Determinación de la huella de carbono en la planta de abonos Chávez-Miño

The carbon footprint is an environmental indicator that quantifies the emissions and immissions of the greenhouse gases, additionally it is used to measure the impact caused by the development of anthropogenic activities. The awareness of the governments, organizations and institutions has led them to look for the information of the different productive processes, in which pollutants are in different scales. The objective of the project is to determine the carbon footprint of the partial life cycle of the compost and to use it as a tool that will prove that the process of the Abonos Chavez and Mino SCA Company is sustainable. The calculation of the carbon footprint was done by applying the PAS 2050 specification, with the principle cradle to gate, that establishes the study of the carbon footprint from obtained raw material until the product reaches the hands of the client. Also, the IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories was used like a basis for the realization of the calculations. The period of the inventory was established from September 2015 until august 2016 additionally the stages and activities that are worked out during the compost production were also established, and the sources of direct and indirect emissions. As a result, it was exposed that the carbon footprint of the partial life cycle of the compost was 498.25 tons of CO2 equivalent, where the main sources of the generation were the windrows, representing the 48.77 percent of the carbon footprint. Therefore it was established as a critical process the treatment of the organic material. The Abonos Chavez y Mino Company emits 0.39 tons of CO2 equivalent per each ton of organic fertilizer that is produced.