Evaluating environmental impacts of contrasting pig farming systems with life cycle assessment.

Environmental impacts of 15 European pig farming systems were evaluated in the European Union Q-PorkChains project using life cycle assessment. One conventional and two non-conventional systems were evaluated from each of the five countries: Denmark, The Netherlands, Spain, France and Germany. The data needed for calculations were obtained from surveys of 5 to 10 farms from each system. The systems studied were categorised into conventional (C), adapted conventional (AC), traditional (T) and organic (O). Compared with C systems, AC systems differed little, with only minor changes to improve meat quality, animal welfare or environmental impacts, depending on the system. The difference was much larger for T systems, using very fat, slow-growing traditional breeds and generally outdoor raising of fattening pigs. Environmental impacts were calculated at the farm gate and expressed per kg of pig live weight and per ha of land used. For C systems, impacts per kg LW for climate change, acidification, eutrophication, energy use and land occupation were 2.3 kg CO2-eq, 44.0 g SO2-eq, 18.5 g PO4-eq, 16.2 MJ and 4.1 m2, respectively. Compared with C, differences in corresponding mean values were +13%, +5%, 0%, +2% and +16% higher for AC; +54%, +79%, +23%, +50% and +156% for T, and +4%, -16%, +29%, +11% and +121% for O. Conversely, when expressed per ha of land use, mean impacts were 10% to 60% lower for T and O systems, depending on the impact category. This was mainly because of higher land occupation per kg of pig produced, owing to feed production and the outdoor raising of sows and/or fattening pigs. The use of straw bedding tended to increase climate change impact per kg LW. The use of traditional local breeds, with reduced productivity and feed efficiency, resulted in higher impacts per kg LW for all impact categories. T systems with extensive outdoor raising of pigs resulted in markedly lower impact per ha of land used. Eutrophication potential per ha was substantially lower for O systems. Conventional systems had lower global impacts (global warming, energy use, land use), expressed per kg LW, whereas differentiated systems had lower local impacts (eutrophication, acidification), expressed per ha of land use.

Local order and dynamic properties of liquid Au(x)Si(1-x) alloys by molecular dynamics simulations.

Molecular dynamics simulations are performed to examine structural and dynamic properties of liquid Au-Si alloys around the eutectic composition, with interactions described via a modified embedded-atom model suitable for the liquid properties. The local structure as defined by the partial pair-correlation functions, coordination numbers, and partial structure factors is found to display a strong evolution with composition. In addition, a structural study using a three-dimensional pair-analysis technique evidences a strong evolution of the icosahedral short-range order over the range of concentrations, 0 < x(Si) < 0.5. In examining the dynamic properties of these alloys, we show a strong interplay between the structural changes and the evolution of the self-diffusion coefficients as a function of composition.

Ordering effects in disordered systems: the Au-Si system.

We have characterized the short-range order in the liquid and undercooled states of Au-Si alloy at the eutectic composition using molecular dynamics simulations. The interactions are described via a modified embedded-atom model refined to take into account the liquid properties. For the eutectic liquid, the local structure is characterized by a strong Au-Si affinity, namely a well-pronounced chemical short-range order which leads to the slowing down of the formation of icosahedral local motifs in the undercooled regime. Moreover we discuss the influence of this peculiar local structure on the dynamic and thermodynamic properties of the liquid phase and compare our results with available experimental data.