Calculation of carbon and water footprints of three broiler operations in bursa region and determination of their environmental sustainabilities

In this study, it is aimed to evaluate carbon footprint, water footprint and environmental sustainability within operational boundaries per functional unit determined as 1 kg of white meat production in three broiler enterprises operating in Bursa (House-1 [H1], House-2 [H2], House-3 [H3]). The evaluation of the carbon footprint was performed by three different methods. In the calculation method with gas concentration data; 2,2, 3,4 and 3,0 kg CO2 equivalents were obtained for the carbon footprint functional units for H1, H2, H3, respectively. With the Tier-1 method developed by IPCC, N2O, CH4 and CO2 emissions were calculated separately and expressed in terms of total kg CO2 equivalents. Accordingly, it has been shown that 5,1 kg CO2 equivalent gas emission per functional unit occurs in the enterprises. According to the results, the emissions generated by the enterprises per functional unit were found to be 2,3, 3,6 and 3,1 kg CO2 equivalents for H1, H2 and H3 respectively. The second objective of the study was the determination of water footprints in all three enterprises. Blue water footprint of enterprises was evaluated with CCaL2 software. According to the results, 0,003 m3 water / functional unit was obtained by considering the drinking water and usage water amount in the production. As a comprehensive objective of the study, environmental sustainability of enterprises was evaluated. Four environmental indicator parameters were selected including global warming potential, NH3 use, area usage and energy use. It was found that, NH3 emissions and global warming potential were observed within unsustainable limits for all enterprises, while land and energy use were within sustainable limits for all enterprises.