- economic


Economy & Finance

Haruvy ecological impacts__english_ed2