A non-trivial challenge along egg supply chains is inefficient use of nitrogen, which may have a combination of negative economic, human/animal health, and environmental implications. A variety of technologies and management strategies have been proposed to improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and reduce emissions at key supply chain stages. This study considered seven scenarios representing NUE strategies: (1) biochar addition to the soil and (2) application of the “4Rs” approach to fertilizer management in feed input production; (3) a reduced crude protein supplemented with synthetic amino acids diet; (4) use of acid scrubbers in poultry barns; (5) biochar addition to stored manure; (6) manure incorporation at the time of land application; and (7) joint application of all strategies. ISO 14044 compliant environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) along with NUE calculations were performed to analyze and compare these mitigation options. The functional unit was one tonne of egg production at the farm gate in Canada. The most significant increase in NUE (13%) resulted from the application of the scrubber in the layer barn. The scrubber also significantly lowered acidifying (21%) and eutrophying (16%) emissions compared to the baseline. The combined application of all strategies increased NUE by 15% compared to the baseline scenario and reduced acidification, global warming, and eutrophication potential, but at the cost of a large increase in energy consumption. Each strategy might be more or less suitable depending on the considered environmental impacts, as well as NUE outcomes. Use of LCA is essential to informed decision making in this context.

鸡蛋供应链上的一项重要挑战是氮的利用效率低下，这可能带来负面的经济，人类/动物健康和环境影响。已经提出了各种技术和管理策略，以提高关键供应链阶段的氮使用效率（NUE）和减少排放。这项研究考虑了代表NUE策略的七个方案：（1）向土壤中添加生物炭；（2）在饲料投入生产中将“ 4Rs”方法应用于肥料管理；（3）减少的粗蛋白，辅以合成氨基酸饮食；（4）在家禽舍中使用酸洗器；（5）生物炭除储存肥料外；（6）土地施用时的粪便掺入；（七）联合运用所有战略。进行了符合ISO 14044的环境生命周期评估（LCA）和NUE计算，以分析和比较这些缓解方案。功能单元是加拿大农场大门处的一吨鸡蛋生产。NUE的最大增加（13％）是由于在层仓中应用了洗涤塔。与基线相比，洗涤塔还显着降低了酸化（21％）和富营养化（16％）排放。与基准方案相比，所有策略的组合应用可使NUE增加15％，并减少酸化，全球变暖和富营养化的潜力，但以能耗的大幅增加为代价。根据所考虑的环境影响以及NUE成果，每种策略或多或少都可能适用。