Autor(es): Isabel Quispe Trinidad, Ramzy Kahhat Abedrabbo y otros
Energy consumption linked to non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and increases resource depletion. In this context, the use of agricultural solid residues such as rice husk, coffee husk, wheat straw, sugar cane bagasse, among others, has been widely studied as an alternative energy source in order to decrease the use of fossil fuels. In Peru, up to 693,308 metric tons of rice husk is generated annually and at present, 85% is burned in the open air or disposed in rivers, harming human health and contaminating our environment. On the other hand, official Peruvian energy policy is to incorporate the use of renewable energy sources, such as agricultural residues. Consequently, the aim of the study is to perform a technical and environmental assessment of the production of energy from rice husk as an alternative energy source to coal in Peru. Rice husk from Peru was characterized to identify its physical properties and chemical composition. In order to perform the environmental assessment, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was employed. LCA is a standardized methodology to identify and quantify the environmental impacts from initial obtention of materials, through production, distribution and use to final disposal (ISO 14040, 2006 and ISO 14044, 2006). Four scenarios were evaluated, varying in paddy rice yield and dryer efficiency. The results show that the environmental impacts to obtain 1 MJ from rice husk, including elements in the global warming, acidification and eutrophication categories, are less than that from 1 MJ obtained from coal, 97%, 88% and 80% less, respectively. However, the opposite was found in water depletion, with the use of coal to generate heat having a 98% better impact over rice husk.
Ir al enlaceAutor(es): Gustavo Larrea Gallegos, Ian Vázquez Rowe, Ramzy Kahhat Abedrabbo y otros
Demand for grapes to produce pisco in southern-coastal Peru is expected to double by 2030. However, the appellation of this beverage confines the production and limits the space for agricultural expansion, leading to a situation in which potential competition for resources with established constraints is foreseen. Hence, the objective of this study is to understand the environmental impacts, focused on climate change and water consumption, linked to the agricultural dynamism in the valleys of Ica and Pisco due to an increase in the demand of pisco. For this, the viticulture system was analyzed regarding predicted changes in terms of expansion, displacement or intensification using a consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA) approach, identifying the environmental consequences of these shifts. A two-step CLCA model was used based on the results of a previous attributional study, in which marginal effects were estimated following the stochastic technology-of-choice model (STCM) operational framework. Results identified a potential for the increase of pisco production based on crop substitution in the valleys of Ica and Pisco and suggest that greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption will be reduced locally, but the displaced agricultural production would reverse this tendency. Regardless of the policy implications of the results in the analyzed system, the proposed methodology constitutes a robust methodology that can be applied to other highly constrained agricultural systems, namely, those regulated by geographic indications.
Ir al enlaceAutor(es): Karin Bartl y otros
The objective of this study was to determine and to compare the Carbon Footprint (CF) of the coffee roasting process carried out by using two technologies with different sources of energy. To this aim, two coffee roasting companies were selected in the rainforest of Peru. These companies apply concentrated solar and photovoltaic energy, and electricity from the local grid as source of energy during the coffee roasting process. For this determination, primary data was collected from the two companies located in the province of Satipo, Junin, Peru. The information obtained was analyzed according to the procedures and requirements of ISO 14040 (Life Cycle Analysis) to obtain the carbon footprint, and then processed with the software "SimaPro" to evaluate the environmental impacts due to the effect of climate change. The results indicated a CF of the solar energy roasting process of 0.318 and a CF of the local electricity grid production of 0.744 kg CO2-eq per kg of roasted coffee. This represents a difference in greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions of 134%. Within the factory activities, the stage with the highest environmental impact or "hotspot" was the roasting stage, where the most sophisticated machines are used and generated emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels. From this, proposals and recommendations to improve the strategies include an approach to clean technologies for a sustainable development in the sector, among others.
Descargar publicación (309,21 KB)Autor(es): Ian Vázquez Rowe y otros
Reducing food losses (FL) has been identified as an essential means of increasing food security, while reducing pressure on natural resources. To assess the reliability of future strategies to reduce and manage FL along the food supply chain (FSC), not only their quantification but also the ‘qualification’ in both economic and nutritional terms must be considered. The methodology proposed in this work allows to quantify FL at the distinct stages of the FSC (agricultural production, postharvest and storage, processing, distribution, households and extradomestic consumption). In addition, economic and nutritional FL are estimated. A Nutritional Food Losses Footprint (NFLF) index is proposed to assess and balance the variables described. This index is used to define food recovery strategies focused on those food categories and stages of the FSC with lesser efficiency. NFLF distinguishes between food losses from cradle to gate (FL-ctog) and food losses from gate to grave (FL-gtog) depending on the scope of the analysis. The former provides information to producers, while the latter creates awareness among consumers. Furthermore, the potential for FL reduction is estimated through the quantification of avoidable and unavoidable FL. Our study is focused on the Mediterranean region, in particular on Spain. Almost 20% of the national food production is estimated to be lost or wasted. Vegetables, fruits and meat result the food categories less efficient. Household consumption is the main responsible of FL generation, followed by agricultural production. Each Spanish citizen is estimated to throw away around 180€ per year, while a 76% could be saved.
Ir al enlaceAutor(es): Ramzy Kahhat Abedrabbo, Ian Vázquez Rowe y otros
En colaboración con la Universidad de Cantabria. Abstract: The great concern regarding food loss (FL) has been studied previously, but in an isolated way, disregarding interdependencies with other areas. This paper aims to go a step further by proposing a new procedure to assess different waste management alternatives based on the nexus approach by means of an integrated Water-Energy-Food-Climate Nexus Index (WEFCNI). The environmental profile of the waste management techniques is determined using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) which, in combination with Linear Programming (LP), explores the optimal aggregation of weighting factors that lead to an aggregated nexus index. The management of residues from the anchovy canning industry in Cantabria (Spain) has been used as a case study, considering the three current applied alternatives: (i) valorisation of FL as animal feed in aquaculture (food waste-to-food approach), (ii) incineration of FL with energy recovery, and (iii) landfilling with biogas recovery. The last two considered the use of energy recovered to produce a new aquaculture product (food waste-to-energy-to-food scenarios). The results indicate that incineration is the best performing scenario when the nutritional energy provided by the valorisation alternative is not high enough and the valorisation technology presents the highest water consumption. Therefore, a minimisation in the consumption of natural resources is suggested in order to improve the application of circular economy within the sector. The use of the nexus index as an environmental management tool is extendable to any food system with the aim of facilitating the decision-making process in the development of more sustainable products.
Ir al enlaceAutor(es): Kurt Ziegler Rodríguez, Ian Vázquez Rowe, Ramzy Kahhat Abedrabbo y otros
Publicación correspondiente al Proyecto IKI PNUMA Abstract: Peru generated in 2014 a total of 7.5 million metric tons of municipal solid waste (MSW). Of these, 47 % of residues ended up in open dumpsites and only 21 % were sent to controlled landfills. Efforts must be made to conduct a change from open dumpsites to sanitary landfills, reaching an adequate and sustainable waste management system. This study aims at meeting this challenge by means of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. In particular, the objective of this study is to develop a life cycle model that will allow the estimation of environmental impacts linked to waste landfilling in Peru, and to compare in further studies alternatives to determine a more environmentally sustainable solution. The model is flexible in order to be adapted to the three main geo-climatic regions in Peru: the hyper-arid coast, the Andean Highlands and the Amazon Rainforest. The life cycle model was developed with the EASETECH software, taking into account the phases of construction, operation and end-of-life the Peruvian landfills. The main parameters of this model include waste composition and the characteristics and treatment of the leachate and landfill gas, taking into consideration local parameters such as temperature, humidity and precipitation intensity. The model lays the foundation stone to determine the main hotspots in Peruvian sanitary landfills. This information will allow achieving an adequate and sustainable waste management by proposing improvement measures to help stakeholders in the decision-making process.
Ir al enlaceAutor(es): Ian Vázquez Rowe y otros
Publicación correspondiente al Proyecto CERES Abstract: Feeding the world’s population sustainably is a major challenge of our society and has been stated as one of the key priorities for development cooperation by the EU policy framework on food security. However, the current pattern of natural resources exploitation to meet humanity’s demand for food threatens long-term food security. Food systems represent around 30 % of final energy use, generating up to 30 % of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Given the expected increase of global population (9 billion people by 2050) and the amount of food losses and waste generated (a third of global food production), improving the efficiency of food systems along the supply chain is essential to ensure food security. This work combines life cycle assessment (LCA) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) to assess the efficiency of Spanish agri-food system and propose improvement actions in order to reduce energy usage and GHG emissions. Results suggest that sweets and vegetable fats categories provide the largest nutritional energy to consumer per unit of embedded energy in its production. Around a 70 % average reduction target is estimated for the Spanish agri-food system to be efficient, with a similar reduction in related greenhouse gas emissions.
Ir al enlaceAutor(es): Pedro Villanueva con afiliación PELCAN
Fresh pasteurized milk consumption is evaluated from environmental and socio-economic perspectives. Two different supply chains are analysed: traditional supply chain and vending machines—a circular business model based on a short supply chain. Milk vending machines show that consuming milk in proximity, eliminating intermediaries between producers and consumers and, therefore, reducing the use of resources and energy (packaging and transportation), has environmental advantages. Hence, milk distribution, electricity consumption and consumer transport caused the largest impacts. When the environmental profiles of pasteurized milk consumption in supermarkets and vending machines are benchmarked, the vending machine has a considerable lower impact. The sensitivity analysis emphasizes the latter findings, highlighting the relevance of consumer choices upon the environmental profile of milk consumption. Despite the environmental benefits, vending supply chain unexpectedly failed in Spain from a socioeconomic point of view due to several factors: the farmers’ lack of processing and marketing capacities, the difficulty of networking and collaboration with other key stakeholders, the necessity to raise consumer awareness of the benefits of pasteurized milk and the limited range of dairy products offered. The development of a close short supply chain can bring significant environmental and socio-economic benefits. Notwithstanding, the case analysed in this paper indicates that the isolated entrepreneurship is not sufficient and the transformation of the food system towards a circular model requires political and societal commitment.
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