Content
Contact
Thomas Lindenthal
(Dr.)
Climate protection
FiBL
Seidengasse 33-35/13
A-1070 Wien
Phone +43 (0)1 9076313-22
Mobile +43 (0)699 10380080
Fax +43 (0)1 9076313-20
thomas.lindenthal(at)fibl.org
Organic farming and climate change
Organic farming and climate change at www.fibl.org
Climate protection and sustainability assessment
CO2-eq-emissions of organic and conventional foodstuffs in Austria
Label CO2-footprint. image: Peter Hautziger
Project information
Project commissioned by:
- Werner Lampert Beratungsges.m.b.H. / Hofer KG
- Austrian ministry (BMLFUW)
Duration:
July 2008 - December 2016
Review:
Öko-Institut Freiburg (Assessment of the following products: milk, bread, potatoes)
Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) Switzerland
Content
This study calculated the carbon footprint along the entire supply chain of 95-100 organic foodstuffs as compared to conventional foodstuffs, from the agricultural production to the supermarket branches. On the packaging of the organic foodstuffs, the relative CO2-eq savings compared to its conventional counterpart are labelled.
The CO2-balance was conducted as a "Life Cycle Assessment" (LCA) according to the guidelines of the IPCC (2007). In the process a greenhouse gas emission model was developed, which was based on the international eco-balance guidelines (ISO 14040 and 14044).
In addition to the typical Austrian agricultural production and specific guidelines of the retailer, Land Use Change and humus accumulation were considered in this study, which have as of yet received little attention in common carbon footprint calculations. However, 98 percent of soy used for animal feed in Austria is imported from Latin America, mainly from Brazil, where devastation of savannas and tropical forests occur as a consequence of soya cultivation.
System Boundaries (166 KB)
You can find more information in the download area.
Working group
- Dr. Thomas Lindenthal (Head of group), FiBL Austria
- Mag. Theresia Markut, FiBL Austria (educational leave till May 2012)
- Mag. Michaela Theurl, FiBL Austria
- DI Stefan Hörtenhuber, FiBL Austria and University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences
Support
- DI Gwendolyn Rudolph, FiBL Austria
- DI Katharina Hanz, FiBL Austria
- Mag. Günther Kraus, FiBL Austria
- DI Reinhard Geßl, FiBL Austria
- Mag. Andreas Kranzler, FiBL Austria
Review
- Dr. Jenny Teufel, Öko-Institute for Applied Ecology, Germany
- Mag. Britta Stratmann, Öko-Institute for Applied Ecology, Germany
- Dr. Ran Liu, Öko-Institute for Applied Ecology, Germany
- Dipl.-Ing. agr. Christian Schader, FiBL Switzerland
- Dr. Mathias Stolze, FiBL Switzerland
Download Area
Peer-reviewed scientific publications
S. Hörtenhuber, T. Lindenthal, B. Amon, T. Markut, L. Kirner and W. Zollitsch (2010): Greenhouse gas emissions from selected Austrian dairy production systems—model calculations considering the effects of land use change. (264 KB)
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. doi:10.1017/S1742170510000025. Research Paper. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems Cambridge University Press. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010
http://journals.cambridge.org 
Other publications
Executive summary of methods and results (65 KB)COClimate relevance of foodstuffs - what can the organic farmer do? (33 KB)Climate balance of organic and conventional foodstuffs compared (84 KB)Greenhouse gas emissions of organic and conventional foodstuffs in Austria (46 KB)Presentation: "Carbon footprint of organic products", Biofach 2010 (663 KB)