The Carbon Footprint and Ecosystem Services of Black Soldier Fly Larvae Meal as an Alternative Protein Source for Aquaponics

Main Article Content

Abstract

Aquaponics is a food production system that combines aquaculture (raising aquatic animals) and hydroponics (growing plants in water) in a symbiotic relationship. One of the challenges of aquaponics is finding a sustainable and cost-effective protein source for the fish feed. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) are an emerging alternative protein source that can be produced from organic waste and have a high nutritional value. In this study, we compared the carbon footprint and ecosystem services of BSFL meal with other commonly used protein sources, such as fish meal, soybean meal, and corn gluten meal, for aquaponics. We used a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach to estimate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the ecosystem services associated with the production of each protein source. The ecosystem services considered were waste reduction, nutrient recycling, biodiversity conservation, and climate change mitigation. The results showed that BSFL meal had the lowest carbon footprint of 0.5 kg CO2e/kg, while fish meal had the highest carbon footprint of 3.7 kg CO2e/kg, followed by soybean meal (1.0 kg CO2e/kg) and corn gluten meal (1.1 kg CO2e/kg). The results also showed that BSFL meal provided the highest ecosystem services of waste reduction (2.5 kg/kg), nutrient recycling (0.15 kg/kg), biodiversity conservation (0.01 ha/kg), and climate change mitigation (-0.45 kg CO2e/kg), while fish meal provided the lowest ecosystem services of waste reduction (0 kg/kg), nutrient recycling (0 kg/kg), biodiversity conservation (-0.02 ha/kg), and climate change mitigation (3.7 kg CO2e/kg). Based on these findings, we conclude that BSFL meal is a promising alternative protein source for aquaponics that can reduce the environmental impact and enhance the ecosystem services of food production. We also suggest that BSFL production can be integrated with aquaponics in a synergistic way, creating a circular economy system that maximizes resource efficiency and value creation.

Article Details

How to Cite
The Carbon Footprint and Ecosystem Services of Black Soldier Fly Larvae Meal as an Alternative Protein Source for Aquaponics. (2023). Ecological Insights, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.59411/dyg66b83
Section
Articles

How to Cite

The Carbon Footprint and Ecosystem Services of Black Soldier Fly Larvae Meal as an Alternative Protein Source for Aquaponics. (2023). Ecological Insights, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.59411/dyg66b83

Share

References

Rakocy JE, Masser MP, Losordo TM. Recirculating aquaculture tank production systems: aquaponics—integrating fish and plant culture. SRAC Publication No. 454. 2006. https://srac.tamu.edu/fact-sheets/view/454

Goddek S, Delaide B, Mankasingh U, Ragnarsdottir KV, Jijakli H, Thorarinsdottir R. Challenges of sustainable and commercial aquaponics. Sustainability. 2015;7(4):4199-4224. https://doi.org/10.3390/su7044199

König B, Junge R, Bittsánszky A, Villarroel M, Komives T. On the sustainability of aquaponics. Ecocycles. 2016;2(1):26-32. https://doi.org/10.19040/ecocycles.v2i1.53

Tacon AGJ, Metian M. Global overview on the use of fish meal and fish oil in industrially compounded aquafeeds: trends and future prospects. Aquaculture. 2008;285(1-4):146-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2008.08.015

Naylor RL, Hardy RW, Bureau DP, Chiu A, Elliott M, Farrell AP, Forster I, Gatlin DM, Goldburg RJ, Hua K, Nichols PD. Feeding aquaculture in an era of finite resources. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2009;106(36):15103-15110. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0905235106

Pelletier N, Tyedmers P. Feeding farmed salmon: is organic better? Aquaculture. 2007;272(1-4):399-416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2007.08.019

Henry M, Gasco L, Piccolo G, Fountoulaki E. Review on the use of insects in the diet of farmed fish: past and future. Animal Feed Science and Technology. 2015;203:1-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2015.03.001

Makkar HPS, Tran G, Heuzé V, Ankers P. State-of-the-art on use of insects as animal feed. Animal Feed Science and Technology. 2014;197:1-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2014.07.008

Diener S, Zurbrügg C, Tockner K. Conversion of organic material by black soldier fly larvae: establishing optimal feeding rates. Waste Management & Research. 2009;27(6):603-610. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242X09103838

Nguyen TT, Tomberlin JK, Vanlaerhoven S. Ability of black soldier fly (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) larvae to recycle food waste. Environmental Entomology. 2015;44(2):406-410. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvv002

St-Hilaire S, Sheppard C, Tomberlin JK, Irving S, Newton L, McGuire MA, Mosley EE, Hale OM, Gomez E. Fly prepupae as a feedstuff for rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Journal of the World Aquaculture Society. 2007;38(1):59-67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-7345.2006.00073.x

Spranghers T, Ottoboni M, Klootwijk C, Ovyn A, Deboosere S, De Meulenaer B, Michiels J, Eeckhout M, De Clercq P, De Smet S. Nutritional composition of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) prepupae reared on different organic waste substrates. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 2017;97(8):2594-2600. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.8081

Smetana S, Palanisamy M, Mathys A, Heinz V. Sustainability of insect use for feed and food: life cycle assessment perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2019;222:909-919. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.03.043

ISO 14040:2006 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Principles and framework. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland.

ISO 14044:2006 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Requirements and guidelines. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland.

Myhre G, Shindell D, Bréon FM, Collins W, Fuglestvedt J, Huang J, Koch D, Lamarque JF, Lee D, Mendoza B, Nakajima T, Robock A, Stephens G, Takemura T, Zhang H. Anthropogenic and natural radiative forcing. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker TF, Qin D, Plattner GK, Tignor M, Allen SK, Boschung J, Nauels A, Xia Y, Bex V, Midgley PM (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

González-García S, Hospido A, Moreira MT, Feijoo G. Environmental assessment of green soybean production in Galicia (NW Spain). Journal of Cleaner Production. 2010;18(16):1782-1791. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.07.017

Kim S, Dale BE. Life cycle assessment of fuel ethanol derived from corn grain via dry milling. Bioresource Technology. 2005;96(9):1015-1027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2004.09.015

Ecoinvent 3.6 Database. Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, St Gallen, Switzerland.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis. Island Press, Washington, DC.

Costanza R, de Groot R, Sutton P, van der Ploeg S, Anderson SJ, Kubiszewski I, Farber S, Turner RK. Changes in the global value of ecosystem services. Global Environmental Change. 2014;26:152-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.04.002

FAO. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 - Meeting the sustainable development goals. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy.

Barragan J, de los Angeles CH. Insects as feed: an emergent opportunity for aquaculture development. Reviews in Aquaculture. 2018;10(4):999-1018. https://doi.org/10.1111/raq.12229

Diener S, Studt Solano NM, Roa Gutierrez F, Zurbrugg C, Tockner K. Biological treatment of municipal organic waste using black soldier fly larvae. Waste and Biomass Valorization. 2011;2(4):357-363. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-011-9079-1

EPA. Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2018 Fact Sheet. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC.

Lohri CR, Diener S, Zabaleta I, Mertenat A, Zurbrugg C. Treatment technologies for urban solid biowaste to create value products: a review with focus on low- and middle-income settings. Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology. 2017;16(1):81-130. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11157-017-9422-5

FAO. The State of the World's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy.

Foley JA, Ramankutty N, Brauman KA, Cassidy ES, Gerber JS, Johnston M, Mueller ND, O'Connell C, Ray DK, West PC, Balzer C, Bennett EM, Carpenter SR, Hill J, Monfreda C, Polasky S, Rockstrom J, Sheehan J, Siebert S, Tilman D, Zaks DP. Solutions for a cultivated planet. Nature. 2011;478(7369):337-342. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10452

IPCC. Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Edenhofer O, Pichs-Madruga R, Sokona Y, Farahani E, Kadner S, Seyboth K, Adler A, Baum I, Brunner S, Eickemeier P, Kriemann B, Savolainen J, Schlömer S, von Stechow C, Zwickel Tand Minx JC (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

Tomberlin JK, Sheppard DC, Joyce JA. Selected life-history traits of black soldier flies (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) reared on three artificial diets. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 2002;95(3):379-386. https://doi.org/10.1603/0013-8746(2002)095[0379:SLHTOB]2.0.CO;2

Pauly D, Christensen V, Guénette S, Pitcher TJ, Sumaila UR, Walters CJ, Watson R, Zeller D. Towards sustainability in world fisheries. Nature. 2002;418(6898):689-695. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01017

Stamer A, Wesselmann S, Wahlers T, Adler A. Effects of different feeding regimes on survival rates and growth performance of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens). Journal of Insects as Food and Feed. 2016;2(4):277-284. https://doi.org/10.3920/JIFF2016.0015

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 3 > >>