Make the most of Regrow's Sustainability Insights data in a Lifecycle Analysis (LCA)
IPCC Tiers
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines three different methodological approaches for quantifying greenhouse gas emissions for carbon inventories. These approaches are ranked into categories of data quality: Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3.
Regrow’s methodology and data from Sustainability Insights meets IPCC Tier 3 criteria, which is the highest level of rigor. This approach provides the most granular and accurate estimates, resulting in the lowest level of uncertainty.
Process-Based Modeling
Sustainability Insights measurement data is calculated using the process-based DNDC soil model. DNDC simulates how microbes react to changes in soil conditions and the resulting greenhouse gas effects. The DNDC model takes into account site-specific conditions, incorporating data on cropping, fertilizer, tillage, irrigation, weather and soils, resulting in more accurate and location-specific results than Tier 1 and Tier 2 default values provide.
Location-Specific Data
Regrow uses remote sensing-based technology to identify crops and acreage at the field level. This data is then aggregated according to the user’s mapped regions in Sustainability Insights. Regions can be mapped at the county, state, watershed or country level. Custom regions, such as a radius or polygon, are also supported. This approach enables emissions calculations that are location-specific, rather than the use of default values that are often available only at the country level.
Regrow’s Tier 3 Field GHG EFs and Fertilizer EFs can be directly ingested into LCAs. Further computation is only required for additional processing elements off field for each ingredient.
How to leverage Regrow’s metrics for LCAs:
How to use Regrow’s data and the underlying assumptions:
Crop Residue Assumptions:
The actual fraction of fields being baled depends on numerous factors, including the type and settings of the baler, field conditions, weather, moisture levels, and crop type. Regrow’s assumption of 5% baling is a conservative estimate, consistent with scientific literature.
Economic Allocations:
Regrow assumes 100% economic allocation to grain. Given that the economic value of by-products varies by field and state, we conservatively assume they have no economic value, thereby allocating the entire climate impact to the main product.
Climate Zone Assumptions:
Regrow provides regional-level emission factors (EFs) that incorporate region-specific climate details. These EFs are aggregated over the specific fields growing the crop of interest during the relevant time period, with all fields in that region being simulated. Weather data from PRISM (1-4 km resolution) and soil data from SSURGO (10-30 m resolution) are utilized for these simulations.
Roles & Responsibilities
End User/Regrow Customer
- Provide supply shed / system boundaries
- Review and approve Sustainability Insights system configuration, completed by Regrow
- Provide data needs or preferred data reporting templates (if available)
- Review and approve input assumptions and data provided by Sustainability Insights
Regrow
- Configure supply shed / system boundaries in Sustainability Insights
- Deliver agreed upon dataset, inclusive of Emissions Factors and related activity data
- Deliver documentation supporting data provided within Sustainability Insights
LCA Provider
- Consolidate Emissions Factors and related activity data