Environmental sustainability in the food-energy-water-health nexus: A new methodology and an application to food waste in a circular economy

Match Circular Economy and Urban Sustainability: Re-investigating Circular Economy Under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

“…The fundamental "triple bottom line" principle of sustainable development, namely "economic efficiency," "social equity," and "environmental responsibility," offers some solution [29,[37][38][39]. The ideology of sustainability pursues a balance between the triple bottom line, and to fulfill this target, in 2015, the United Nations (UN) proposed 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), containing 169 subindicators, as a blueprint for human beings to achieve a better and more sustainable future by 2030 [16,[40][41][42]. Taking the social, economic, and environmental issues as a whole, SDGs provide a new system boundary for circular economy designers, to consider not only the minimization of waste generation and increment of recycling (an efficiency perspective) but also a broader impact on the social and economic system, whether positive or negative [43][44][45][46].…”

Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs) Generated by Anaerobic Digestion Serve as Feedstock for Freshwater and Marine Oleaginous Microorganisms to Produce Biodiesel and Added-Value Compounds

“…In the latter, PUFA synthesis is initiated with C18:3 9,12,15 , which is first converted to C18:4 6,9,12,15 by 6 desaturase, then to C20:4 8,11,14,17 by elongase, and to C20:5 5,8,11,14,17 by 5 desaturase. Finally, elongase is responsible for conversion to 22:5 7,10,13,16,19 and 4 desaturase for the generation of DHA (22:6 4,710,13,16,19 ) (Qiu, 2003;Sijtsma and De Swaaf, 2004;Monroig et al, 2012;Morabito et al, 2019). Hence, PUFA synthesis can only proceed with sufficient C18:3 as a substrate.…”

“…In comparison, oleaginous microorganisms can directly convert some organic acids into acetyl coenzyme A (CoA) via fatty acid degradation and CoA synthetase. CoA is a central intermediate in lipid synthesis, including that of PUFAs in oleaginous cells (De Swaaf et al, 2003b;Sijtsma and De Swaaf, 2004).…”

“…In a LCA analysis, it was mentioned that by replacing approximately 9,900 t of corn silage with 6,600 t of food waste, almost 42% reduction in CO 2 emission of the electricity produced from the biogas plant could be achieved (Bartocci et al, 2020). Slorach et al (2020) suggested that Anaerobic digestion is environmentally the most sustainable option with lowest overall impact on the foodenergy-water-health nexus (Slorach et al, 2020). Food waste after landfilling produces methane as a potent greenhouse gas.…”

Sustainable drying technologies

“…A framework outlining this three-pillar nexus has been proposed focusing on achieving climate protection and ensuring equitable access to food, water, and energy worldwide, while promoting the sustainable growth of a green economy in an increasingly urbanized world. [3][4][5] In terms of population dynamics, we expect earth to be inhabited by over 9.5 billion persons by 2050. To meet societal needs for survival, we must double our agricultural production.…”