scholarly journals Influence of the Water Source on the Carbon Footprint of Irrigated Agriculture: A Regional Study in South-Eastern Spain

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 351
Author(s):  
Bernardo Martin-Gorriz ◽  
Victoriano Martínez-Alvarez ◽  
José Francisco Maestre-Valero ◽  
Belén Gallego-Elvira

Curbing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to combat climate change is a major global challenge. Although irrigated agriculture consumes considerable energy that generates GHG emissions, the biomass produced also represents an important CO2 sink, which can counterbalance the emissions. The source of the water supply considerably influences the irrigation energy consumption and, consequently, the resulting carbon footprint. This study evaluates the potential impact on the carbon footprint of partially and fully replacing the conventional supply from Tagus–Segura water transfer (TSWT) with desalinated seawater (DSW) in the irrigation districts of the Segura River basin (south-eastern Spain). The results provide evidence that the crop GHG emissions depend largely on the water source and, consequently, its carbon footprint. In this sense, in the hypothetical scenario of the TSWT being completely replaced with DSW, GHG emissions may increase by up to 50% and the carbon balance could be reduced by 41%. However, even in this unfavourable situation, irrigated agriculture in the study area could still act as a CO2 sink with a negative total and specific carbon balance of −707,276 t CO2/year and −8.10 t CO2/ha-year, respectively. This study provides significant policy implications for understanding the water–energy–food nexus in water-scarce regions.

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
T Batool ◽  
A Neven ◽  
Y Vanrompay ◽  
M Adnan ◽  
P Dendale

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Other. Main funding source(s): Special Research Fund (BOF), Hasselt University Introduction The transportation sector is one of the major sectors influencing climate change, contributing around 16% of total Greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. Aviation contributes to 12% of the transport related emissions. Among other climate change impacts, elevated heat exposure is associated with increased cardiac events and exposure to air pollution caused by GHG emissions has also well-known association with increased cardiovascular related morbidity and mortality. The global temperature rise should be restricted to less than 2 °C which requires keeping carbon emission (CO2) less than 2900 billion tonnes by the end of the 21st century. Assuming air travel a major contributing source to GHG, this study aims to raise the awareness about potential carbon emissions reduction due to air travel of international events like a scientific conference. Purpose Due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, the Preventive cardiology conference 2020 which was planned to be held at Malaga Spain, instead was held in virtual online way. This study aims to calculate the contribution of reduced CO2  emissions in tons due to ESC preventive cardiology conference 2020, which was then held online and air travel of the registered participants was avoided. Methods Anonymized participant registration information was used to determine the country and city of the 949 registered participants of the Preventive Cardiology conference 2020. It is assumed that participants would have travelled from the closest airports from their reported city locations to Malaga airport, Spain. At first, the closest city airports were determined using Google maps and flights information, then the flight emissions (direct and indirect CO2-equivalent emissions) per passenger for the given flight distances were calculated. The CO2 emissions (tons) were calculated for round trips in economy class from the participants of 68 nationalities (excluding 60 participants from Spain as they are assumed to take other modes of transport than airplane). Results In total, 1156.51 tons of CO2  emissions were saved by turning the physical conference into a virtual event. This emission amount is equivalent to the annual CO2 production of 108 people living in high-income countries. Conclusion The pandemic situation has forced us to rethink the necessity of trips by air and has shown us the feasibility of digitally organized events. The information from this study can add to the awareness about reduced amount of carbon emission due to air travel by organizing events in a virtual way when possible. Apart from only digitally organized events there are others options to reduce the carbon footprint of conferences such as limiting the number of physical attendees, encouraging the use of relatively sustainable transport modes for participants from nearby countries (e.g. international trains and use of active transport modes at conference venue etc.) and including CO2 emission offsetting costs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1795
Author(s):  
Pedro Dorta Antequera ◽  
Jaime Díaz Pacheco ◽  
Abel López Díez ◽  
Celia Bethencourt Herrera

Many small islands base their economy on tourism. This activity, based to a large extent on the movement of millions of people by air transport, depends on the use of fossil fuels and, therefore, generates a large amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this work, these emissions are evaluated by means of various carbon calculators, taking the Canary Islands as an example, which is one of the most highly developed tourist archipelagos in the world. The result is that more than 6.4 million tonnes (Mt) of CO2 are produced per year exclusively due to the massive transport of tourists over an average distance of more than 3000 km. The relative weight of these emissions is of such magnitude that they are equivalent to more than 50% of the total amount produced by the socioeconomic activity of the archipelago. Although, individually, it is travelers from Russia and Nordic countries who generate the highest carbon footprint due to their greater traveling distance, the British and German tourists account for the greatest weight in the total, with two-thirds of emissions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8532
Author(s):  
Michael M. Blanke ◽  
Sabine D. Golombek

(1) Background: Black plastics pose a general problem in sustainability issues, as the recycling is hampered by the black colour disguising the type of plastics in the NIR scanner on the garbage sorting belt, as the black colour absorbs NIR radiation. Sorting flower/plant pots suffer from their additional soil contamination in the strive for sustainable flower production in horticulture. As these black plastic flowerpots are currently rarely recycled, a study was instigated of reusing them based on Heino Schwarz’s innovative idea. (2) Methods: In the first step, the carbon footprint was calculated for the flowerpots of two sizes employed in the nursery, their customised production from virgin polypropylene and the delivery from the Netherlands to the nursery in Bavaria. In step 2, the carbon footprint was calculated based on PAS 2050-1 for the number of flowerpots in circulation and return rates in 2019 and in 2020 to assess the GHG saved by the innovation. (3) Results: The innovative concept of Heino Schwarz is a discount on returning the customised used flowerpots, with a 40% increase from 24,533 returned flowerpots in 2019 to 39,797 in 2020. This shows the increasing acceptance and environmental awareness of the consumer and the great success. (4) Conclusions and outlook: The present case study has shown that innovative approaches such as discounts for reused/returned flowerpots of the Schwarz nursery can save 3.85–4.56 t CO2eq, a valuable contribution to reducing GHG emissions, creating environmental awareness among the consumers and building a close B2C relationship. The amount of CO2eq saved is equivalent to ca. 40% of the annual carbon burden of a European/German citizen or ca. 23,000 km driven in a private vehicle, the average mileage driven privately in two years.


Author(s):  
Ketil Søyland ◽  
Christer Wolden ◽  
Christopher Garmann ◽  
Debbie Harrison

<p>How can large-scale infrastructure projects be sustainable? The purpose of this paper is to discuss how engineering practices were changed in order to reduce the carbon footprint of the E39 Rogfast project, the world’s longest roadway sub-sea tunnel. The project will generate greenhouse gas (GHG)-emissions exceeding 1% of Norway’s total annual GHG-emissions. The paper covers the project process, including some of the challenges to be overcome.</p>


Due to manufactured technology enchantment the living being has much convenience and luxury. Though, at the same time, our current existence is doing damage to the environment. Like water pollution, air pollution and Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on so forth. But CO2 emissions are the one of the major reason polluting the environment. Furthermost of what we utilise in our daily life lead to emitting CO2 into the environment. Due to this it leads to global warming and climate change problems. Therefore, carbon auditing (Carbon Footprint Analysis) is the first essential step to review the use of energy, to improve energy conservation and to allow building to go green. For this reason we need carbon audit to reduce usage raw materials, waste generation so on so forth to minimise GHG emissions .“CARBON AUDIT” is conducted within the building’s boundary which includes the following stages:- People Survey to gather employee-level data, Building Survey to gather building-operation data, Carbon Footprint Analysis to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and Final Carbon Audit Report to provide tailored recommendations for going green along with action plan to get started


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewayne L. Ingram ◽  
Charles R. Hall

Life cycle assessment (LCA) was utilized to analyze the global warming potential (GWP), or carbon footprint, and associated costs of the production components of a field-grown, spade-dug, 5 cm (2 in) caliper Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ in the Lower Midwest, U.S. A model production system was determined from interviews of nursery managers in the region. Input materials, equipment use and labor were inventoried for each production system component using international standards of LCA. The seed-to-landscape GWP, expressed in kilograms of carbon dioxide emission equivalent (CO2e), was determined to be 13.707. Equipment use constituted the majority (63%) of net CO2-e emissions during production, transport to the customer, and transplanting in the landscape. The model was queried to determine the possible impact of production system modifications on carbon footprint and costs to aid managers in examining their production system. Carbon sequestration of a redbud growing in the landscape over its 40 year life, weighted proportionally for a 100 year assessment period, was calculated to be −165 kg CO2e. The take-down and disposal activities following its useful life would result in the emission of 88.44 kg CO2e. The life-cycle GWP of the described redbud tree, including GHG emissions during production, transport, transplanting, take down and disposal would be −63 kg CO2e. Total variable costs associated with the labor, materials, and equipment use incurred in the model system were $0.069, $2.88, and $34.81 for the seedling, liner, and field production stages, respectively. An additional $18.83 was needed for transport to the landscape and planting in the landscape and after the 40 year productive life of the tree in the landscape, another $60.86 was needed for take-down and disposal activities.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinna Peters

This study assesses changes in mobility behaviour in the City of Barcelona due the COVID‐19pandemic and its impact on air pollution and GHG emissions. Urban transport is an important sourceof global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Improving urban mobility patterns is therefore crucial formitigating climate change. This study combines quantitative survey data and official governmentdata with in‐depth interviews with public administration officials of the City. Data illustrates thatBarcelona has experienced an unprecedented reduction in mobility during the lockdown (a 90%drop) and mobility remained at comparatively low levels throughout the year 2020. Most remarkableis the decrease in the use of public transport in 2020 compared to pre‐pandemic levels, whereas roadtraffic has decreased to a lesser extent and cycling surged at times to levels up to 60% higher thanpre‐pandemic levels. These changes in mobility have led to a radical and historic reduction in airpollution, with NO2 and PM10 concentration complying with WHO guidelines in 2020. Reductions inGHG emissions for Barcelona’s transport sector are estimated at almost 250.000 t CO2eq in 2020 (7%of the City’s overall annual emissions). The study derives policy implications aimed at achieving along‐term shift towards climate‐friendlier, low‐emission transport in Barcelona, namely how torecover lost demand in public transport and seize the opportunity that the crisis brings for reform byfurther reducing road traffic and establishing a 'cycling culture' in Barcelona, as already achieved inother European cities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-142
Author(s):  
Pedro Meza-López ◽  
◽  
Mayra K. Trujillo-Delgado ◽  
Alan U. Burciaga-Álvarez ◽  
Ricardo de la Cruz-Carrera ◽  
...  

Introduction: The primary wood processing industry releases greenhouse gases (GHGs); their mitigation involves measuring the carbon footprint.Objective: To estimate the carbon footprint of two forestry companies dedicated to the primary transformation of wood.Materials and methods: Companies established as organizational boundaries L1 and L2 have two (Q1 and Q2) and one (D) sawmill, respectively. The operational limits were A1 (direct emissions from fossil fuel consumption), A2 (indirect emissions from electricity consumption) and A3 (emission sources not owned by L1 and L2). GHG emissions were calculated in two annuities with the method of using documented activity data and emission factors level 1. The annuities were compared with the Student’ t-test and Wilcoxon test, and the sawmills with the Kruskal-Wallis test.Results and discussion: The estimated carbon footprint for L1 was 480.06 tCO2e·year-1, where A1, A2 and A3 represented 29.32 %, 14.59 % and 56.09 %, respectively. L2 had a footprint of 230.56 tCO2e·year-1 of which 9.39 %, 11.78 % and 78.83 % corresponded to the categories A1, A2 and A3, respectively. The cumulative uncertainty was within a fair range of accuracy (±25 %). Only the direct GHG emissions between L1 annuities were statistically different (P < 0.05). Mechanical technology made the difference in GHG emissions among sawmills (P < 0.05).Conclusions: The carbon footprint is inherent to the energy used; energy management ensures the mitigation of GHG emissions.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document