Tempeh powder production from different substrates: carbon footprint, land-use change, economic feasibility and eco-efficiency

Purpose The carbon footprint, land use and economic feasibility have been quantified for tempeh production using four alternative substrates (fava bean, chickpea, quinoa and lentil) and traditional tempeh (made from soybean) as a benchmark. The purpose of this study is to compare the environmental and economic results of tempeh made from fava bean, chickpea, quinoa and lentil against the traditionally produced tempeh and explore the eco-efficient tempeh variant. Design/methodology/approach Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCC) have been applied as tools for evaluating the environmental and economic impacts associated with a product or process, respectively. For impact assessment, we have employed ReCiPe 2016 v1.1, which is integrated in the PC-tool GaBi v10.6.2.9 (developed by Sphera Solutions GmbH, Germany). Findings Carbon footprint analysis revealed that lentil-based tempeh has the lowest value (1.599 kg CO2 eq.) per kg product, while fava bean-based product has the lowest value (4.379 kg CO2 eq.) per kg protein in the product. From an eco-efficiency perspective, chickpea-based tempeh powder was identified as the most eco-efficient per kg of product. Originality/value The study also showed that defining a product as more sustainable highly depends on the functional unit on which the ecological and economic impacts are calculated. The results also show that a product could be environmentally friendly but not economically profitable. Therefore, the eco-efficiency method could support in decision-making.