1,721,073 research outputs found
System sustainability
No full textThe concept of sustainability can only be conceived in a systemic framework. No system considered in isolation from its environment (latu sensu) can act sustainably, therefore sustainability connotes a system within its context. Some crucial features are identified here to describe the concept and avoid misuse of the term. These are time, biophysical limits and relationships, according to which a system, project or action can be considered sustainable. Nature is the quintessence of sustainability. Human systems must obey the laws of nature and follow nature’s way in order to be sustainable. Sustainability traditionally conceives the economic system as being within the social system, which is in turn included and supported by the environment as resource and service provider and waste absorber. This organic view is composed of networks that connect these three spheres and the elements within them. Many approaches embrace a systemic view to identify and evaluate the sustainability of a system and to encompass the many dimensions that characterize this concept. Ecosystem services, the energy-food-water nexus, planetary boundaries defining the safe operating space for humanity and UN Sustainable Development Goals are only a few examples. Here we also shed light on the Input-State-Output approach
Emergy evaluation of a traditional farming system. Case study: Leh District (Ladakh - Indian Trans-Himalaya)
Full text linkLadakh traditional farming system has been included on the F.A.O. list of possible “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems”, worthy of being preserved and conserved. The paper describes and assesses cultivation practices in a typical family-managed farm, located in central Ladakh, analysing how natural resources are exploited, conserved and recycled. Emergy evaluation, an environmental accounting methodology, has been applied to evaluate and compare five staple crop productions: barley, wheat, pea, mustard, and fodder alfalfa. Unit Emergy Values of products (UEV, emergy per unit product, a measure of the environmental production cost) are calculated, taking into account the inputs to production such as water from glaciers, soil fertility, human and animal labour, and more. Results show that the traditional agricultural practices in Ladakh, completely supported by renewable flows, are efficient in the use of local resources. In fact, the UEVs of agroproducts are similar to those of analogous products of conventional agriculture (e.g. 5.27E+05 and 6.64E+05 semj/J for barley and wheat in Ladakh, respectively; 7.37E+05 semj/J for corn in USA), though the inputs of Ladakh agriculture are strongly limited in type and quantity. At the same time, local farmers can create, maintain and rebuild soil functions whose UEV is 1.62E+07 semj/J
Exergy versus emergy flow in ecosystems: is there an order in maximizations?
No full textFrom ecosystems theory, orientors have been derived to give a holistic view of the trend of development of ecosystems themselves. Several principles of maximization, mainly derived from Lotka's maximum power, are connected with these orientors. Other authors (Jørgensen, Patten and coworkers, for example) have shown that among these orientors there are many common aspects, both form a quantitative terms and in principle. We show how H.T. Odum's maximum empower and Jørgensen's maximum exergy principles can be both valid from a practical viewpoint. As suggested by a simple experiment there can be a time order: first the maximization of empower and then the maximization of exergy. This time sequence is also consistent with a maximization trend in the ratio of exergy to empower. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Date Fruit Production and Consumption: A Perspective on Global Trends and Drivers from a Multidimensional Footprint Assessment
Full text linkDate production and consumption is mostly diffused in Middle East and Northern African countries. Date production is linked to the land and water footprint in countries where agricultural land and freshwater are scarce. We estimate the global land, green water, blue water, and water scarcity footprint at the country scale from a production perspective. We show that production trends are increasingly driven by foreign demand. By tracking the international trade dynamics of dates, we map the shift of environmental footprint from the producing to the consuming countries. We find that dates production and consumption are not yet decoupled from the associated environmental burden. Global dates consumption accounted for 1.4 million hectares of agricultural land, 5.8 Gm(3) of green water, 7.5 Gm(3) of blue water, and the related impact on water scarcity reached 358 Gm(3) world equivalent in 2019. The primacy of the economic driver is revealed, indicating that in the case of dates, the environmental sustainability aspects are currently overlooked for the sake of the economic benefit. The time-series analysis provides informative results to support policymakers in the design of mitigation strategies that can help the achievement of the SDGs
The input-state-output model and related indicators to investigate the relationships among environment, society and economy
No full textEconomic systems can be studied as thermodynamic open systems that rely upon inputs of energy and materials, processed through human labor and a structured organization, and eventually transformed into useful outputs (i.e., goods and services). In this vein, a generic input-state-output model can be used to represent the relations among environment, society, and economy as well as their dynamics. This approach, that implies the use of holistic and systemic approaches, allows the description and understanding of the evolution of the level of sustainability of national economies through the use of three different metrics computed for world countries in time-series: emergy flow as input-based indicator, Gini index of income distribution as a state descriptor, and gross domestic product as a measure of outputs produced by the economic system. This whole framework depicts a synthetic representation of the environmental, social, and economic dimensions that characterize national systems. It aims at being highly informative to better understand complex relationships between quality and amount of energy and resources used, equity in income distribution, and the overall value of economic production
Implications of a consumption-based accounting of greenhouse gas emissions from global dairy cattle systems
Full text linkGreenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from dairy systems at the national level are typically estimated at the point of production, following guidelines for national reporting. However, exploring the emissions allocated to the point of consumption also provides key insights into reducing emissions across all stages (inputs, production, trade, and consumption). In this study, the GHG emissions associated with global dairy cattle products were estimated using a consumption-based accounting approach. The analysis was based on data from 2015, covering 254 territories and considering 21 dairy cattle commodities. Our findings reveal that international trade in dairy products is dominated by a few countries, with the top 20 net importing/exporting countries accounting for about 70% of global emissions embodied in trade. Although, at the global level, GHG emissions embodied in the international trade of dairy cattle products represented a relatively small share of the total (133 Mt CO2 eq, 9%), they were significant at the country level, particularly for countries heavily involved in trade. In some cases, imports accounted for more than 50% of consumption-related emissions. Trade among European Union countries was relevant representing 32% of the global GHG emission linked with the international trade of dairy products. By adopting a system-wide approach, this study aims to provide novel and critical information to reduce GHG emissions from the global dairy sector, contributing to initiatives such as Pathways to Dairy Net Zero. The results are discussed in the context of the importance of dairy products for global food security. The consumption-based analysis presented represents a different and original perspective in the computation of GHG emissions at the national level for a specific and relevant food item. This approach, guiding policymakers in identifying key impact areas across all stages of the supply chain, can foster the transition to low-carbon dairy products, and support circular economy practices
Exergy versus emergy flow in ecosystems: Is there an order in maximazationion?
No full textFrom ecosystems theory, orientors have been derived to give a holistic view of the trend of development of ecosystems
themselves. Several principles of maximization, mainly derived from Lotka’s maximum power, are connected with these
orientors. Other authors (Jørgensen, Patten and coworkers, for example) have shown that among these orientors there are many
common aspects, both form a quantitative terms and in principle. We show how H.T. Odum’s maximum empower and
Jørgensen’s maximum exergy principles can be both valid from a practical viewpoint. As suggested by a simple experiment there
can be a time order: first the maximization of empower and then the maximization of exergy. This time sequence is also
consistent with a maximization trend in the ratio of exergy to empower
The problem of assigning responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions
No full textThe paper discusses different methods to assign the responsibility for Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: the geographical approach, based on the IPCC guidelines for GHG inventory; the consumer responsibility approach, based on the Ecological Footprint methodology; the Carbon Emission Added (CEA) approach that adopts the Embodied Energy-Energy Analysis method. The last approach tries to solve the problem between the consumer and producer accounting principles, considering also the emissions of developing countries. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Predicting Sustainable Economic Welfare – Analysis and perspectives for Luxembourg based on energy policy scenarios
No full textAmbitious energy policies have been established in Luxembourg, which has one of the highest Gross Domestic Products (GDP) per capita in the world but still much depends on imported fuels and electricity. Born as an alternative to GDP, the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) is applied in this study as a framework to predict socio-economic and environmental performances of Luxembourg in relation to energy policy scenarios. The ISEW for the 1960–2010 timeframe is firstly calculated and compared with GDP in order to disclose the impact of factors differently considered by the two indices, e.g. consumption trends, equity, air pollution, carbon emissions, consumer durables expenditures, investments, etc. A forecasting model to predict the ISEW trend until 2030 is then proposed to assess the relevance of national energy policies. The analysis of historical time-series shows that the ISEW grows over time at much slower pace than GDP, mostly due to increases in defensive expenditures. This gap may decline in the future by implementing those energy policies, providing a slight but tangible recovery of the economic welfare over the next 10–15 years. Several insights are ultimately given on the benefits and drawbacks of using the ISEW framework to assess long-term sustainability issues
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