CO₂ Footprint of Kiwi Fruits Deduced from Field Measurements and Cultivation Energy Data

Abstract

The unequivocal understanding of the planetary-global climate change has rendered the apportionment of sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the terrestrial domain, an urgent priority. In the present study, the micrometeorological method of “dynamic gradient fluxes” coupled with the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory, was utilised for the determination of net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide (CO2) from a kiwi plantation. This annual net exchange, in conjunction with the energy and fertiliser equivalent CO2 used, established the CO2 footprint of the produce. For the year 2023, the CO2 Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) is −16.20 tonnes per hectare per year (CO2 uptake by the plantation). The cultivation processes used throughout the year consumed +2.96 tonnes per hectare per year, and after deduction of this value from the NEE, the result is in a net CO2 sink for the kiwi plantation of −13.24 tonnes per hectare per year. It is hence obvious that, under these conditions, the kiwi plantations in Greece can be net CO2 sinks. This result is of increasing importance since the country is the fourth largest producer of kiwi globally, with production increasing in later years.

Keywords

• CO₂ footprint
• net ecosystem exchange
• dynamic gradient method
• kiwi plantation
• CO₂ fluxes