Life Cycle Inventory Analysis of Prospective Insect Based Feed Production in West Africa

Roffeis, Martin; Almeida, Joana; Wakefield, Maureen; Valada, Tatiana; Devic, Emilie; Koné, N’Golopé; Kenis, Marc; Nacambo, Saidou; Fitches, Elaine; Koko, Gabriel; Mathijs, Erik; Achten, Wouter; Muys, Bart

doi:10.3390/su9101697

Life Cycle Inventory Analysis of Prospective Insect Based Feed Production in West Africa

Roffeis, Martin; Almeida, Joana; Wakefield, Maureen; Valada, Tatiana; Devic, Emilie; Koné, N’Golopé; Kenis, Marc; Nacambo, Saidou; Fitches, Elaine; Koko, Gabriel; Mathijs, Erik; Achten, Wouter; Muys, Bart

Authors

Martin Roffeis

Joana Almeida

Maureen Wakefield

Tatiana Valada

Emilie Devic

N’Golopé Koné

Marc Kenis

Saidou Nacambo

Dr Elaine Fitches e.c.fitches@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Gabriel Koko

Erik Mathijs

Wouter Achten

Bart Muys

Abstract

While the concept of insect based feeds (IBFs) promises great potential, especially in developing countries, the sustainability performance of IBF production remains widely underexplored. Drawing on experimental data from rearing trials in West Africa, three different insect production systems were modelled ex-ante. The generic models served as a basis to analyse and compare the process performances of different IBF production systems using Musca domestica and Hermetia illucens reared on different substrates. The results show that the input efficiency in the production of IBF is largely determined by the quality of rearing substrates, the larval development time and the employed inoculation practises, i.e., the method by which eggs or larvae are added to rearing substrates. The H. illucens system ranked highest for conversion efficiency (substrate input per IBF output), but showed substantially higher inputs in labour, fossil energy and output of wastewater. M. domestica systems operated at lower conversion efficiencies, which resulted in higher outputs of residue substrates, together with higher emissions, land requirements, built infrastructure and water. By offering full disclosure of generic inventory data, this study provides data and inspiration for prospect research and development activities and offers a reference to future life cycle assessments (LCAs) on IBF.

Citation

Roffeis, M., Almeida, J., Wakefield, M., Valada, T., Devic, E., Koné, N., …Muys, B. (2017). Life Cycle Inventory Analysis of Prospective Insect Based Feed Production in West Africa. Sustainability, 9(10), Article 1697. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9101697

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Sep 16, 2017
Online Publication Date	Sep 22, 2017
Publication Date	Sep 22, 2017
Deposit Date	Oct 11, 2017
Publicly Available Date	Oct 13, 2017
Journal	Sustainability
Publisher	MDPI
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	9
Issue	10
Article Number	1697
DOI	https://doi.org/10.3390/su9101697

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© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).