Findings

Results of the Life Cycle Assessment

The LCA is carried out using the above-mentioned parameters as well as the characteristic values known from the literature for the conversion of all emissions into carbon dioxide equivalent ones [13]. As described above, the emissions for dry ice are calculated based on the entire production chain, including transports from the source of the CO2 to the dry ice production.  Fig. \ref{212903} shows an overview of the results of the individual scenarios divided by phases. So the LCA shows a fairly uniform picture. Having 1.31 kg CO2e  the “shopping trip” scenario is about 5 percent ahead of the scenario  “insulating containers” with 1.38 kg CO2e. Only the scenario  “temperature-controlled distribution” deviates by 32 percent from the “shopping trip” scenario with 1.73 kg CO2e. In the overview, it can be seen that the scenario “temperature-controlled distribution” has weaknesses in the post-run, whereas in the scenario “insulating container” the necessary packaging including dry ice leads to emissions independent of the actual distribution. The introduction of a deposit system, through which the insulating containers could be used several times, offers no ecological advantage in the case of the packaging considered here. In the case of a ten-time use of the insulating container, approximate 155 kg CO2e per  10-liter goods would be incurred per circulation. In order to improve this value, for example, foldable insulating containers would have to be used to save volume and thus to achieve a higher weight-related cargo loading factor.  The scenario “shopping trip” shows weaknesses both in the main run and in the necessary temporary storage in the supermarket. Here, the other two scenarios have corresponding advantages in the direct delivery to the final consumer, but these are fully equalized in the transport in particular in the  “temperature-controlled distribution” scenario. In order to verify the calculation, reference should be made to 'Deutsche Post DHL’s' experience values,  which indicate less than 500 grams of CO2e for shipping an average package via its delivery system [15]. In this calculation, 650 grams are omitted, which is probably due to the fact that there is a more efficient distribution in metropolitan areas that could not be taken into account and on the other hand, the fact that neither volume nor weight of an average package was specified by DHL. From the ecological point, this also shows that the online food trade with delivery via CEP service provider is also a clear alternative to traditional shopping trips. Even with a total range of 5 kilometers with a  modern medium-sized class car, there are more CO2e emissions than for a parcel shipping [15]. In this LCA, frozen foods only have a proportion of  20 % of the total consumption, since no average values could be found in the literature.