Carbon Footprint of Grape Pomace Feed for California Dairy Cows

A study from Harvard Dataverse quantifies the environmental trade-offs of using grape pomace, a winemaking by-product, as dairy cattle feed. Researcher Kassio Lucas evaluated impacts on carbon emissions, water use, and soil contamination. The dataset was published in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Compare carbon_footprint_metric between conventional feed and grape_pomace_feed scenarios.
• Model trade-offs between water_use_impact and soil_contamination_potential for different feeding strategies.
• Calculate potential emission reductions per dairy_cow or per farm_unit based on feed substitution rates.
• Assess regional environmental impact in California by linking farm_location data with impact metrics.

Strengths

• Focuses on a specific agro-industrial by-product (grape pomace) and its application in California dairy systems.
• Study design evaluates multiple environmental impact categories: carbon, water, and soil.

Limitations

• Unknown sample size (number of farms, cows, or simulation runs) limits statistical assessment.
• Data scope is geographically limited to California, reducing generalizability.
• Specific column names, data formats, and row counts are not provided.

Provenance

Source

Harvard Dataverse, authored by Kassio Lucas.

Collection Method

Life cycle assessment (LCA) study evaluating feed substitution.

Freshness

Last updated March 2026, indicating recent publication.

Geography

California, United States.