Carbon Footprint Calculator Customized for Rice Products: Concept and Characterization of Rice Value Chains in Southeast Asia

In this study, we developed user-friendly software (CF-Rice) for calculating the carbon footprints (CF) of rice products. The approach follows the principles of Life Cycle Assessment while incorporating more flexibility for activities specific to rice production. The graphical user interface provides empirical emission and conversion factors obtained from the literature and from primary research studies of rice value chains. CF-Rice also allows the entering of new values for specific processes or practices. Data outputs distinguish among the contributions of individual stages of the value chain as well as different greenhouse gases (GHG), namely, CH$_{4}$, N$_{2}$O and CO$_{2}$. The new tool was then applied to a scenario assessment of rice production in the regional context of Southeast Asia. The CF baseline of a typical rice value chain in the region accounted for a value of around 2300 g CO$_{2}$e/kg$_{Prod}$. The CF can be reduced by about 27.4% through water-saving practices alone and can further be reduced up to 37.3% through interventions that increase product recovery rates and, thus, reduce food losses. In contrast, straw incorporation into the soil increased the CF by 26.0%. The tool is well suited for impact assessments of advanced practices and technologies of rice value chains

Bioenergy for a cleaner future: A case study of sustainable biogas supply chain in the Malaysian energy sector

A life cycle assessment (LCA)-based environmental sustainability evaluation conceptual framework of biogas production has been proposed to improve the sustainability of biogas supply chains. The conceptual framework developed in this study can be used as a guideline for the related stakeholders and decision makers to improve the quality and enhance the sustainability of biogas production in Malaysia as well as promoting biogas as a clean, reliable and secure energy. A case study on an LCA analysis of a zero waste discharge treatment process has been conducted. In the zero discharge treatment system, biogas can be produced with a maximum water recycle and reuse. It was indicated that the biogas production and zero discharge treatment of a palm oil mill effluent were environmentally sustainable as the system utilized organic waste to produce bioenergy and achieved zero discharge. However, there were other aspects that should be taken into consideration, particularly regarding the sources of electricity and upstream activity, to ensure the sustainability of the system holistically

International trade, dietary change, and cardiovascular disease health outcomes: Import tariff reform using an integrated macroeconomic, environmental and health modelling framework for Thailand

United Nations (UN) member states have, since 2011, worked to address the emerging global NCD crisis, but progress has, so far, been insufficient. Food trade policy is recognised to have the potential to impact certain major diet-related health and environmental outcomes. We study the potential for using import tariff protection as a health and environmental policy instrument. Specifically, we apply a rigorous and consistent Macroeconomic-Environmental-Demographic-health (MED-health) simulation model framework to study fiscal food policy import tariffs and dietary change in Thailand over the future 20 year period 2016-2035. We find that the existing Thai tariff structure, by lowering imports, lowers agricultural Land Use Change (LUC)-related GHG emissions and protects against cholesterol-related cardiovascular disease (CVD). This confirms previous evidence that food trade, measured by import shares of food expenditures and caloric intakes, is correlated with unhealthy eating and adverse health outcomes among importing country populations. A continued drive towards tariff liberalization and economic efficiency in Thailand may therefore come at the expense of reduced health and environmental sustainability of food consumption and production systems. Due to large efficiency losses, the existing tariff structure is, however, not cost-effective as an environmental or health policy instrument. However, additional simulations confirm that stylized 30% food sector import tariffs generally improve nutritional, clinical health, demographic, and environmental indicators across the board. We also find that diet-related health improvements can go hand-in-hand with increased Saturated Fatty Acid (SFA) intakes. Despite limited cost-effectiveness, policy makers from Thailand and abroad, including WHO, would therefore be well advised to consider targeted fiscal food policy tariffs as a potential intervention to maintain combined health and environmental sustainability, and to reconsider the specification of WHO dietary guidelines with their focus on SFA intake (rather than composition of fatty acid intake) targets

Evidence on the magnitude of the economic, health and population effects of palm cooking oil consumption: an integrated modelling approach with Thailand as a case study

BACKGROUND: Palm oil’s high yields, consequent low cost and highly versatile properties as a cooking oil and food ingredient have resulted in its thorough infiltration of the food sector in some countries. Longitudinal studies have associated palm oil’s high saturated fatty acid content with non-communicable disease, but neither the economic or disease burdens have been assessed previously. // METHODS: This novel palm oil-focussed disease burden assessment employs a fully integrated health, macroeconomic and demographic Computable General Equilibrium Model for Thailand with nine regional (urban/rural) households. Nutritional changes from food consumption are endogenously translated into health (myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke) and population outcomes and are fed back into the macroeconomic model as health and caregiver-related productive labour supply effects and healthcare costs to generate holistic 2016–2035 burden estimates. Model scenarios mirror the replacement of palm cooking oil with other dietary oils and are compared with simulated total Thai health and macroeconomic burdens for MI and stroke. // RESULTS: Replacing consumption of palm cooking oil with other dietary oils could reduce MI/stroke incident cases by 8280/2639 and cumulative deaths by 4683/894 over 20 years, removing approximately 0.5% of the total Thai burden of MI/stroke. This palm cooking oil replacement would reduce consumption shares of saturated/monounsaturated fatty acids in Thai household consumption by 6.5%/3% and increase polyunsaturated fatty acid consumption shares by 14%, yielding a 1.74% decrease in the population-wide total-to-HDL cholesterol ratio after 20 years. The macroeconomic burden that would be removed is US$308mn, approximately 0.44% of the total burden of MI/stroke on Thailand’s economy or 0.003% of cumulative 20-year GDP. Bangkok and Central region households benefit most from removal of disease burdens. // CONCLUSIONS: Simulations indicate that consumption of palm cooking oil, rather than other dietary oils, imposes a negative health burden (MI and stroke) and associated economic burden on a high consuming country, such as Thailand. Integrated sectoral model frameworks to assess these burdens are possible, and burden estimates from our simulated direct replacement of palm cooking oil indicate that using these frameworks both for broader analyses of dietary palm oil use and total burden analyses of other diseases may also be beneficial

Life cycle thinking in sustainability assessment of bioenergy systems

Increasing population and affluence have had a direct influence on increasing the energy demand of nations across the globe. Energy from non-renewable fossil resources has associated emissions of greenhouse gases contributing to climate change, a major challenge facing us today. The governments of many countries have tried to address the twin issues of limited local availability of fossil resources and greenhouse gas emissions by promoting the use of bioenergy. Bioenergy is not automatically sustainable unlike popular belief. Assessing its sustainability using a life cycle thinking approach reveals many caveats, not only regarding greenhouse gas emissions but also other environmental impacts that are often ignored. The environmental assessment of palm oil-based biodiesel shows the trade-offs when considering all the life cycle stages of the biofuel supply chain and also when multiple impact categories are considered. The so-called carbon neutrality becomes questionable and other impacts from agriculture arising due to the use of land and agrochemicals are also seen to be very significant. Ignoring these in policymaking could result in serious unintended consequences. Thus, the importance of life cycle thinking in sustainability assessment is illustrated. This will be critical in addressing national needs while also moving towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals

Life Cycle Thinking for Sustainable Consumption and Production towards a Circular Economy

The current model of a linear economy with end-of-pipe waste treatment is not sustainable. Cleaner production helps reduce resource use and emissions, but is still not an optimal solution without considering a life cycle perspective. Life cycle-based tools such as life cycle assessment and life cycle costing are useful for identifying optimal environmental and economic options for product systems. SDG 12 dealing with responsible consumption and production is key for sustainability. Developing of a circular economy requires life cycle thinking and life cycle-based tools for assessment. All these issues are discussed along with illustrative examples

Biorefineries for Sustainable Food-Fuel-Fibre Production: Towards a Circular Economy

Agriculture and related industries form the backbone of many Asian economies. Not only do they provide food, but they are increasingly proving to be a reliable local source of energy and materials. Biofuels from palm oil and sugarcane are prominent examples where the palm and sugar mills serve as biorefineries – providing food, fuels as well as materials. Nevertheless, there are also associated environmental impacts which need to be considered along with economic considerations. A life cycle approach is useful for both environmental as well as economic assessment. In particular eco-efficiency, a tool combining both environmental and economic aspects is very useful to analyze biorefinery configurations and look at the trade-offs between the environmental and economic aspects. The increase of value-added products from the biorefineries may lead to increased economic benefits but also increased environmental emissions. Indicators such as eco-efficiency show the relative advantages of the enhanced biorefinery system as compared to conventional food or biofuel production systems. Thus, they provide important information to decision-makers both for industry and policy

The conceptual quantitative assessment framework for Nature-based Solutions (NbS)

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are recognized as one of the approaches that can address a range of environmental issues, often with conservation and natural resource management missions. However, the promotion of NbS often lacks a robust understanding of their actual impacts and effectiveness. To support the evaluation and implementation of NbS, there is a need for a comprehensive quantitative assessment framework. The main objectives of the study are to (1) develop an assessment framework that can be used to quantify the performance of NbS interventions and to (2) provide a step-by-step guideline for evaluating NbS. The assessment framework proposed in this study was built upon existing frameworks used in previous studies, designed to address specific gaps. Several aspects and tools were integrated in response to the NbS standard criteria provided by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as a result, this quantitative assessment framework can provide a comprehensive evidence based on environmental, social, and economic aspects. The study introduced one approach, viz., the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting - Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA), and three main assessment tools (i.e., Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), and Cost-Benefit Assessment (CBA)) aimed at facilitating a comprehensive evaluation of NbS. The results provide a conceptual framework that offers a systematic approach for evaluating the performance of NbS, along with methods to address conflicting results among aspects and/or indicators. Ideas and approaches for assessing ecosystem services provided by NbS and primary concerns when conducting NbS assessments are also highlighted. In summary, the conceptual framework proposed in this study can be used to assess NbS performance and determine whether NbS interventions align with the NbS standard criteria provided by IUCN, utilizing the introduced assessment tools

Assessing the Effect of Incorporating Environmental Water Requirement in the Water Stress Index for Thailand

Human and environmental demands for water are both important; therefore, two approaches are proposed for assessing water scarcity using the water stress index. In one of them, the human demand for water explicitly includes environmental water as one of the components (WSIe1), whereas in the other, environmental water is explicitly reserved by subtracting it from the water availability (WSIe2). The results obtained from using the two approaches in the case of Bang Pakong watershed correspondingly contribute to the explanation of the existing stress situation, especially in the dry season. The stressful results were noticed during December to February for both approaches as a result of less available water and higher environmental water requirement. The assessment of environmental water requirement (EWR) in this study was quantified according to low and high flow periods. The two approaches perform well for assessing water scarcity in the Bang Pakong watershed; however, the result interpretation using the WSIe1 approach is more serious than the WSIe2 approach in terms of water scarcity potential beyond the critical threshold. In conclusion, priority of water allocation is the key consideration for selecting the approach. Higher priority for the environment favors the use of WSIe2 for policy making whereas for a lower priority, the use of WSIe1. In case of Thailand, the WSIe2 approach would be recommended in order to put the EWR as the first priority. Then, water allocation priorities can be rearranged only for human demands for water while the EWR is already safeguarded by setting it aside