Avaliação do ciclo de vida da carne premium e super premium produzida em confinamento do estado de São Paulo

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aims to evaluate the environmental impacts of three different lines of premium and super-premium beef produced in feedlot in the state of São Paulo, through the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. We used data from the three different diets supplied to the animals, the average weight of feedlot, average slaughter weight and average carcass yield. On average, are slaughtered per year 3400 animals of Nellore x Angus (F1) industrial crossbreeding called Oba line, 440 animals of the Angus majority blood composition, called Beef Passion line, and 220 animals originated from crossing with Nellore, Angus and Wagyu, the latter being bloody Wagyu compounds, called Beef Passion Wagyu. In this confinement, the animals in the Beef Passion line are bred with animal welfare, with shade and music available in the stalls. To measure emissions, the precepts of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were followed, and methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions were measured using the equations provided, according to the digestibility of diets and crude protein. Emission factors from the IPCC (Internation Painel on Climatic Change) and EMBRAPA (Brazilian Institute of Agriculture research) were used to obtain results more reliable to the national reality. Subsequently, using the results already obtained, the potential of acidification, eutrophication, carbon footprint equivalent for the three different animal groups was measured using the SimaPro software. Measurements were also made in the software for the phase prior to the confinement, in which the animals are kept in pastures, and for that, data from previous works were used. The animals enter the feedlot at around 17 months of age, around 300 kg for the Oba line and 350 kg for the Beef Passion lines. In the confinement phase, the Oba animals had emissions of 5.0323 kg of CO2 equivalent per kg of live weight, the Beef Passion Angus animals had emissions of 4.7746 kg of CO2 equivalent per kg of live weight, and the Beef Passion Wagyu animals emitted 8.8858 kg of CO2 equivalent per kg of live weight. Confinement proved to be an environmentally less impactful option for quality meat production, with a lower carbon footprint.