Spatiotemporal investigation into water, land, energy, and carbon footprints of broiler and correlations among them in China

As one of the most common type of meat, broiler breeding consumes a large amount of water, land, energy and contributes to significant greenhouse gas emissions, leading to greater pressure on the environment. China is the second largest broiler producer in the world. However, a simultaneous water, land, energy and carbon footprints evaluation is insufficient. Here, we used an integrated environmental footprint method based on life cycle approach to build a water-land-energy-carbon footprint model on the broiler breeding with the stages of feed crop planting, feed processing, transportation, and on-farm farming. Spatial variation and emission mitigation potential are explored through virtual footprint flow analysis and scenario analysis. The results show that the unit water, land, energy, and carbon footprints decreased during 1990–2020, while the total footprint increased significantly. For spatial distribution, the total footprint is higher in the Southeast, and the unit footprint is mainly influenced by feed conversion rates, energy consumption, and crop cultivation processes. Scenario analysis indicated that increased straw utilization, increased recycling of chicken manure, and upgrading of breeding technology could reduce the unit carbon footprint by 0.93%, 5.25%, and 14.18%, respectively, and that a combination of measures could reduce the carbon footprint by 20.19%. The correlation between footprints arises from shared driving processes. Based on the findings, targeted recommendations were proposed, including the adoption of cleaner production measures, the adjustment of the spatial distribution of broiler breeding, the refinement of land-use policies and the replacement of chemical fertilizers with composted chicken manure.