Concealed nitrogen footprint in protein-free foods
An empirical example using oil palm products
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15548348 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kentaro Hayashi (0000-0002-2936-9544, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, corresponding author), Azusa Oita (0000-0002-1876-2033, Research Center for Agricultural Information Technology), Kazuya Nishina (0000-0002-8820-1282, National Institute for Environmental Studies) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 035006-035006 |
| Publication date | 2020-01-08 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/ab68ea |
| OpenAlex | W3000390517 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 46 |
The agro-food system satisfying human food demand releases heavy nitrogen (N) loads into the environment. The N footprint is an indicator of N loads from individual consumption of food as well as energy. A bottom-up approach called the ‘N-calculator method’ calculates the food N footprint using the N content in consumed foods, such that the N footprint of protein-free foods is treated as zero. This method underestimates the N footprint of protein-free foods, such as oil and sugar, when the source crops require N input in production. In this study, we propose a substitution factor, the virtual nitrogen factor for protein-free foods (VNFree), defined as the potential N load per unit weight of consumed food, to explicitly calculate the production N footprint. Oil palm and its products, palm oil (PO) and palm kernel oil (PKO), were chosen for this case study of protein-free foods. Global mean VNFree values of PO and PKO obtained by averaging national-scale data of the three countries with the largest production (Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand) were 0.0241 and 0.0037 kg N kg –1 oil, respectively. The 6.5-times difference in VNFree values was attributed to the difference in oil yield. The food N footprint of PO and PKO calculated here represented less than 2% of the previously reported total food N footprints of several countries. However, oil palm products are also used for industry, and the chemical fertilizer consumption for oil palm accounted for only 8%–12% of that of all oil and sugar crops. The protein-free N footprint of all these products will be much larger. We expect that the current N-calculator method as a bottom-up approach will be improved by expanding the VNFree concept, which enables the calculation of the concealed N footprint in protein-free products, including all uses of oil and sugar crops
Agricultural economics · Agricultural engineering · Agricultural science · Biology · Economics · Food processing · Food waste · Footprint · Palm kernel oil · Palm oil · Production (economics · Pulp and paper industry · Sugar · Waste management · Yield (engineering · Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact · Chemistry · Engineering · Environmental Impact and Sustainability · Environmental Science · Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies · Food Science
Carbon Footprint of Nations
A nitrogen footprint model to help consumers understand their role in nitrogen losses to the environment
Exploring global changes in nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in agriculture induced by livestock production over the 1900–2050 period
The global nitrogen cycle in the twenty-first century
How a century of ammonia synthesis changed the world
Oil palm expansion transforms tropical landscapes and livelihoods
Water footprints of nations
Substantial nitrogen pollution embedded in international trade
International trade drives biodiversity threats in developing nations
The water footprint of humanity
Remotely sensed evidence of tropical peatland conversion to oil palm
Planetary boundaries
Reducing nitrogen footprints of consumer-level food loss and protein overconsumption in Japan, considering gender and age differences
Nitrogen footprints
Toward a nitrogen footprint calculator for Tanzania
First approach to the Japanese nitrogen footprint model to predict the loss of nitrogen to the environment
Characterizing commercial oil palm expansion in Latin America
Year Trends in Nitrogen Use Efficiency of World Cropping Systems
Blaming the consumer – once again
The physical dimension of international trade, part 2
Minimizing the ecological footprint of food
What are the limits to oil palm expansion
The nitrogen footprint of food products and general consumption patterns in Austria
Nitrogen and Food Production
Food nitrogen footprint reductions related to a balanced Japanese diet
Food Choice
Beyond the Throwaway Society
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2020 - 2025 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |