Location: ZA - South Africa
This dataset represents the interventions associated with the provision of 1 kg NPP (Net Primary Productivity of a given land, in kg C / m2 and year) by land that is already in use as arable land. NPP and VEG (above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass and dead organic matter) values are parameterized.
NPP values are reported by Haberl et al. (2007)
VEG values have the following sources:
- Forests: Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010: http://www.fao.org/forestry/fra/fra2010/en/
- Grassland: IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 6, Table 6.4. All values in tonne C/ha, converted to carbon based on 47% carbon content of dry matter biomass (see for example section 6.2.1.4 of IPCC 2006).
- Crops: Cveg croplands, based on Table 11 of the European Commission decision.* All values in tonne C/ha.
* C(2010) 3751: COMMISSION DECISION of 10 June 2010 on guidelines for the calculation of land carbon stocks for the purpose of Annex V to Directive 2009/28/EC, Official Journal of the European Union, L 151/19. Exceptions based on the Table 12 of the EC decision: Coconuts, Jatropha, Jojoba Seeds, Oil palm fruit, Sugar cane
Distinction is made between primary and secondary forests. The respective land area of each type forest is known from FAOSTAT data. Based on empirical values, it is considered that the secondary VEG is 74% of the primary VEG. The same ratio is applied as the weighted average between primary and secondary forest is always equal to the GFRA 2010 value.
Undefined unit processes (UPRs) are the unlinked, multi-product activity datasets that form the basis for all of the system models available in the ecoinvent database. This is the way the datasets are obtained and entered into the database by the data providers. These activity datasets are useful for investigating the environmental impacts of a specific activity (gate-to-gate), without regard to its upstream or downstream impacts.