In a previous article we explained what a life cycle assessment (LCA) is and why our customers need them. Briefly, our customers need our product LCAs to calculate the carbon footprint of the feed they produce, and thereby work out the carbon footprint of their whole business. But what impact do our products have on the carbon footprint of our customers?
Table 1 shows some illustrative values for the carbon footprint of feed ingredients and a selection of Huvepharma products. Compared to some feed ingredients, the carbon footprint of our products can be large when expressed per kg of product.
However, the amount of our feed additives per ton of feed is generally much lower, and so the absolute impact is very limited. When looking at the total carbon footprint of a broiler feed, feed ingredients account for 85 to 95% of the total carbon footprint, depending on the source of the ingredients (considering any change in land use) while feed additives (enzymes, anticoccidials) only contribute between 5 and 15%. When specifically looking at Huvepharma products, the relative contribution is even lower, at ±0.07% and 0.2% for OptiPhos® Plus (at superdosing levels, x4) and our anticoccidials (Monimax® or Sacox®), respectively.
Moreover, our products can contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of production! A recent meta-analysis of all trials carried out with OptiPhos® Plus showed that it reduced the carbon footprint of broiler production (expressed as kg CO2 eq/kg body weight) by 3.4 to 5.6%. This is achieved through two modes of action:
- Including OptiPhos® Plus in the diet releases more phosphorus (P) from the feed ingredients, therefore reducing the amount of inorganic P that needs to be added to the diet. Sources such as monocalcium phosphate (MCP) and dicalcium phosphate (DCP) can account for 1.7 to 4% of the carbon footprint. Thus OptiPhos® Plus can reduce the carbon footprint of feed by 1.7 - 4% through reformulation alone.
- Including higher doses of OptiPhos® Plus improves technical performance (the so-called superdosing effect).
Conclusion
At Huvepharma, we are committed to providing our customers with LCAs for our products. Directly, our products have a limited contribution to the overall carbon footprint of the feed. Indirectly, via reformulation and improved technical performance, we can significantly lower the carbon footprint of production.
