Emisión de carbono equivalente en la generación de beneficios económicos de la ganadería en el piedemonte amazónico colombiano.

The study proposed to estimate the carbon equivalent (CO2e) generated by livestock activity in the Amazon piedmont and how it relates to economic benefits. Profitability indicators (such as net present value, benefit-cost ratio and single rate of return) were calculated and CO2e emissions from operational, administrative and marketing activities were estimated for a sample of 60 farms located in the Colombian Amazon piedmont. Cluster analysis was used as a multivariate technique to determine typologies according to the socioeconomic characteristics of producers and production levels of the farms. An econometric model was proposed to find the marginal CO2e emission attributed to utility generation, whose theoretical and statistical validity used the maximum likelihood estimator and hypothesis testing of means. Two types of farms were found according to economic and environmental factors: simple accumulation livestock systems and subsistence livestock systems. The impact of livestock activity on the environment is observable through the carbon footprint: for each million pesos generated in profits, 0.033 Mg of CO2e are emitted, while for each cattle introduced, 1.337 Mg of CO2e are emitted. A carbon footprint of 3.1 Mg CO2e.ha-1 was estimated for the farms. These data provide environmental and economic indicators for the assessment of sustainability and show the impact of livestock activity on the emission of greenhouse gases, which has led to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]