Huella de carbono del té certificado en Argentina = Carbon footprint of certified tea in Argentina

Abstract

Argentina es el octavo productor mundial de té, el sexto exportador y es el más grande productor de América y principal proveedor del mercado estadounidense. El objetivo de este trabajo es medir la huella de carbono en la producción té certificado en Argentina. Las emisiones de CO2e, se estimaron en toda la cadena productiva del té, desde la producción de plantines, la plantación del cultivo, la producción anual del brote de té, el secado en la industria y fletes, hasta los puertos de Estados Unidos. Los datos fueron tomados de productores primarios y secaderos de té entre los años 2013 y 2018. Para la medición de la Huella de Carbono (HC) se utilizó el protocolo de las normas ISO 14067, ISO 14040 e ISO 14044 y los cálculos se realizaron en el software Simapro ® 8.5 utilizado el modelo CML (Guinee, et al., 2002). Los resultados de la huella de la producción de brote se dividieron en tres modelos, bajo, medio y alto, siendo los resultados 88, 85 y 79 gr CO2e por kg de brote certificado. Considerando el modelo de rendimiento medio, la HC de 1 kg de té seco certificado es de 1,09 CO2e. Comparando los resultados de este estudio con el existente en la bibliografía, el caso Argentino obtiene valores similares a un gran productor como Kenia. Los principales Hotspot que influyen en el nivel de emisiones son la fertilización nitrogenada, el consumo de energía y el transporte, que representan el 24, 27 y el 19%, respectivamente.

Argentina is the eighth world producer of tea, the sixth exporter and is the largest tea producer in America and the largest supplier to the US market. The main of this work is to measure the carbon footprint of certified tea production in Argentina. The CO2e emissions of the tea production chain from the production of seedlings, the planting of the crop, the annual production of fresh tea leaves, drying in the factory and freight to U.S. ports are estimated. The data was taken from primary producers and processing factories, between 2013 and 2018. The protocol of the ISO 14067, ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards is used, and the estimates were made in Simapro software ® 8.5 using the CML model, to measure the Carbon Footprint. The carbon footprint of the production of fresh tea leaves was divided into three models, low, medium, and high, the results being 88, 85 and 79 gr CO2e per kg of certified tea leaf. Taking the average yield model, the carbon footprint of one kg of certified dry tea is 1.09 CO2e. From the bibliographic review, the Argentine case obtains similar values to a large producer such as Kenya. The main hotspots that influence the level of emissions are nitrogen fertilization, energy consumption and transport, which account for 24, 27 and 19%, respectively

Argentina is the eighth world producer of tea, the sixth exporter and is the largest tea producer in America and the largest supplier to the US market. The main of this work is to measure the carbon footprint of certified tea production in Argentina. The CO2e emissions of the tea production chain from the production of seedlings, the planting of the crop, the annual production of fresh tea leaves, drying in the factory and freight to U.S. ports are estimated. The data was taken from primary producers and processing factories, between 2013 and 2018. The protocol of the ISO 14067, ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards is used, and the estimates were made in Simapro software ® 8.5 using the CML model, to measure the Carbon Footprint. The carbon footprint of the production of fresh tea leaves was divided into three models, low, medium, and high, the results being 88, 85 and 79 gr CO2e per kg of certified tea leaf. Taking the average yield model, the carbon footprint of one kg of certified dry tea is 1.09 CO2e. From the bibliographic review, the Argentine case obtains similar values to a large producer such as Kenya. The main hotspots that influence the level of emissions are nitrogen fertilization, energy consumption and transport, which account for 24, 27 and 19%, respectively .