Life Cycle Based Evaluation of Environmental and Economic Impacts of Agricultural Productions in the Mediterranean Area

Tamburini, Elena; Pedrini, Paola; Marchetti, Maria Gabriella; Fano, Elisa Anna; Castaldelli, Giuseppe

doi:10.3390/su7032915

Cited by 48 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…heated greenhouses). Studies focusing on open-field conventional tomato production in the US and the Mediterranean had energy inputs for production of 140-280 MJ Mg −1 (Brodt et al 2013, Tamburini et al 2015. An average of three Moroccan protected tomato operations had energy inputs of diesel and electricity for fertigation and pesticide application of 460 MJ Mg −1 (Payen et al 2015).…”

Section: Impact Of Type Of Production Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Considerations for reducing food system energy demand while scaling up urban agriculture

Mohareb

Heller

Novak

et al. 2017

Environ. Res. Lett.

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There is an increasing global interest in scaling up urban agriculture (UA) in its various forms, from private gardens to sophisticated commercial operations. Much of this interest is in the spirit of environmental protection, with reduced waste and transportation energy highlighted as some of the proposed benefits of UA; however, explicit consideration of energy and resource requirements needs to be made in order to realize these anticipated environmental benefits. A literature review is undertaken here to provide new insight into the energy implications of scaling up UA in cities in high-income countries, considering UA classification, direct/indirect energy pressures, and interactions with other components of the food-energy-water nexus. This is followed by an exploration of ways in which these cities can plan for the exploitation of waste flows for resource-efficient UA.Given that it is estimated that the food system contributes nearly 15% of total US energy demand, optimization of resource use in food production, distribution, consumption, and waste systems may have a significant energy impact. There are limited data available that quantify resource demand implications directly associated with UA systems, highlighting that the literature is not yet sufficiently robust to make universal claims on benefits. This letter explores energy demand from conventional resource inputs, various production systems, water/energy trade-offs, alternative irrigation, packaging materials, and transportation/supply chains to shed light on UA-focused research needs.By analyzing data and cases from the existing literature, we propose that gains in energy efficiency could be realized through the co-location of UA operations with waste streams (e.g. heat, CO 2 , greywater, wastewater, compost), potentially increasing yields and offsetting life cycle energy demands relative to conventional approaches. This begs a number of energy-focused UA research questions that explore the opportunities for integrating the variety of UA structures and technologies, so that they are better able to exploit these urban waste flows and achieve whole-system reductions in energy demand. Any planning approach to implement these must, as always, assess how context will influence the viability and value added from the promotion of UA.

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Section: Impact Of Type Of Production Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Considerations for reducing food system energy demand while scaling up urban agriculture

Mohareb

Heller

Novak

et al. 2017

Environ. Res. Lett.

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show abstract

“…Life Cycle Inventory (LCI), where the life cycle of edible flowers production is modelled, considering all the inputs and outputs [20,34]; this step results in a flow diagram, which contains all the unit processes, quantifying the inflows and outflows of each one of them [14];…”

Section: Lca Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Impact of Edible Flower Production: A Case Study

et al. 2020

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Nowadays the heightened awareness of the critical trend in resource depletion impels to improve the eco − sustainability of any productive process. The research presented in this paper aims to quantify the environmental impact of the emerging productive process of edible flowers, focusing on two model species, i.e., Begonia x semperflorens − cultorum hort and Viola cornuta L., and two types of product, i.e., flowering potted plants sold in plastic vases and packaged flowers ready to be consumed. The study was carried out in an Italian nursery located in Tuscany, interviewing the owners in order to complete the Life Cycle Inventory, assessing the value of the impact categories, and using the “cradle to gate” approach. The information about the production of flowering potted plants and packaged flowers were inserted in a database and elaborated by the appropriate software. The results of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis referred to 1 g of fresh edible flowers and were expressed in four impact categories. Global Warming Potential (GWP) values ranged from 24.94 to 31.25 g CO2 eq/g flowers, Acidification Potential (AP) ranged from 8.169E − 02 to 1.249E − 01 g SO2 eq/g flowers, Eutrophication Potential (EP) ranged from 3.961E − 02 to 5.284E − 02 g PO43 − eq/g flowers, and Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential (POCP) ranged from 8.998E − 03 to 1.134E − 02 g C2H4 eq/g flowers. Begonias showed lower emissions than violas in the GWP and POCP indexes, whereas violas showed lower values in the AP and EP impact categories. The most impactful phase was the propagation, accounting on average for 42% of the total emissions. Overall, the findings highlighted a higher environmental load for the production of both begonias and violas packaged flowers, especially if in small containers, rather than as potted plants, with an emission percentage increase from 8% to 17% among the impact categories.

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“…While several studies analysed the environmental impact of fruit production and orchards (Milài Canals and Polo 2003;Cerutti et al 2014) and/or their cost (Pergola et al 2013;De Luca et al 2014;Tamburini et al 2015), only few studies focus on the influence of side flows, their impact, and potential reduction strategies.…”

Section: State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

LCA & LCC of food waste case studies : assessment of food side flow prevention and valorisation routes in selected supply chains

Menna

Davis

Bowman³

et al. 2019

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Life Cycle Based Evaluation of Environmental and Economic Impacts of Agricultural Productions in the Mediterranean Area

Cited by 48 publications

References 51 publications

Considerations for reducing food system energy demand while scaling up urban agriculture

Considerations for reducing food system energy demand while scaling up urban agriculture

Environmental Impact of Edible Flower Production: A Case Study

LCA & LCC of food waste case studies : assessment of food side flow prevention and valorisation routes in selected supply chains

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