Carbon Footprint and Costs of Pot-in-Pot Production System Components Using Life Cycle Assessment

Input materials and operations for the components of a model pot-in-pot (PIP) production system were analyzed using life cycle assessment methods.  The impact of each component on global warming potential (GWP; kilograms of CO₂-equivalent), or carbon footprint, and variable production costs was determined for 5-cm-caliper Acer rubrum L. ‘October Glory’ in a #25 container.  Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of inputs and processes invested in the product at the nursery gate approached 17 kg CO₂e.  Carbon sequestration weighted over a 100-year assessment period was estimated to be 4.6 kg CO_2, yielding a nursery gate GWP of approximately 12 kg CO₂e.  The major contributors to the GWP at the nursery gate were the substrate, production container, the 3.17-cm-caliper, bare root liner, and PIP system installation while the liner and production container also contributed significantly to the variable costs.  Input materials and labor constituted about 72% and 25% of variable costs, respectively.  Unlike field production systems, equipment use in PIP production accounted for only 10% to GHG emissions and 2% of variable costs.