A new method for green forage production: Energy use efficiency and environmental sustainability

In recent decades, hydroponic fodder has been widely used for livestock feed. Studying the energy indicators and life cycle assessment (LCA) of the hydroponic fodder can result in applying the best method for higher production with less environmental impacts. Hence the aims of this study are to evaluate energy and water use and environmental indicators for hydroponic fodder production in central region of Iran. Data collected using oral questionnaire from hydroponic fodder greenhouses in Isfahan province. The results demonstrated that total energy for production of one ton hydroponic fodder is 5060.40 MJ. Also energy ratio (ER) and energy productivity (EP) were calculated as 0.33 and 0.20 kg MJ(-1), respectively. The water productivity (WP) was about 287 kg m(-3) which indicates that about 287 kg of forage is produced per each m(3) of water consumed. The results also showed that despite the many benefits of hydroponic fodder on livestock nutrition, its greenhouse cultivation imposes many adverse effects on the environment. Human health damage categories was calculated as 0.00434 DALY t(-1) which was much more than other similar products. Cumulative exergy demand (CExD) results showed that the percentage of Non-renewable, fossil for hydroponic fodder production mainly result from electricity which can be decreased via using renewable energy (RE) technologies.