Energy and emergy analysis for assessing changes in Polish agriculture since the accession to the European Union

Lewandowska-Czarnecka, Anna; Buller, Luz Selene; Nienartowicz, Andrzej; Piernik, Agnieszka

doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.108819

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…This approach was also most often used in agriculture. Energy efficiency indicators are used to evaluate various agricultural systems as well as production methods (ecological, conventional) [47][48][49][50][51]. According to Risoud [52] and the methodology developed in her work, the energy efficiency of a farm is defined as the following ratio: gross energy of useful products/non-renewable energies used to produce them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic and Energy Efficiency of Farms in Poland

et al. 2021

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Climate change and negative environmental effects are results of a simplified understanding of management processes, i.e., assuming economic effects as the basis for development, without taking into account external costs. Economically efficient facilities are not always environmentally efficient. Due to the existing conflict of economic and environmental goals, it seems necessary to look for measures that would include both economic and environmental elements in their structure. The above doubts were the main reasons for undertaking this research. One of the important sectors of the economy accepted for research, where energy is an essential factor of production, is agriculture. Agricultural production is very diversified both in terms of inputs and final products. Depending on the production direction, the processes of conversion of energy accumulated in inputs into energy accumulated in commodity products have different natures and relationships. Taking into account the importance of agriculture in the national economy and the current environmental needs of the world, the types of farms generating energy surplus and those in which the surplus is the least cost-consuming were indicated. The research used the economic and energy efficiency index, which makes it possible to jointly assess technical and economic efficiency. Assuming the need to produce food with low energy consumption and a positive energy balance, it is reasonable to develop a support system for those farms showing the highest economic and energy efficiency indicators.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic and Energy Efficiency of Farms in Poland

et al. 2021

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“…Also, new concepts, approaches, methods, and applications based on conceptual frameworks and empirical findings have been proposed in previous contributions. Indeed, sustainability perspectives in the supply chain have been approached using very different tools (e.g., multicriteria methods, sensitivity and risk analysis approaches), and highlighting buyer-supplier and interorganizational relationships from very different perspectives (e.g., in the automotive industry [11], the energy sector [12], considering the related externalities [13], and in specific supply chains, such as in the swine industry [14][15][16]). The literature offers several examples of theoretical and applied research for quantifying and establishing parameters for sustainability assessment in supply chains [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, assessing the sustainability of these supply chains becomes important within the context of the continuous improvement of production practices and initiatives towards the reduction of environmental impacts related to livestock [24]. The development of agricultural activities increasingly relies on non-renewable natural resources, and their expansion can cause negative impacts that should be minimized [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance Measurement Model for Sustainability Assessment of the Swine Supply Chain

et al. 2022

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In this paper, a model and a set of indicators for evaluating the sustainability in swine supply chains are presented and discussed. Using the Delphi method, environmental, social and economic indicators were identified (namely environmental performance indicators to evaluate soil, water, air, energy and environmental practices; social performance indicators related to human capital and social interaction; and economic performance indicators that address labor remuneration and return on investment). Subsequently, the proposed sustainability assessment model was applied for validation purposes in three different companies belonging to the swine supply chain in the southern region of Brazil. This study differs from previous ones by focusing on the sustainability assessment of the upstream and downstream of the supply chain, which are responsible for significant impacts. The performance of the studied companies from the three triple bottom-line (TBL) dimensions is significantly different. Both negative and positive impacts were found to be related to most of the specific metrics. The economic dimension presented a better performance than the environmental and social ones. Furthermore, there was a predominance of negative impacts in the environmental dimension, in relation to the soil, water, air, and energy indicators. Thus, specific actions, strategies, and policies must be designed for the different companies towards an effective and comprehensive sustainability throughout the swine supply chain. The proposed model can be extended to other companies in the same supply chain, replicated in other livestock and agribusiness industries and supply chains (such as cattle and poultry), and it can be used in different locations and including additional indicators and metrics.

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“…Nonetheless, some studies have addressed it, such as Diemont et al [13], who reported a study that used emergy evaluation to assess the milpa system in Chiapas, Mexico, but it was carried out on agroforestry systems, and the parallel production of multiple products was not considered in the evaluation. Nevertheless, several studies have reported emergy evaluations of agricultural systems, including grain crops [14], maize forage [15], legume species [16], and regional and national agricultural systems [17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Environmental-Economic Performance of a Poblano Family Milpa System: An Emergy Evaluation

et al. 2021

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The family milpa system (FMS) is of great importance to food security and the livelihoods of rural families in Mexico. However, the performance of the system can be compromised due to inappropriate agricultural practices. Therefore, a suitable evaluation strategy is required to identify the best management of resources. Nonetheless, at present, there is no holistic understanding around the nature–society interface that allows us to predict the global behavior of the FMS. Thus, this study assesses the global performance of a Poblano FMS through emergy-based indices. The emergy evaluation was carried out by accounting for the available energy of different qualities used in the system, which were subsequently converted to one kind of energy (solar emjoules). The percentage of renewable emergy (%Ren) used in the system was 72.16%. The emergy self-support ratio (ESR) showed that 74% of the emergy used came from free local resources. The emergy investment ratio (EIR) of 0.36 indicated that the emergy use was efficient. The emergy yield ratio (EYR) was 3.78, which in terms of net emergy (NE), was equivalent to a gain of 1.35 × 1016 sej ha−1 y−1. The environmental loading ratio (ELR) was 0.39, which indicated a low potential environmental impact. The emergy sustainability index (ESI) was high (9.80) compared to other agricultural systems. The performance of the FMS is superior compared to other agricultural systems, including ecologic and recycling systems. However, the use of resources is not optimum and needs to be improved to reach maximum empower.

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Energy and emergy analysis for assessing changes in Polish agriculture since the accession to the European Union

Cited by 16 publications

References 45 publications

Economic and Energy Efficiency of Farms in Poland

Economic and Energy Efficiency of Farms in Poland

Performance Measurement Model for Sustainability Assessment of the Swine Supply Chain

The Environmental-Economic Performance of a Poblano Family Milpa System: An Emergy Evaluation

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