Estimación de impactos ambientales basado en el análisis de ciclo de vida de la fase agrícola de la cadena agroalimentaria convencional y agroecológica de la remolacha (Beta Vulgaris) en el cantón Cayambe.

Abstract

The present investigation was based on the estimation of environmental impacts of the agricultural phase of the conventional agrifood chain and agroecological of beet (Beta vulgaris) in Cayambe based on the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), with the purpose of comparing the results that show the possible benefits in the social, economic and environmental aspects of both agricultural productions. The methodology used for Carbon Footprint (CF), Water Footprint (WF) and LCA was made following the guidelines of ISO 14067, 14046 and 14044 respectively, where the functional unit for each of them was determined, the inputs and outputs of the agricultural phase of the beet to evaluate the environmental impacts generated by each agricultural system and finally interpret the results. The CF was estimated using the guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the WF was estimated following the Manual of Water Footprint Assessment published in 2015 by the Water Footprint Network (WFN); one of the software complement that was used for the calculation of the WF was the CROPWAT 8.0. The average values of CF for the agroecological system (AS) is 0.52 kg CO2eq / kg product and the conventional system (CS) is 2.66 kg CO2eq / kg product, surpassing the AS 5 times more, while the Average value of WF for SA is 8.08 l / kg and CS is 5.46 l / kg showing that the AS requires more water consumption than the CS.