Biodiesel from Argentinean Soy

Soy farming is a large-scale industrial activity in many South American countries, where intensive, no-till agriculture is commonly practised. This chapter evaluates the greenhouse gas implications of producing biodiesel from soy in Argentina. The results show clear greenhouse gas benefits. However, they also highlight the distinction between attributional and consequential LCA, including the importance of allocation, since soy production has two main products: soy oil and soy meal and how the environmental burdens are allocated across these two products significantly impacts the results. The importance of an appropriate choice of time frame for LCA calculations is introduced with respect to long-term soil health/condition and the associated methodological challenges of accounting for changes in stocks or reserves as well as material and energy flows in analysis. Finally, the importance of taking into account other environmental impacts in life cycle assessment is highlighted, since this production typology results in a reduction in global warming potential, but increased impacts in a number of other environmental impact categories.