Carbon and water footprints of pig feed in France: Environmental contributions of pig feed with industrial amino acid supplements

Abstract

Japanese pigs are farmed by giving them cereal crop feed, consequently, the Japanese pig industry increases indirect impact on the environment. Contrastingly, French pigs are farmed by feeding them an appropriate quantity of low-protein feed to decrease environmental impact of feed cereal cultivation. The proposed study aims to assess the carbon and water footprints of conventional and low-protein pig feeds in the French model and extends these findings to Japan. When essential amino acids of soybean meals were partially replaced by industrially manufactured amino acids (forming a low-protein feed), the carbon and water-consumption footprints in France were lowered by 0.41 t-CO2/t-feed and 100 m3/t-feed, respectively. The low-protein feed also incurred a 10% lower water-eutrophication footprint in comparison with the conventional feed. Based on these findings, if low-protein feed is widely used in Japan, the pig industry would reduce CO2 emissions and water consumption by 248,000 t-CO2/y and 68,000 km3/y, respectively.