Environmental assessment of vegetable crops towards the water-energy-food nexus: A combination of precision agriculture and life cycle assessment
The increase in world population and the resulting demand for food, water and energy are exerting increasing pressure on soil, water resources and ecosystems. Identification of tools to minimise the related environmental impacts within the food–energy–water nexus is, therefore, crucial. The purpose...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22004861 |
| _version_ | 1818235348678868992 |
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| author | Adriana Del Borghi Valeria Tacchino Luca Moreschi Agata Matarazzo Michela Gallo Diego Arellano Vazquez |
| author_facet | Adriana Del Borghi Valeria Tacchino Luca Moreschi Agata Matarazzo Michela Gallo Diego Arellano Vazquez |
| author_sort | Adriana Del Borghi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The increase in world population and the resulting demand for food, water and energy are exerting increasing pressure on soil, water resources and ecosystems. Identification of tools to minimise the related environmental impacts within the food–energy–water nexus is, therefore, crucial. The purpose of the study is to carry out an analysis of the agri-food sector in order to improve the energy-environmental performance of four vegetable crops (beans, peas, sweet corn, tomato) through a combination of precision agriculture (PA) and life cycle assessment (LCA). Thus, PA strategies were identified and a full LCA was performed on actual and future scenarios for all crops in order to evaluate the benefits of a potential combination of these two tools. In the case study analysed, a life cycle approach was able to target water consumption as a key parameter for the reduced water availability of future climate scenarios and to set a multi-objective function combining also such environmental aspects to the original goal of yield maximisation. As a result, the combination of PA with the LCA perspective potentially allowed the path for an optimal trade-off of all the parameters involved and an overall reduction of the expected environmental impacts in future climate scenarios. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T11:52:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bfcf48a9a31244a9b3c58845b9a0245c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T11:52:33Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj.art-bfcf48a9a31244a9b3c58845b9a0245c2022-12-22T00:25:17ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2022-07-01140109015Environmental assessment of vegetable crops towards the water-energy-food nexus: A combination of precision agriculture and life cycle assessmentAdriana Del Borghi0Valeria Tacchino1Luca Moreschi2Agata Matarazzo3Michela Gallo4Diego Arellano Vazquez5Department of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering (DICCA), University of Genoa, Via all’Opera Pia 15, 16145 Genova, Italy; Corresponding author.Department of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering (DICCA), University of Genoa, Via all’Opera Pia 15, 16145 Genova, ItalyDepartment of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering (DICCA), University of Genoa, Via all’Opera Pia 15, 16145 Genova, ItalyDepartment of Economics, University of Catania, Piazza Università 2, 95131 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering (DICCA), University of Genoa, Via all’Opera Pia 15, 16145 Genova, ItalyDepartment of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering (DICCA), University of Genoa, Via all’Opera Pia 15, 16145 Genova, Italy; Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS Pavia, Piazza della Vittoria 15, 27100 Pavia, ItalyThe increase in world population and the resulting demand for food, water and energy are exerting increasing pressure on soil, water resources and ecosystems. Identification of tools to minimise the related environmental impacts within the food–energy–water nexus is, therefore, crucial. The purpose of the study is to carry out an analysis of the agri-food sector in order to improve the energy-environmental performance of four vegetable crops (beans, peas, sweet corn, tomato) through a combination of precision agriculture (PA) and life cycle assessment (LCA). Thus, PA strategies were identified and a full LCA was performed on actual and future scenarios for all crops in order to evaluate the benefits of a potential combination of these two tools. In the case study analysed, a life cycle approach was able to target water consumption as a key parameter for the reduced water availability of future climate scenarios and to set a multi-objective function combining also such environmental aspects to the original goal of yield maximisation. As a result, the combination of PA with the LCA perspective potentially allowed the path for an optimal trade-off of all the parameters involved and an overall reduction of the expected environmental impacts in future climate scenarios.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22004861Precision agricultureLife cycle assessmentWater-energy-food nexusFoodSustainability |
| spellingShingle | Adriana Del Borghi Valeria Tacchino Luca Moreschi Agata Matarazzo Michela Gallo Diego Arellano Vazquez Environmental assessment of vegetable crops towards the water-energy-food nexus: A combination of precision agriculture and life cycle assessment Ecological Indicators Precision agriculture Life cycle assessment Water-energy-food nexus Food Sustainability |
| title | Environmental assessment of vegetable crops towards the water-energy-food nexus: A combination of precision agriculture and life cycle assessment |
| title_full | Environmental assessment of vegetable crops towards the water-energy-food nexus: A combination of precision agriculture and life cycle assessment |
| title_fullStr | Environmental assessment of vegetable crops towards the water-energy-food nexus: A combination of precision agriculture and life cycle assessment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental assessment of vegetable crops towards the water-energy-food nexus: A combination of precision agriculture and life cycle assessment |
| title_short | Environmental assessment of vegetable crops towards the water-energy-food nexus: A combination of precision agriculture and life cycle assessment |
| title_sort | environmental assessment of vegetable crops towards the water energy food nexus a combination of precision agriculture and life cycle assessment |
| topic | Precision agriculture Life cycle assessment Water-energy-food nexus Food Sustainability |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22004861 |
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