A comparison and methodological proposal for hybrid approaches to quantify environmental impacts: A case study for renewable energies

The transition towards a more sustainable and decarbonised energy system is mandatory for achieving global climate objectives, and counting on proper tools to evaluate sustainability is essential. Among sustainability assessment methodologies, hybrid approaches integrating Input-Output analysis (IOA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are often proposed to overcome limitations and take advantage of strengths of both methodologies. In this paper we propose a new hybrid tiered approach, named Identification and Subtraction Method (ISM). Through a case study of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology, we test the proposed method assessing seven environmental indicators and compare the results obtained by different methodological approaches: Environmental Extended Multiregional Input-Output (EMRIO), LCA and two hybrid approaches. Results showed that, in general, LCA and EMRIO provide the lowest and uppest impact values, respectively. The ISM method expands the LCA boundaries by including indirect impacts, avoiding double-counting and retaining the technological detail and representativeness of the LCA. The main advantage is the ability to establish with high accuracy the impact coming from the LCA system boundaries. Furthermore, ISM is easy to undertake for LCA practitioners, is a low time-consuming hybrid approach once the LCA and EMRIO models are run, and it does not require the alteration of the IO matrix as other hybrid methods. However, the need to perform the EMRIO and LCA analysis could imply high detailed data needs. An additional limitation of the model is that it is not be able to include partial contributions from EMRIO sectors. The highest differences between results obtained by the different methods are found in the assessment of local impacts and the resources depletion, while the methods tend to agree more on global and regional impacts quantification. However, there are limitations to the implementation of the impact characterization methods that should be borne in mind when comparing the results of the different methods

Hybrid Approaches to Quantify the Environmental Impacts of Renewable Energy Technologies: A Comparison and Methodological Proposal

The transition towards a more sustainable and decarbonised energy system is mandatory for achieving global climate objectives, and renewable energies are essential to this purpose. There are different methodologies to assess the sustainability, each with its strengths and limitations. Thus, hybrid approaches integrating Input-Output analysis and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are often proposed to overcome limitations and take advantage of strengths of renewable technologies. Through a case study of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology, a potentially significant technology in the European context, this study provides an environmental assessment of seven environmental indicators by applying and comparing methodological approaches: Environmental Extended Multiregional Input-Output (EMRIO), Life Cycle Assessment and two hybrid approaches used in literature. Among those, we propose a new hybrid tieredapproach, named Identification and Subtraction Method (ISM), that expands the boundaries of the LCA method, identifying in MRIO results the impacts from sectors not included in the LCA. The results indicated that the LCA and EMRIO approaches provide impact values in the lower and upper ranges, respectively, although there are some exceptions. The proposed ISM method achieves to expand the LCA boundaries by including indirect impacts, avoiding any double-counting and retaining the technological detail and representativeness of the process-based LCA.The highest differences between methods are found in the assessment of local impacts and the depletion of the resources for either fuels or minerals and metals, while the methods tend to agree more on the quantification of global and regional impacts. However, there are limitations to the implementation of the impact characterization methods and the quantification of the potential impacts that should be borne in mind when comparing the results of the different methods

Cross-sectoral implications of the implementation of irrigation water use efficiency policies in Spain: A nexus footprint approach

One technical solution often suggested for alleviating water scarcity is to increase the efficiency of irrigation water use. In Spain, several plans have been launched since 2000 to upgrade irrigation infrastructures and thereby achieve water savings equivalent to 2500 hm3/year and promote rural development. The present study uses a footprint approach to evaluate the impacts on land, water, energy, and carbon emissions of the implementation of irrigation modernization policies in agriculture in Spain between 2005 and 2011. The results show that during the period studied, the irrigated area remained stable (+0.3%), although there was a shift in crop patterns, with low-value non-permanent crops being replaced by high-value permanent crops. The water demand for irrigation decreased by 21%; half of this is explained by the shift in crop patterns and the reduction of the consumptive fraction (i.e., blue water footprint), and the other half by the cutback of return flows associated with the higher efficiency of the irrigation infrastructure. Changes in water demand have been accompanied by a progressive substitution of surface water for groundwater. Reduced water demand for irrigation has brought a reduction of 13% in water’s energy footprint and 25% in its carbon footprint. In relative terms, water efficiency (m3 consumed/m3 irrigated) has increased by 8%, although this has also increased the energy intensity (kWh/m3) to 9%. The emission rate (kgCO2 equiv/m3 irrigated) has decreased by 12% as a result of the drop in the emission factor of electricity production. Overall, irrigation modernization policies in Spain have supported the transition from an irrigation sector that is less technified and heavily dependent on surface water into one that is more productive and groundwater-based. From a resource-use perspective, such transition has contributed to stabilizing or even decreasing the irrigated land, and surpass the annual water savings target of 2500 hm3, although it has also made the sector more energy-dependent. Despite the overall positive outcomes, the observed water savings are masked by various synergistic factors, including favorable climatological conditions toward the end of the study period, which contributed strongly to curbing overall irrigation water demand. In the light of the higher frequency of observed droughts in Spain, the investments done so far do not guarantee that the planned water saving targets can be sustained if not complemented with additional measures like restricting irrigated area and/or setting caps for water intensive crops

Analysing the Role of Fusion Power in the Future Global Energy System

This work presents the EFDA Times model (ETM), developed within the European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA). ETM is an optimization global energy model which aims at providing the optimum energy system composition in terms of social wealth and sustainability including fusion as an alternative technology in the long term. Two framework scenarios are defined: a Base case scenario with no limits to CO2 emissions, and a 450ppm scenario with a limit of 450ppm in CO2-eq concentrations set by 2100. Previous results showed that in the Base case scenario, with no measures for CO2 emission reductions, fusion does not enter the energy system. However, when CO2 emission restrictions are imposed, the global energy system composition changes completely. In a 450ppm scenario, coal technologies disappear in a few decades, being mainly replaced by nuclear fission technologies which experience a great increase when constrained only by Uranium resources exhaustion. Fission technologies are then replaced by the fusion power plants that start in 2070, with a significant contribution to the global electricity production by 2100. To conclude the work, a sensitivity analysis will be presented on some parameters that may affect the possible role of fusion in the future global energy system

Human Embryonic and Rat Adult Stem Cells with Primitive Endoderm-Like Phenotype Can Be Fated to Definitive Endoderm, and Finally Hepatocyte-Like Cells

Stem cell-derived hepatocytes may be an alternative cell source to treat liver diseases or to be used for pharmacological purposes. We developed a protocol that mimics mammalian liver development, to differentiate cells with pluripotent characteristics to hepatocyte-like cells. The protocol supports the stepwise differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (ESC) to cells with characteristics of primitive streak (PS)/mesendoderm (ME)/definitive endoderm (DE), hepatoblasts, and finally cells with phenotypic and functional characteristics of hepatocytes. Remarkably, the same protocol can also differentiate rat multipotent adult progenitor cells (rMAPCs) to hepatocyte-like cells, even though rMAPC are isolated clonally from cultured rat bone marrow (BM) and have characteristics of primitive endoderm cells. A fraction of rMAPCs can be fated to cells expressing genes consistent with a PS/ME/DE phenotype, preceding the acquisition of phenotypic and functional characteristics of hepatocytes. Although the hepatocyte-like progeny derived from both cell types is mixed, between 10–20% of cells are developmentally consistent with late fetal hepatocytes that have attained synthetic, storage and detoxifying functions near those of adult hepatocytes. This differentiation protocol will be useful for generating hepatocyte-like cells from rodent and human stem cells, and to gain insight into the early stages of liver development

Reduction of exposure of cyclists to urban air pollution

This book collects the main outcomes that were generated during the implementation of the LIFE+RESPIRA project (LIFE13 ENV/ES/000417), carried out in the city of Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. The research was conducted by a cross-functional team made up of more than 30 researchers belonging to three entities: The University of Navarra, the Centre for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research (CIEMAT) and Environmental Management of Navarra (GAN-NIK)

Medidas para reducir la exposición de los ciclistas a los principales contaminantes atmosféricos urbanos

Recoge los principales resultados generados durante la realización del proyecto LIFE+RESPIRA, llevado a cabo en la ciudad de Pamplona (Navarra, España) por un equipo interdisciplinar constituido por más de 30 investigadores pertenecientes a la Universidad de Navarra, el Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT) y Gestión Ambiental de Navarra (GAN-NIK). El libro, que se ha publicado en castellano y en inglés, se ha dividido en 7 capítulos: 1. ¿Ciudades sostenibles? 2. Exposición de los ciudadanos a la contaminación atmosférica 3. Papel de la vegetación urbana en la calidad del aire 4. Modelos de alta resolución para evaluar la calidad del aire 5. Impactos de la contaminación urbana 6. Movilidad y sostenibilidad urbanas 7. Comunicación y educación ambiental. Este libro pretende ser una guía de utilidad para científicos, gestores y ciudadanos, aportando un conjunto de herramientas que permitan mejorar la calidad de vida de nuestras ciudades. Además, quiere rendir un homenaje a todos los voluntarios ciclistas que han participado en dicho proyecto y que son los verdaderos artífices del mismo, ya que gracias a su dedicación incondicional durante más de dos años, han proporcionado una cantidad ingente de datos sobre la calidad del aire de la ciudad de Pamplona