Page 133 - Ecuador's Banana Sector under Climate Change

chapter 5: the carbon footprint of ecuador’s banana
Carbon footprint of a given activity = Activity data (mass/volume/kWh/km) x Emission factor (CO2 per unit)
Table 42 Distances and type of transport used for waste management at consumption stage
Waste management
Route
Distance (km)
Type of transport
Amount
Landfill
Incineration
Farm to collection centre I: Consumption - Landfill
Collection centre
to departure port: Consumption – Transfer facilities
Farm to departure port: Transfer facilities – Incineration plant
8.5 Collection truck
8.5 Collection truck
50 Train
2.69 tkm
0.71 tkm
4.20 tkm
Source: Authors’ calculations and Google Maps
2.5 GHG emission factors
The calculation of the carbon footprint relating to a product is the sum of all materials, energy and waste across all the activities in the life cycle of the product, multiplied by the GHG emission elements.
Data from the EcoInvent database (Frischknecht et al., 2007) have been used in most cases, tailored to the context of Ecuador where necessary. Other sources of information also have been used, as required. This section summarizes some of those modifications relating to emissions.
a) Ecuador’s electricity mix
The EcoInvent database provides the elements for individual sources of emission, such as coal and hydropower, as well as the mix relating to several countries; however, it does not do so in the case of Ecuador. Ecuador’s national electricity production profile for 2010 (Table 43), therefore, has been defined and the corresponding emission factor calculated as 0.55 kg CO2-eq/kWh.
b) Local production of cardboard boxes and crop protection elements
A brief questionnaire was sent to two manufacturing companies in relation to cardboard boxes and plastic protection components. The information was applied to the customization of the EcoInvent datasets40 in relation to Ecuadorian productive systems.
40 “Corrugated board of mixed recycling fibre, single wall and at plant/rer” for the former; “polyethylene, HDPE granules at plant/rer and extrusion of plastic film/rer” for the latter.
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