02338naa a2200265 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001910000240006024500560008426000090014052014820014965000160163165000190164765000290166665000250169565000300172065000180175065000220176865300330179070000290182370000230185270000210187570000180189677301580191419642402013-08-16       2013    bl ---       0--  u    #d1 aBARRANTES, L. de S.  aLife cycle assessment of brazilian beef production.  c2013  aBrazil has the largest commercial cattle herd in the world, which produced 9.03 million tons of beef in 2011. The country is the second largest beef exporter in the world, with Europe as the primary destination. Given Brazil?s vast territorial dimension and high diversity of ecosystems, the livestock systems practiced in the country vary significantly, consequently also varying the production efficiency and environmental impacts. It is an extremely complex process to combine such diverse production systems in order to obtain to a number that represents the environmental performance of Brazilian livestock. The international databases of Life Cycle Inventories (LCI) do not provide data about Brazilian bovine meat. This work represents the first results of the undertaking by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) to characterize the cattle production systems and to assemble the LCI of the primary beef production in the country. The production systems described represent a major producing Region, the Pantanal Mato-Grossense, where this activity started over two centuries ago. These extensive systems use minor inputs and energy. The negative aspect identified was the low performance of cattle herd ? which is reflected by the extent of the area occupied and by the animals? lifetime span, during which the emissions are generated ? and the positive aspects regard the fact that no land-use change occurred and also the low demand for resources.  aBeef cattle  aClimate change  aEnvironmental assessment  aEnvironmental impact  aenvironmental performance  aGado de corte  aImpacto ambiental  aAvaliação do ciclo de vida1 aMATSUURA, M. I. da S. F.1 aABREU, U. G. P. de1 aSCACHETTI, M. T.1 aTOLEDO, J. S.  tIn: INTERNATIONAL EXERGY, LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT, AND SUSTAINABILITY WORKSHOP & SYMPOSIUM, 3., 2013, Nisyros. Anais... Nisyros: ECOST, 2013. p. 1305-1312.