Carbon Emissions in Production and Distribution Pathways of North Carolina’s Local Cut Flower Supply Chains

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:A methodologically sound LCA for a previously understudied product (cut flowers) with clear allocation of life-cycle stages.

🏛政策担当者:Offers evidence that supporting local hub infrastructure may lower supply chain emissions for perishable goods.

Floriculture supply chains are undergoing a shift toward environmental sustainability, driven by consumer demand and industry initiatives to reduce environmental impacts. Although previous research has explored the carbon footprint of some ornamental horticultural products, including containerized bedding plants and trees, domestic US cut flower production and distribution remains largely understudied. Understanding the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with supply-chain models can guide sustainable practices in the domestic floriculture industry. Focusing on six representative flower and greenery taxa, this study compared these emissions from two distribution models: direct point-to-point delivery from growers to floral retailers and a hub-and-spoke network that consolidates inventory through regional wholesale hubs. Inventory data were gathered from 10 growers, 14 retailers, and a wholesale hub in North Carolina. Life-cycle models were developed in openLCA 2.5.0 using the HortiFootprint Category Rules framework, and results were normalized to a per-stem functional unit. The results show that transportation dominated the carbon footprint across all flowers, accounting for nearly 90% of total seasonal emissions, whereas production contributed less than 10% and storage provided 2%. This highlights the importance of prioritizing supply-chain logistics to improve sustainability, with carbon emissions from distribution significantly exceeding those from production and storage. Recommendations for decarbonizing transportation of flowers to the final retail location include combining shipments and deliveries when possible and exploring low-emission vehicles. Using hub distribution suggests potential to reduce GHG emissions in high-travel scenarios, offering a lower carbon option as domestic flower production increases. Furthermore, the social cost of carbon was calculated to provide an economic perspective on the environmental impact of floral supply chains.

• semanticscholar https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci19413-26first seen 2026-07-14 05:09:25