The goal of this study is the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions which occur during the
production of Ecuadorian Flowers. Emissions are considered beginning with the production of raw
materials up to the point where the flowers are sold to the final wholesale. This book
describes the current status of international standardisation with their relevance to the
calculation. Currently there are no official regulations for CO2 calculations. Because most of
the flowers are sold to Europe the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) regulations ISO 14040 ff have
been applied for the methodology and the creation of the system model. The importance of this
standard has been pointed out as it will be the basis for upcoming European CO2 regulations.
Nowadays a widely accepted method is the greenhouse gas protocol which has been used partly for
the calculations because only few sectors (e.g. transportation) are covered. Further on the
model of flower production is introduced. The model includes all processes and the system
boundaries. Significant factors contributing to the greenhouse gas emissions are defined as
airfreight of flower to the final market consumption of electricity and usage of fertilizers
on the farm. The process of collecting data is another subject of this study including the
last audit data from the Flower Label Program (FLP) as well as independently created inquiries
and visits on the pilot farms. The calculation of CO2 emissions is comprised. The sources of
the emissions factors are described in the beginning which are mostly extracted from LCA
software. Furthermore this book proposes the next steps on the way to CO2 neutral flowers.
Firstly the calculation has to be certified by an independent organisation. Subsequently a
decision on CO2 compensation has to be taken. The purchase of CO2 certificates from official or
voluntary stock exchanges was recommended because self managed CO2 projects need start-up time.
The last step is the marketing of the new product which should be realized with a CO2 label
widely accepted in the distribution markets. Parallel the farms should start to optimize their
farms according to CO2 emissions. Since global warming potential is only one measurement of
interference with nature other criteria should be investigated as: How is the quality of ground
water? To what extend occurs acidification in the cultivated areas? An integrated LCA analysis
would give answers to these questions.
