Life Cycle Assessment; LCA

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies are used to determine the environmental impacts of products, services, or organizations. The life cycle assessment method is also the basis for:

• Environmental product declaration;
• Carbon footprint;
• Greenhouse gas report;
• Environmental footprint of the product and organization;
• Global Reporting Initiative;
• Ecodesign and Eco-innovation;
• Circular economy;
• Water footprint and more

LCA studies can serve as a tool for reducing the environmental impact of companies, as motivational aspects in communication with the customer, as motivational tools for environmental policy (e.g., agriculture), for increasing competitiveness, or for development and research. The benefit of the LCA method is its ability to interpret data into a clear set of environmental indicators or into an ecological footprint. With the help of LCA, it is possible to compare the environmental impacts of products with regard to their function or evaluate the environmental impacts with respect to the entire product life cycle. The LCA study generally has the ability to identify the transmission of environmental problems both in space and between different impact categories. It is, therefore, possible to detect the transfer of problems from place to place. The outputs of a particular LCA study are not valid in general but always under given and clearly specified conditions. The benefit of the LCA method is just a clear definition of the conditions of validity of studies, placing the knowledge about the interactions of technological processes and the environment into a specific technological, environmental, and socio-economic context.

Agricultural primary production, agricultural techniques and technologies, agricultural service, food production and processing, food distribution, storage, logistics, waste management, environmental design of agricultural systems, plant and animal production, special plant production, eco-design and eco-innovation of farms, etc.

• LCA study: Development of an LCA study when determining the goal and scope of the study, inventory of related data, assessment of environmental impacts, and interpretation of results in accordance with ČSN EN ISO 14040 and 14044.
• Water footprint: Calculation of the water footprint according to ČSN EN ISO 14046.
• Carbon footprint: Quantification of the carbon footprint of the product according to ČSN ISO 14067 and the carbon footprint of the organization according to ČSN ISO 14064.
• Ecodesign: Evaluation of sustainability and environmental design based on the LCA study and requirements of ČSN ISO 14045.

The studies are based on detailed data collection directly at the place of implementation (so-called site-specific data) and are supplemented with unit or system data from professional databases and libraries. The studies are based on many years of experience in the field of agriculture and on modern approaches.

The laboratory will be able to rely on many years of experience from working in the scientific space as part of publishing in international journals and from working as part of national and international projects. The workplace is also based on experience from professional training SimaPro and LCA training: in-depth; Instructed by Pré Sustainability, Amersfoort, the Netherlands.

• Bernas, J., Koppensteiner, L. J., Tichá, M., Kaul, H.-P., Klimek-Kopyra, A., Euteneuer, P., Moitzi, G., & Neugschwandtner, R. W. (2023). Optimal environmental design of nitrogen application rate for facultative wheat using life cycle assessment. European Journal of Agronomy, 146, 126813.
• Bernas, J.,Bernasová, T., Kaul, H.-P., Wagentristl, H., Moitzi, G., Neugschwandtner, R.W. (2021). Sustainability Estimation of Oat:Pea Intercrops from the Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment Perspective. Agronomy, 11, 2433.
• Bernas, J., Bernasová, T., Gerstberger, P., Moudrý, J., & Konvalina, P. (2021). Cup plant, an alternative to conventional silage from a LCA perspective. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 1-16.
• Bernas, J., Bernasová, T., Nedbal, V., Neugschwandtner, R.W. (2021). Agricultural LCA for Food Oil of Winter Rapeseed, Sunflower, and Hemp, Based on Czech Standard Cultivation Practices. Agronomy, 11, 2301.
• Bernas, J., Konvalina, P., Burghila, D. V., Teodorescu, R. I., & Bucur, D. (2020). The Energy and Environmental Potential of Waste from the Processing of Hulled Wheat Species. Agriculture, 10(12), 592.
• Bernas, J., Moudrý Jr, J., Kopecký, M., Konvalina, P., & Štěrba, Z. (2019). Szarvasi-1 and Its Potential to Become a Substitute for Maize Which Is Grown for the Purposes of Biogas Plants in the Czech Republic. Agronomy, 9(2), 98.
• Bernas, J., Moudry Jr, J., Jelinkova, Z., Kopecky, M., Konvalina, P., & Moudry, J. (2016). Energy crops growing-impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Journal of Environmental Protection and Ecology, 17(3), 950-960.