Economic and environmental metabolic model as a tool for future sustainable dairy farms for Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
The objective of this project is the application of the metabolic model and analysis to a farm, conceived as a living being. The approach of the metabolic model is based on the integrated and unique analysis of the balance of green-house gases (GHG), energy consumption, water use and economic performance, with the aim of assessing the profitability and the environmental impact of the farm. The project provides for the application of the metabolic model to dairy farms for the production of Parmigiano Reggiano (P-R) cheese.
• development of the metabolic analysis calculation methodology applied to the dairy farms in the Parmigiano Reggiano district;
• carbon footprint calculation, water footprint, energy consumption and economic balance of the farms involved;
• assessment of the economic and environmental performance, evaluation of potential intervention to improve the parameters and mitigate the environmental impact;
• communication, dissemination of results and farmers training.
One of the main challenges that farms will face in the near future is to combine economic efficiency and environmental sustainability: for this reason tools and models are needed in order to assess the performance of a farm and to plan possible interventions to mitigate the environmental impact without reducing profitability.
But how is it possible to quantify the economic / environmental interactions between farm and land? The OG "metabolic model" aims to develop an innovative tool, testing it on three dairy farms of the Parmigiano Reggiano Area.
The concept of the metabolic model is based on the analogy between a production system and the metabolism of living organisms. There is an input stage (energy, materials and money) and an output stage, producing waste: in between there is the production phase. As any living being absorbs gas, water and materials that are metabolized to become waste, we can imagine a farm metabolism, which you can measure in terms of material and energyflows.
The model will assess the economic and environmental performance of the farms according to an integrated analysis of the greenhouse gas, water, energy and economic balances. Then mitigation best practices will be identified and integrated into the model In this way it would become also a tool to analyze the possible strategies of intervention.
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GOI CRPA
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Modello metabolico
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Sito web
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Video scribing
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Articolo su Impatto Ambientale
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Articolo su Agro Notizie
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