THE IMPACT OF LAND USE ON
BIODIVERSITY IN LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
Elena Egorova, Heather Perry, Louisa Smythe, Runsheng Song, Sarah Sorensen
Final Presentation
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management
Faculty Advisor: Roland Geyer
April 11, 2014
Introduction
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
2
Significance of Biodiversity
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
3
Biodiversity is Declining
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
4
Biodiversity declined 28% between 1970 and 2008
Land Use and Species Loss
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
5
Impact on Biodiversity Land Use Product System
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Primary
Materials
Product Inputs
Impacts
Life Cycle
Global Warming
Acidification
Terrestrial &
Aquatic Toxicity
Eutrophication
Biodiversity Loss
Raw Material
Acquisition
Material
Processing
Manufacturing
Use
Disposal
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
6
Objectives
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
7
Select a methodology for incorporating land
use impacts on biodiversity into LCA
Quantify potential land use impacts on
biodiversity of four textiles
Assess potential of model for use by Patagonia
and apparel industry
Characterization Factors
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
8
Land Occupation Characterization Factor Regional Extinction
Land Use Types
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
9
Characterization Factor
Ecoregion
Agriculture
Pasture
Managed Forest
Urban
Mammals
Birds
Plants
Amphibians
Reptiles
Spatial Unit Land Use Type Taxonomic Group
10
Wool Lyocell
Cotton
Assessed Products
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
11
Wool Polyester
Cotton T-Shirt:
12
Calculating Land Occupation
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
Raw Cotton
Production
(Agriculture)
Fiber
Processing
(Ginning)
Yarn
Manufacturing
(Spinning)
Fabric
Manufacturing
(Knitting)
T-Shirt
Production
(Cut/Sew)
1 Million Cotton T-shirts
Case Study
Life Cycle
Raw Material
Acquisition
(Cotton Agriculture)
Material Processing
(Cotton Ginning)
Manufacturing
(Spinning, Knitting, Cutting
& Sewing)
Use
Land
Disposal
Biodiversity Impact
Impacts Product Inputs
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
13
14
Calculating Impact Assessment
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
Land Occupation X Characterization Factor =
Biodiversity Impact
15
* Potentially lost non-endemic species/million wool t-shirts
Wool Primary Impact
Process Raw Material Fiber Production Spinning Knitting/Finish Cutting/Sewing Total
Land Use Type Pasture Urban Urban Urban Urban
Land Occupation ( sq.m*years/f.u.) 1.77x109 2.85x103 1.09x103 4.39x105 1.55x103 1.77x109
CF (median, aggregated) 2.66x10-11 2.38x10-11 1.13x10-10 1.04x10-9 1.67x10-10
Biodiversity Impact* 4.71x10-2 6.77x10-8 1.23E-07 4.58x10-4 2.59x10-7 4.75x10-2
Results
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
16
1. Wide range of biodiversity impacts
2. Largest unit process impact
3. Influence of characterization factor
4. High level of uncertainty
1. High Biodiversity Impact: Wool 17
Wool shows the largest land occupation and biodiversity impact of all four textiles
*biodiversity impact (potentially lost non-endemic species/functional unit (f.u.))
Total biodiversity impact of assessed textiles
Wool Cotton Lyocell Polyester
Total Land Occupation (billion m2year) 17.7 0.159 0.00977 0.000192
Total Biodiversity Impact* 0.0475 0.00229 0.000302 0.00000502
Ratio of Textile’s Impact to Wool’s 1:1 1:21 1:157 1:9461
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
2a. Importance of Raw Material Production
18
*potentially lost non-endemic species/f.u.
Raw Material Contribution to Total
Biodiversity Impact
Wool
99.0%
Cotton
99.9%
Lyocell
91.7%
Polyester
15.8%
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
2b. Exception: Polyester
19
Southern US *World Average
CF used California El Salvador
0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
1.20
1.40
1.60
1.80
Raw Material FiberProduction
Spinning Finishing Cutting Sewing
Bio
div
ers
ity Im
pa
ct
(milliont
hs o
f a
pote
ntia
lly lost
non-e
ndem
ic
speci
es/
f.u.
)
Distribution of biodiversity impacts across processes
3. Influence of Characterization Factor: Lyocell
20
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
8.00
9.00
Tree Production
Chara
cteri
za
tion F
act
or
(b
illio
nths
of
a p
ote
ntia
lly lost
non-
end
em
ic s
peci
es
/sq
uare
mete
r)
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
0.60
0.70
0.80
0.90
Tree Production
Bio
div
ers
ity Im
pact
(b
illio
nths
of
pote
ntia
lly lost
non-e
ndem
ic s
peci
es/
odt)
-
350
700
1,050
1,400
1,750
2,100
2,450
2,800
3,150
Tree Production
Land O
ccupa
tion
(squa
re m
ete
rs/odt)
4. Uncertainty Analysis
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
21
Biodiversity Impact* Cotton Wool Polyester Lyocell
High Impact 7.47 137 0.0532 8.16
Median Impact 2.29 47.5 0.00502 0.302
Low Impact -1.95 -14.5 -0.06294 -2.48
*(thousandths of a potentially lost non-endemic species/f.u.)
Total Biodiversity Impacts
incorporating upper and lower bound characterization factors
Model Limitations
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
22
• Using high and low uncertainty bounds of CFs, impacts span from negative to positive.
Uncertainty in characterization
factors
• Measurement of the multifaceted nature of biodiversity is impossible with this model.
Captures limited aspects of biodiversity
• Since location specific data is often unavailable, the advantage of this model in providing regional results is frequently lost.
Location dependent
• Distinction within broad land use types and management strategies is not possible.
Coarse land use classification
Overestimated Impacts
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
23
Kariegasfontein ranch in Aberdeen, South Africa
Source: The Savory Institute
Conservation Objective is Important
Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity
24
Median occupation characterization factors based on plant species for agriculture, urban, pasture, and managed forests
Source: de Baan et al. (2013)
Conclusions & Recommendations 25
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank our faculty advisor, Roland Geyer,
our Patagonia client representatives, Elissa Loughman and Jill
Dumain, and our external advisors, Thomas Koellner and
Laura de Baan for their invaluable guidance and feedback
on this project.
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