Avaliação do ciclo de vida e análise da viabilidade econômica de uma fazenda leiteira no estado de Minas Gerais-Brasil

Abstract

Along with the increase in the world population there is an increase in the demand for food including bovine milk. This causes more and more milk production methods to be switched from extensive to intensive systems. This change results in several challenges for achieving environmental and economic sustainability. In environmental parameters livestock farming in intensive systems has stood out mainly because cattle contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions both through the production of enteric methane (CH4) and from fermentation of your manure. In addition to the production of GHGs, other wastes mainly phosphorus in the form of phosphate (PO -43 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and ammonia (NH 3 ) will impact the environment due in large part to the waste treatment systems that have the quantity and quality of inputs used and productivity by area. In this work to assess the environmental impacts of the studied production system a Life Cycle Assessment was carried out. Going further due to the relevance of the economic viability of the production systems a cash flow shaped according to the dairy farm studied was elaborated and with the use of investment analysis techniques the project was evaluated. Thus the objective of this work was to identify the environmental impacts of the dairy production system and to evaluate the economic viability of its implementation. In the first chapter a literature review was carried out with a focus on the state of the art of national and regional dairy farming in the methodology of Life Cycle Assessment and investment analysis techniques. In the second chapter two studies were carried out the first addressing environmental impacts and the second addressing the economic viability of the production system both compiled in an article. The first resulted in a carbon footprint of 1.48 kg per liter of milk corrected for protein and fat and the second in a modified internal rate of return of 46.91%, a Benefit / Cost ratio of 2.82 and a payback discounted from 13.36 years. The sum of the results showed that an intensified productive system with animals confined in a stable although requiring greater financial investment allows a greater financial return and productivity per area.