Empowering Communities, beyond Energy Scarcity

“If we talk of promoting development, what have we in mind: goods or people [...]</i

Developing a procedure for the integration of Life Cycle Assessment and Emergy Accounting approaches. The Amalfi paper case study

Abstract The analysis of complex systems requires an integrated application of different assessment methods also taking into account different scales and points of view to gain a systemic understanding of the investigated case study. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Emergy Accounting (EMA) are both environmental assessment methods, showing many similarities in the way they are performed, especially with respect to the inventory construction and to the interpretation of results. They also show great differences, the main residing in the different perspectives they give. LCA applies a consumer side perspective, and its space and time scales are set at a boundary capable to include all the process phases in terms of location and durability and their direct impacts on the investigated areas. On the other hand, throughout its donor side perspective, EMA expands the boundaries of the system over the entire biosphere space and time scales. Differences and similarities between LCA and EMA may gain added value by their implementation within a procedural framework which exploits the characteristics of the two methods. The present work proposes a methodological procedure based on the sequential and integrated application of LCA and EMA methods, called LEAF (LCA & EMA Applied Framework). The traditional Amalfi paper production is used as a test case study. The procedure stems include: (i) an ex-ante LCA analysis, to identify the hotspots of the investigated case study; (ii) the assessment of the environmental performance of the system through the development of different EMA-based improvement scenarios built around the chosen hotspots; and (iii) an ex-post LCA application built on each scenario results in order to detect the different environmental burdens. The application of LEAF to the traditional Amalfi paper production shows that the use of a more sustainable energy source is an effective solution (among the set of proposed options) to increase the sustainability of the investigated system

Power generation from slaughterhouse waste materials : an emergy accounting assessment

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552The linear path "extraction-production-consumption-waste", imposed by humans to natural ecosystems, where all material flows are instead circular, has become unsustainable. Understanding the potential value of some of these "by-products", in order to exploit them effectively in a biorefinery perspective, may help overcoming resource shortages and decrease environmental impacts. This study investigates energy and resource restoration from animal by-products. The slaughterhouse waste undergoes a rendering process to separate residual meal and fat. The latter is combusted in a co-generation plant to produce electricity and heat. The process is carefully assessed using Emergy Accounting approach with the aim of evaluating benefits and environmental load of the process considering the advantages achieved compared with the demand for ecosystem services and natural capital depletion. Moreover, the case aims at exploring three different methodological assumptions referring to the upstream burdens carried by the waste management system, proposing a modified exergy-based allocation rule. The electricity generated shows performances in terms of Unit Emergy Values ranging between 2.7E+05 sej/J, 2.2E+06 sej/J and 3.1E+07 sej/J among the different cases investigated, comparable to power from fossil fuels and renewables sources, and it provides an environmentally sound alternative to conventional waste disposal

Environmental and economic sustainability of key sectors in China's steel industry chain: An application of the Emergy Accounting approach

Abstract Increasing urbanization day–by–day requires new housing and transportation infrastructures. As a consequence, demand for steel – a basic material for buildings construction as well as for vehicles and railroads – would also increases. This study applies Emergy Accounting (EMA) to assess the Chinas steel industry environmental performance and to identify key application sectors. Subsequently, this study calculates emergy–based indicators capable to assess the present economic performance, environmental sustainability, and land resource appropriate utilization. Building on these indicators, changes of sustainability scenarios in key application sectors are also investigated, with special focus on increased use of recycled steel. The results show that the environmental impacts of steel use in downstream sectors, specially in the Housing and Vehicles Sectors, are significantly higher. Furthermore, the downstream sectors also have a very large requirement for embodied land. Additionally, the Emergy Benefit Ratio (EBR) shows non-negligible advantages to China derived from importing raw iron from abroad at international market prices. Finally, when the recycling rate of scrap steel increases, the performance of downstream sectors improves, with the Vehicle sector showing the most significant changes. Although the benefits of steel-based economy to society are clear, multidimensional sustainability concerns and international competition for primary resources necessitate a transition towards increased recycling and innovative materials within a strictly enforced "circular economy" policy

Circular patterns of waste prevention and recovery

The growth of modern societies with their scientific, economic and social achievements was made possible by the cheap availability of fossil fuels. Side effects of fossil energy resources were the development of unsustainable production and consumption patterns, the degradation of natural capital, and the release of airborne, waterborne and solid waste. Consumption and environmental loading are not only related to fuels, but also to other material resources, such as minerals in general and rare earths in particular. The increasing shortage of crucial resources affects and constrains important economic sectors (e.g., electronic sectors, renewable energies, food production), thus placing a limit on further development and wellbeing. Concepts of sustainable economies and communities, with focus on the social dimension of development and also on the ecological and economic aspects at the same time, are gaining the attention of policy makers, managers, and investors, as well as local stakeholders (organisations, small and medium enterprises, individual citizens) and encouraging new development and business models globally referred to as the “circular economy”. The circular economy (CE) is a production and consumption system that is restorative by intention and design. Although there has been a relative decoupling of economic growth from resource use in recent decades, the gains made so far have been eaten up by a combination of economic growth and the rebound effect. There are two questions: (i) why has it been so hard to move from theory(most often from rhetoric) to practice and implementation, and (ii) how is it possible to promote an innovative and effective CE strategy in urban systems where 60% of world population is concentrated. This shift (design, networking, organisation, implementation, community planning) and related monitoring tools constitute the skeletonof the transition that needs to occur within both urban systems and economies. The point we make is that a society without waste is not only desirable, but also possible and necessary. We cannot wait longer and we cannot just accept small adjustments, increased end-of-pipe technologies and the usual interplay of promises and conflicts. The time for a massive and successful effort towards a radical change of lifestyles and production/consumptionpatterns is now, where the term "waste" itself is considered a symptom of societal illness, an indicator of immature economies, poor science and old-fashioned technology

Power generation from slaughterhouse waste materials : an emergy accounting assessment

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552The linear path "extraction-production-consumption-waste", imposed by humans to natural ecosystems, where all material flows are instead circular, has become unsustainable. Understanding the potential value of some of these "by-products", in order to exploit them effectively in a biorefinery perspective, may help overcoming resource shortages and decrease environmental impacts. This study investigates energy and resource restoration from animal by-products. The slaughterhouse waste undergoes a rendering process to separate residual meal and fat. The latter is combusted in a co-generation plant to produce electricity and heat. The process is carefully assessed using Emergy Accounting approach with the aim of evaluating benefits and environmental load of the process considering the advantages achieved compared with the demand for ecosystem services and natural capital depletion. Moreover, the case aims at exploring three different methodological assumptions referring to the upstream burdens carried by the waste management system, proposing a modified exergy-based allocation rule. The electricity generated shows performances in terms of Unit Emergy Values ranging between 2.7E+05 sej/J, 2.2E+06 sej/J and 3.1E+07 sej/J among the different cases investigated, comparable to power from fossil fuels and renewables sources, and it provides an environmentally sound alternative to conventional waste disposal

Socioeconomic and Environmental Benefits of Expanding Urban Green Areas: A Joint Application of i-Tree and LCA Approaches

Green infrastructures deliver countless functions for counteracting climate change, air pollution, floods, and heat islands, contributing at the same time to water and carbon recycling as well as to renewable energies and feedstock provisioning. Properly addressing such environmental problems would require huge investments that could be decreased thanks to the further implementation of urban forests. Local administrations are designing participative projects to improve territories and their living conditions. The i-Tree Canopy modelling tool and the life cycle assessment method are jointly applied to evaluate the potential benefits of increasing tree coverage within the boundaries of the Metropolitan City of Naples, Southern Italy. Results highlighted that tree coverage could increase by about 2.4 million trees, thus generating 51% more benefits in pollutants removal, carbon sequestration and stormwater management. The benefits are also explored and confirmed by means of the life cycle assessment method. The potential tree cover is expected to provide a total annual economic benefit of USD 55 million, purchasing power parity value adjusted, representing USD 18 per citizen and USD 99,117 per square kilometre of implemented urban forest. These results can support a potential replication elsewhere and provide a reference for the sustainable improvement of cities by expanding urban green areas

Socioeconomic and Environmental Benefits of Expanding Urban Green Areas: A Joint Application of i-Tree and LCA Approaches

Green infrastructures deliver countless functions for counteracting climate change, air pollution, floods, and heat islands, contributing at the same time to water and carbon recycling as well as to renewable energies and feedstock provisioning. Properly addressing such environmental problems would require huge investments that could be decreased thanks to the further implementation of urban forests. Local administrations are designing participative projects to improve territories and their living conditions. The i-Tree Canopy modelling tool and the life cycle assessment method are jointly applied to evaluate the potential benefits of increasing tree coverage within the boundaries of the Metropolitan City of Naples, Southern Italy. Results highlighted that tree coverage could increase by about 2.4 million trees, thus generating 51% more benefits in pollutants removal, carbon sequestration and stormwater management. The benefits are also explored and confirmed by means of the life cycle assessment method. The potential tree cover is expected to provide a total annual economic benefit of USD 55 million, purchasing power parity value adjusted, representing USD 18 per citizen and USD 99,117 per square kilometre of implemented urban forest. These results can support a potential replication elsewhere and provide a reference for the sustainable improvement of cities by expanding urban green areas