The effect of Excential Energy Plus (a nutritional emulsifier) on the environmental footprint of broiler production was measured on the basis of a series of scientific trials (University of Lavras, Brazil) in a collaboration with Blonk Consultants, a leading firm in the application of LCA systematics related to agriculture, that collaborates on governmental level as advising body. LCA is a technique to evaluate the environmental impact associated with the life of a product or service from cradle to grave. Product Environmental Footprint Guidelines (PEF) of the European Union were applied as methodology for the calculations.
The performance effect of Excential Energy Plus in these trials were representative for the whole collection of scientific trials performed with the product, as well as for the effects observed under practical conditions.
The objective of the study was to assess the footprint of broilers fed with and without Excential Energy Plus, in view of several environment impact categories: climate change, eutrophication, acidification and land use (change).
The main results obtained were
- The production of 1 kg of Energy Plus represents a carbon footprint of 1.15 kg of CO2eq/kg of product
- The application of Excential Energy Plus in the broiler diet allows to reduce acidification and eutrophication effects by about 1.5-2.0%, and the land use effects with about 2.0 to 3.5%. these effects are due to a lower impact of ammonia emissions, and a shift in raw material composition of the diet.
- In terms of total effect of the carbon footprint of broilers, the effect is significant. The use of Excential Energy Plus allows to reduce the carbon footprint of broiler production with about 0.12 kg of CO2 eq./kg live weight.
Applying this calculation in practice, allows a broiler company, producing about 100 Mio broilers per year, weighing about 2kg at slaughter, to reduce its carbon footprint in terms of broiler production with about 20,000 MT or 0.02 MegaTon of CO2 eq. per year!
To put things into perspective… the Climate Agreement as adopted in the Netherlands is scheduled to lead to a reduction in CO2 eq., exclusively by animal husbandry, of 1.20-2.70 MegaTon per year, by 2030.
If all broilers produced in the Netherlands would be fed with Excential Energy Plus, this would allow to account for about 10% of this objective.
