Evaluating the Environmental, Economic, and Social Sustainability of Agro-Food Systems Through Life Cycle Approaches

2018 ◽  
pp. 123-152
Author(s):  
Giovanni Gulisano ◽  
Alfio Strano ◽  
Anna I. De Luca ◽  
Giacomo Falcone ◽  
Nathalie Iofrida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Economic ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Social Sustainability

scholarly journals Sustainable Agri-Food Processes and Circular Economy Pathways in a Life Cycle Perspective: State of the Art of Applicative Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2472
Author(s):  
Teodora Stillitano ◽  
Emanuele Spada ◽  
Nathalie Iofrida ◽  
Giacomo Falcone ◽  
Anna Irene De Luca
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Qualitative Synthesis

This study aims at providing a systematic and critical review on the state of the art of life cycle applications from the circular economy point of view. In particular, the main objective is to understand how researchers adopt life cycle approaches for the measurement of the empirical circular pathways of agri-food systems along with the overall lifespan. To perform the literature review, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol was considered to conduct a review by qualitative synthesis. Specifically, an evaluation matrix has been set up to gather and synthesize research evidence, by classifying papers according to several integrated criteria. The literature search was carried out employing scientific databases. The findings highlight that 52 case studies out of 84 (62% of the total) use stand-alone life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the benefits/impacts of circular economy (CE) strategies. In contrast, only eight studies (9.5%) deal with the life cycle costing (LCC) approach combined with other analyses while no paper deals with the social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) methodology. Global warming potential, eutrophication (for marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems), human toxicity, and ecotoxicity results are the most common LCA indicators applied. Only a few articles deal with the CE assessment through specific indicators. We argue that experts in life cycle methodologies must strive to adopt some key elements to ensure that the results obtained fit perfectly with the measurements of circularity and that these can even be largely based on a common basis.

scholarly journals Modelling Environmental Burdens of Indoor-Grown Vegetables and Herbs as Affected by Red and Blue LED Lighting

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppina Pennisi ◽  
Esther Sanyé-Mengual ◽  
Francesco Orsini ◽  
Andrea Crepaldi ◽  
Silvana Nicola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Environmental Pressures ◽  
Light Emitting ◽  
Led Lighting ◽  
Life Cycle Perspective ◽  
Electronic Elements

Notwithstanding that indoor farming is claimed to reduce the environmental pressures of food systems, electricity needs are elevated and mainly associated with lighting. To date, however, no studies have quantified the environmental and economic profile of Light Emitting Diodes (LED) lighting in indoor farming systems. The goal of this study is to quantify the effect of varying the red (R) and blue (B) LED spectral components (RB ratios of 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 4) on the eco-efficiency of indoor production of lettuce, chicory, rocket and sweet basil from a life cycle perspective. The functional unit of the assessment was 1 kg of harvested fresh plant edible product, and the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) method was employed for impact assessment. Even though most of the materials of the LED lamp and electronic elements were imported from long distances (14,400 km), electricity consumption was the largest contributor to the environmental impacts (with the LED lamps being the main electricity consumers, approximately 70%), apart from the resources use indicator, where the materials of the lamps and the mineral nutrients were also relevant. RB0.5 was the most energy-efficient light treatment but had the lowest eco-efficiency scores due to the lower crop yields.

Product Sustainable Design: A Review From the Environmental, Economic, and Social Aspects

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin He ◽  
Fangfang Li ◽  
Xiaoyang Cao ◽  
Tengyu Li
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Economic ◽  
Product Design ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Sustainable Design ◽  
Social Sustainability ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Social Design ◽  
Design Methodologies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Area Product

Abstract As a global concern, the sustainability of a product is the responsibility for manufacturing. Product design has become one of the sources and core drivers for manufacturing competition, and the international competitiveness of products would mostly depend on product design capabilities. The product design has essential and profound impacts on the manufacturing, and thus, many researchers focus on product design and make varies of contributions in this area. Product sustainable design is a design process for a product with the consideration of environmental, economic, and social sustainability during the product entire life cycle. The result of product sustainable design is the creation of products with high sustainability of environmental, economic, and social aspects. This paper reviews the state of the art in the product sustainable design methodologies and tools from the perspective of environmental, economic, and social aspects. For the environmental perspective, design for environment methodologies and tools would enable products in a more environmentally friendly manner in the manufacturing. For the economic perspective, this paper introduces the design methodologies for the economic sustainability with cost, assembly, manufacture, and supply chain. For the social perspective, this paper introduces sustainable social design and social responsibility design for social sustainability and social sustainability through social intervention and social innovation. In addition, it encourages future works.

scholarly journals Environmental and Economic Sustainability of Table Grape Production in Italy

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Roselli ◽  
Arturo Casieri ◽  
Bernardo Corrado de Gennaro ◽  
Ruggiero Sardaro ◽  
Giovanni Russo
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Impact Analysis ◽  
Table Grape ◽  
Production Model ◽  
Economic Returns ◽  
Table Grapes ◽  
Production Models

In recent years, the environmental sustainability of agri-food systems has become a crucial issue. Agri-food firms are increasingly concerned with the implementation of viable environmentally friendly production processes. The environmental impacts of the table grape sector, as well as other fresh and not transformed food products, involve mainly the farming phase rather than the subsequent conditioning, transportation, packaging, and distribution phases. The purpose of this study was to assess the environmental impacts and the economic viability of three table grapes production models (i.e., early harvesting, normal harvesting, and delayed harvesting), based on the Italian tendone system, during the entire life cycle. The environmental impact analysis was performed using the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach, while the economic analysis was performed using the life cycle costing (LCC) approach. The results show that the early and the delayed production models generated the highest environmental burdens, but also the highest economic returns, compared to the normal harvesting production model. The main determinants of the environmental impacts and economic returns are discussed and some practical recommendations are given to improve the sustainability of all the surveyed production models, so to converge public and private interests.

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