second cycle degree programme (msc level) in environmental ...lasa.dii.unipd.it/via/lex/tools...

Voluntary tools for environmental

management

University of Padova

A.A. 2014-2015

Second Cycle Degree Programme (MSc Level) in Environmental Engineering

Alessandro Manzardo, PhD

Environmental Impact Assessment

The market is demanding for green

production and products

Over 100 billion euros will be invested in Italy to the

latest requirement of the 2020 European Policy (IEFE-

Bocconi 2009)

To restart economic growth towards low-carbon ecnomy

…investements for low carbon technologies and markets will

be the 4% of the world GDP within 18 months (Leeds

University 2009)

“The world has its best chance in decades to make serious

progress on both the climate and economic fronts” (Ban

Ki-moon-United nations 2009)

The main bank gorpu in the owrld are working togheter to set

specific investments fund for those companies that are

working for cleaner production and consumption

(CDP,2009)

http://www.cdproject.net/index.asp

The Green Consumer profile

“Despite of ecnomic crisis, the green products

market share is growing fast to 62%. Conusmers

seems to pay even more attention when looking at

social responsibility. ” Carbon Trust 2009

78

80

84

52

84

61

85

0 20 40 60 80 100

USA

Canada

UK

Giappone

Germania

Francia

Italia

Pagherebbero il

10% in più per un

prodotto fatto

rispettando la

società e

l'ambiente

Fonte:Camera di Commercio di Milano - 2005

Risks related to resource availability

•Physical Risks: access to water resources and water related services.

•Compliance Risks: regulation and administrative procedures

•Market Risks: Corporate Responsability and reputation

•Financial Risks: water and energy costs rising, fall in sells and profits as a

consequence of above mentioned risks

COMPANIES NEED TOOLS TO ASSESS AND MANAGE ENVIRONMENTAL

IMPACTS RELATED TO WATER

WATER ENERGY

CESQA 5

ISO standards

An International Standard consists in a set of requirements used to

accomplish a task in a consistent manner recognized at international level

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world's largest

developer and publisher of International Standards

Main characteristics:

•Result from a transparent and consesus-based process

•Based on principles of transparency, openess,

impartiality and voluntariety

•Voluntary Application

TERMINOLOGY ISO 14050

PROCESS ORIENTED PRODUCT ORIENTED

Water footprint ISO 14046

ISO/TR 14073

EMS ISO/DIS 14001 - ISO 14004; ISO

14005; ISO 14006

Audit ISO 19011, ISO 14015

EPE ISO 14031; ISO/TS 14033

ISO/NP 14034

Communication ISO 14063

Green House Gas ISO 14064 – part 1,2,3; ISO 14065;

ISO 14066; ISO/TR 14069

Material flow cost accounting ISO 14051

Life Cycle Assessment ISO 14040-44; ISO/TR 14047

ISO/TS 14048 ISO/TR 14049

ISO/DTS 14071

Ecolabelling ISO 14020, ISO 14021 ISO 14024, ISO 14025

ISO /WD 14026

Product environmental aspects ISO/TR 14062, ISO Guide 64, ISO

14045

Organizational LCA ISO/TS 14072

Product carbon ISO/TS 14067

Supply chain GHG ISO/TR 14069

Voluntary tools for environmental management

HDPE Botttle

Stock of HDPE

grains in Silos

and Quality

Control

Plastic

Extrusion

Trimming and

sterilization

(H2O)

Filling and

capping Secondary

packaging

Final Product

Stock

Bottle Blowing

What the Company should be aware of

(environmental impact perspective)?

Beverage Carton

Stock of rolls

Beverage

carton Material

Filling and

capping

Secondary

packaging

Final Product

Stock

What the Company should be aware of

(environmental impact perspective)?

What process would you go for?

Attenzione

problematiche

ambientali

Metodi e tecniche per comprendere, valutare,

ridurre gli impatti di prodotti (sia quelli realizzati,

sia quelli che, una volta utilizzati, devono essere

smaltiti)

Acqua risorsa

scarsa

• Tema centrale all’interno del dibattito mondiale

• Studio di problematiche legate all’acqua è

divenuto oggi molto importante

1. Confrontare e applicare due metodi di analisi 1. Confrontare e applicare due metodi di analisi

ambientale (life cycle assessment e water

footprint) a due tipologie di imballaggio per il latte

2. Confrontare i risultati di uno studio di analisi del ciclo

di vita comparativo utilizzando due diversi metodi di

valutazione degli impatti

Tetra Brik Aseptic

1000 base

(TBA 1000 base)

Bottiglia in

HDPE

OBIETTIVI

LAVORO

Beverage Carton production

PET

grains

Extrusion

Lamination

Final Product

Stock

Alumin

um Foil Paper

…..What if the company have to produce the

beverage cartons by itself?

Having a limited view can result in environmental

burden shift!!!

CESQA 12

Life Cycle Approach

Look at products, processes and services with a cradle to gate approach

in order not to shift impacts from one stage of the life cycle to another!

FROM CRADLE

TO GRAVE

The very firts analysis are from the 1969 when

Coca Cola wanted to understand which was

the best packaging for its drink

Glass? Plastic? or Alluminium can?

which of this material is the best for reuse at the

end of life?

Which is the best management strategy at the

end of life of the product?

Reuse? Disposal?

HISTORY OF PRODUCT BASED LCA

First studies (early ’70)

Energy Efficiency

Raw material conusmption

Waste management

Development (’80, ’90)

Corporate responsibility

Boom (1992)

UN Earth Summit

Europe(2005)

Key role in the Europena Policy on Envrionment

Petrol crisis

“LCA is among the most promising new tools for a wide

range of environmental management tasks”

Ecolabel, EPD, transports, recycling, plastic material..

Resouces analysis, focus on

specific issues

HISTORY OF PRODUCT BASED LCA

Life cycle approach: potential applications

Focus on environmental issues form the

very beginning of the design processes

leads to lower environmental impacts and

costs

2. Design:

3. Marketing

Management: < environmental Impacts

> Material and energy efficiency

< input

< waste

< costs

CESQA©

16

LCA ed ecodesign

En. Impact

Product cost

Life cycle cost paid

by stakeholders

Cost definition

€,

Environmental

Impacts

x

Concept

x

Pilot

x

Market

Design

Production

Product market life

End of life

Il ciclo di vita del prodotto/servizio

A B N X Y

Org C Product

Customer Use

Org Y End of Life

Treatment

Org. B Components

Org. A Raw material

PRODUCTS

Potential Integrated approach O

R

G

A

N

I

Z

A

T

I

O

N

ANALYTIC

TOOLS

MANAGEMENT

SYSTEMS

Environmental Management Systems

(ISO 14001)

• part of an organization's (3.16) management system used to develop and implement its environmental policy (3.11) and manage its environmental aspects (3.6)

• Note 1: A management system is a set of interrelated elements used to establish policy and objectives and to achieve those objectives.

• Note 2: A management system includes organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures (3.19), processes and resources.

ISO 14001 The plan-do-chek-act approach

Continuous

improvement

Environmental

Policy

Planning

Implementation

and operation

Checking

Management

review

Plan: establish

objectives and

processes needed

to provide results

according to

environmental policy

Do: implement the

processes

Check: monitor and

measure processes

respecting

environmental

policy, objectives,

target and legal

requirements and

to report the results

Act: consolidate and

implement actions to

improve continuously the

EMS performance

INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL

REVIEW

Initial environmental Review INITIAL

REVIEW

Determine the ineteractions between the organizationa nd the environmentad

and identify potential significant impacts:

• Aspects identification

• Identification of impacts and their significance

INITIAL

REVIEW

The organization shall establish, implement, maintain procedure(s) for:

b) To determine those aspects that have or can have significant impact/s

on the environment (i.e. significant environmental aspects).

The organization shall document this information and keep it up to date.

The organization shall ensure that the significant environmental aspects

are taken into account in establishing, implementing, and maintaining

its environmental management system.

Assessing the significance

Initial environmental Review

• Include a commitment to continual improvement and prevention of pollution

• Includes a commitment to comply with applicable legal requirements and the other

requirements it subscribes

• is appropriated to the nature, scale and environental impacts of its activities,

products and services

• Provides the framework for setting and reviewing environmental objectives and

targets

• is documented, implemented, maintained and communicated to all persons

working for or on behalf of the organization

• is available to the public

CONTENTS

OTHER CONDITIONS FOR THE CONTENTS

APPLICATION AND COMMUNICATION

Top management shall define the organization’s environmental policy and ensure

that

Environmental Policy ENVIRONMENTAL

POLICY

Policy Objective and

targets

Legal

requirements

Technology

oiptions

Financial

requirements

Significant

environmental

aspects

Operational

requirements

Interested

parties

Objectives, targets and programme/s PLAN

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY PLANNING

Reduce impacts related

to climate change

Objective 1

Minimize the emissions

of GHG along teh supply chain

Targets 1

Reduce the 15% of the energy

used in the primary packaging line

within 2020

Objective, targets and programme (s) PLAN

Actions 1) Identify packaging alternatives

2) verify potential climate change

impacts

3 implement the best solution

What process would you go for?

Attenzione

problematiche

ambientali




smaltiti)

Acqua risorsa

scarsa










Tetra Brik Aseptic

1000 base

(TBA 1000 base)

Bottiglia in

HDPE

OBIETTIVI

LAVORO

DO

LCA tool according to ISO 14040-44

Let’s go back to Awesome Beverage Case

study..

DO

Goal and scope definition

Objective of the study

• Determine which packaging system is better to contain the innovative

free range milk with the lowest potential environmental impacts.

• The results will be used by the management to take decision on how to

equip the new production site.

• The results are not intended to be disclosed to the public

Function and functional unit (….the reporting unit) Contain one litre of milk

Product Systems All the processes involved in the production, distribution and disposal of HDPE

bottle and Beverage Cartons in Italy

DO

emissions

BOTTLE

steam water

water electric powerelectric power methane

methane other fuels PACKAGED

other fuels steam PRODUCT emissions

HDPE waste

air emissions

caps, labels, seals

HDPE waste

emissions

HDPE waste matters

* outside the system boundaries

emissions emissionsemissions

RAW MATERIALS EXTRACTION

AND MANUFACTURING:

BOTTLE

PRODUCTION BOTTLE FILLING

AND

PACKAGING

TRANSPORT

Virgin HDPE

Titanium dioxide

Black carbon

*TRANSPORT TO LARGE RETAIL

CENTERS

AUXILIARY MATERIALS

EXTRACTION AND

MANUFACTURING:*LARGE RETAIL CENTERS AND

TRANSPORT TO RETAILERS

TRASPORT

Bottle top

Labels

Seals

*RETAILERS AND TRANSPORT TO

CONSUMERS

garbage

dump

disposal

52%

TRANSPORT *USE

WASTE MATTERS

TREATMENT*TRANSPORT

material

recovery

24%

heat

treatment

24%

END OF LIFE

heat treatment 100%

Goal and scope definition DO

emissionsemissions emissions emissions

emissions

hydrogen peroxide

electric power

compressed airsteam

cooling water

strip emissions

electric power lubricating oil emissions methane PACKAGED

gas oil FOIL-LINED PACKAGE PRODUCT

refrigerants

emissions

Waste: aluminium, paper, polyethylene

Refuse: cleaning clothes with inkpart of machineries, ferrous and

non-ferrous wreckages

* outside the system boundaries

material

recovery

37,6%

heat

treatment

12,7%

garbage

dump

disposal

49,7%

*TRANSPORT

WASTE MATTERS TREATMENT

Photopolymer

TRANSPORT *USE

FILLING PACKAGING

emissions

TRANSPORT

Cardboard

Pallet*RETAILERS AND TRANSPORT TO

CONSUMERSShrink film

waste (aluminium, paper,

polyethylene)

*TRANSPORT TO LARGE RETAIL

CENTERS

AUXILIARY

MATERIALS

EXTRACTION AND

MANUFACTURING :*LARGE RETAIL CENTERS AND

TRANSPORT TO RETAILERSTRANSPORT

paper: recyclealuminium + polyethylene:

energy recovery

END OF LIFE

Cardboard cores

RAW MATERIALS

EXTRACTION AND

MANUFACTURING:

PRODUCTION

Paper

Aluminium foil

Polyethylene

Ink

TRANSPORT

Goal and scope definition

Potential approaches:

-Gate to gate Only production processes are considered

-Cradle to gate from raw materials to the output of a specific

stage of the life cycle such as production…

- Cradle to grave encompasses all the life cycle of the products

Inventory analysis consists of the gatahering of all relevant data

(material and energy flows ) of the products systems Input-output

approach).

Referred to

the product system

Input-output includes:

Use of resources

Release to air, soil, warter

These data are collected in reference withe the objective of the study

(e.g. focusing on climate change we would collect data on GHG

emissions).

Impact assessment are based on these data.

PRIMARY DATA: directly measured and collected on the field

SECONDARI DATA: from data base!

TERTIARY DATA: from estimation

Life Cycle Inventory Analysis DO

IMPACT CATEGORIES ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS

Renewable sources deplation Use of resources

Non Renewable sources deplation Use of resources

Climate Change (Carbon Footprint) Emissions to air

Ozone layer deplation Emissions to air

Human Toxicity Emissions to air, water, soil

Eco Toxicity Emissions to wateer and soils

Photochemical effect Emissions to air

Acidification Emissions to air

Eutrophication Emissions to air, water, soil

Noise Noise production

Life Cycle Impact Assessment

Climate change impacts of HDPE Bottle

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

g CO2e

Raw materials

Ancillary Mterials

Transportation of rawmaterials

Transportation ofancillary materials

Beverage Cartonproduction

Filling and Packaging(primary+ secondary)

Transportation of scraps

Scraps end of lifemanagement

End of Life

DO

Climate change impacts of Beverage Carton

0,00 10,00 20,00 30,00 40,00 50,00 60,00 70,00 80,00 90,00

g CO2e

Raw materials

Ancillary Mterials

Transportation of rawmaterialsTransportation ofancillary materialsBeverage CartonproductionFilling and Packaging(primary+ secondary)Transportation of scraps

Scraps end of lifemanagementEnd of Life

DO

Eco-profile (Eco-indicator 99)

Attenzione

problematiche

ambientali




smaltiti)

Acqua risorsa

scarsa










Tetra Brik Aseptic

1000 base

(TBA 1000 base)

Bottiglia in

HDPE

OBIETTIVI

LAVORO

Attenzione

problematiche

ambientali




smaltiti)

Acqua risorsa

scarsa










Tetra Brik Aseptic

1000 base

(TBA 1000 base)

Bottiglia in

HDPE

OBIETTIVI

LAVORO

DO

INPUT OUTPUT

a) results of internal audits and evaluations of

compliance with legal requirements;

b) communication(s) from external interested

parties, including complaints;

c) the environmental performance of the

organisation;

d) the extent to which objectives and targets

have been met;

e) status of corrective and preventive actions;

f) follow-up actions from previous

management reviews;

g) changing circumstances, including

developments in legal and other

requirements related to its environmental

aspects; and

h) recommendations for improvement

Any decisions and actions related to

possible changes to

• environmental policy,

• objectives,

• targets and

• ther elements of the environmental

management system,

consistent with the commitment to

continual improvement.

E

V

I

E

W

R

Check and Act - continuos

improvement

WHAT CAN WE DO NEXT TO

IMPROVE THE PRODUCTION

SYSTEM?

Product Carbon Footprint

Carbon footprint: a measure expressed in CO2

equivalent to represent the impacts of a product,

a process on climate change

1) It is not a comprehensive assessment but focused only on climate change

2) Results of an LCA related to climate change category and of a Carbon Footprint

are the same but are reported differently

Environmental Impacts Assessment of Renewable

Energy sources: litterature review

To support the understanding of renewable Energy sources impacts, several scientific papers

have been published in the past years:

• Over 20 scientifc papers were considered in this study

• In general they are focused on the assessment of only two Environmental Indicators:

1. Climate Change (IPCC 2007)

1. Are there other relevant impact categories to be considered?

2. Is it enough to look at just one indicator when setting energy intervention plans and

policies?

11

4

25

0

5

10

15

20

25

gC

O2

/kW

h

Biomass Wind Photovoltaic

Impacts on Climate Change of different RES technologies

(Average Values)

1. Energy Use/Energy Pay Back Time (CED)

9

4

6,5

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

N. o

f Y

ea

rs

Biomass Wind Photovoltaic

Energy payback Time of different RES technologies

(Average Values)

Single issue assessment versus full life cycle

assessment •Life Cycle Assessment, thanks to its holistic approach, is the tool to assess

environmental impacts of product, processes and services in several impact

categories

•IPCC 2007 and Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) focus only on one specific

environmental issue

LCA IPCC 2007 CUMULATIVE ENERGY DEMAND

Carcinogens X

Respiratory Organics X

Respiratory Inorganics X

Climate Change X X

radiation X

Ozone Layer X

Ecotoxicity X

Acidification/Eutrophication X

Lan Use X

Minerals/Fossil Fuels X X

Goal of the Study: conduct a Life Cycle Assessment study, according to ISO

14040-14044, on 1 kWp Monocrystalline PV panel in order to:

1. verify which impacts are most relevant;

2. identify which processes should be improved in order to reduce

environmental impacts

The product system consists of the processes necessary to produce a solar

panel.

The function is the production of a PV panel.

The functional unit is the kilo Watt peak (kWp)

Data: primary data from a company in the North East of Italy; secondary data from

Ecoinvent data Base; data refers to the production of 2010

LCIA: Three different methods were used:

Eco-indicator 99

IPCC 2007

Cumulative Energy Demand

Case Study: Goal and Scope

Main carachteristics of the PV module Unit

Technology Monocrystalline silicon

N° of Modules 5,56 p

Nominal power 180 W

Module surface 1,292 m2

Module weight 15 kg

N° of cells per module 72 p

Total number of cell 400 p

Cell dimension 0,125 x 0,125 m2

Cell thickness 250 μm

Case Study: Goal and Scope, characteristics of the

PV Panel

5

89%

Other

industries

elettronic

11%

PV

production

PMG-Si

Production

EG-Si poly

production

–

Siemens

Process

Silicon Ingot

formation

–

Czochralsky

Process

Waste

Washing

Second

Crystallization

–

Czochralsky

process

Ingott

Squaring

Ingott

cutting

into wafer

Cell

production

Assembling

and testing

The following processes were

excluded because of lack of

information:

1. Balance of System

2. Transport to Installation Site

3. Installation processes

4. Maintanance and operations

5. End of Life

CRADLE TO GATE APPROACH WAS

ADOPTED

Case Study: Goal and Scope, processes

considered

Results and interpretation: IPCC 2007

0

010

020

030

040

050

060

070

080

090

0100

IPCC GWP 100a

1 kWpk 'Pannello FV'; IPCC 2007 GWP 100a V1.02

%

9_Assembling andTesting

8_Cell Production

7_Ingott Cutting

6_Ingott Squaring

5_SecondCrystallization

4_Waste Washing

3_Silicon IngotFormation

2_ EG-Si PolyProduction

1_MG-Si Production

Results and interpretation:

Cumulative Energy Demand

0,00

10,00

20,00

30,00

40,00

50,00

60,00

70,00

80,00

90,00

100,00

Non renewable,

fossil

Non-renewable,

nuclear

Non-renewable,

biomass

Renewable,

biomass

Renewable,

wind, solar,

geothe

Renewable,

water

1 kWpk 'Pannello FV'; Metodo: Cumulative Energy Demand V1.06

%


8_Cell Production

7_Ingott Cutting

6_Ingott Squaring


4_Waste Washing



1_MG-Si Production

Results and interpretation: Ecoindicator 99

Characterization

0

010

020

030

040

050

060

070

080

090

0100

Carcinogens

Resp. organics

Resp. inorganics

Climate change

Radiation

Ozone layer

Ecotoxicity

Acidificatio

n/ Eutrophicatio

n

Land use

Minerals

1 kWpk 'Pannello FV'; Eco-indicator 99 (I) V2.05 / Europe EI 99 I/A

%


8_Cell Production

7_Ingott Cutting

6_Ingott Squaring

5_Second Crystallization

4_Waste Washing

3_Silicon Ingot Formation

2_ EG-Si Poly Production

1_MG-Si Production

Results and interpretation: Ecoindicator

99

Weighting

0

05

010

015

020

025

030

035

040

045

050

Carcinogens

Resp. organics

Resp. inorganics

Climate change

Radiation

Ozone layer

Ecotoxicity

Acidificatio

n/ Eutrophicatio

n

Land use

Minerals

1 kWpk 'Pannello FV'; Eco-indicator 99 (I) V2.05 / Europe EI 99 I/A

Pt


8_Cell Production

7_Ingott Cutting

6_Ingott Squaring


4_Waste Washing



1_MG-Si Production

Through LCIA using Eco-Indicator emerged that also Respiratory Inorganics is a

significant Impact category

When using IPCC 2007 and CED we can measure environmental impacts in a

specific category, but we miss the relation with other categories

The three methods partially identify the same processes as significant and

suggest to intervene to reduce environmental impacts with a different

priority

Discussions

IPCC 2007 Cumulative Energy Demand Eco-Indicator

Second Crystallization EG-Si Poly Production Assembling and Testing

Ingott Cutting Second Crystallization Ingott Cutting

EG-Si Poly Production Ingott Cutting Second Crystallization

Silcion Ingott Formation Assembling and Testing EG-Si Poly Production

Conclusions

In order to assess Environmental impacts of RES, CED and IPCC methods are

generally used.

• Are there other relevant impact categories to be considered?

• Is it enough to look at just one indicator when setting energy intervention plans

and policies?

In this Study LCA methodology (Eco-indicator) was used to assess the

different environmental impacts of 1kWp PV panel.

1. There are other significant categories to be considered when studying

RES technologies such as RESPIRATORY INORAGNICS

1. Only using an holistyc approach, like the LCA one, is possible to have a

clear view of environmental impacts and set intervention strategies that

really come to a reduction of environmental impacts

2. Other recently published papers support these results (e.g. Ruben Laleman,

Johan Albrecht, Jo Dewulf. Life Cycle Analysis to estimate the environmental impact of residential

photovoltaic systems in regions with low solar irradiation. Renewable and Sustainable Energy

Reviews; 2010)

Product Water Footprint

Water footprint: Metric(s) that quantify(ies) the

potential environmental impacts related to

water (ISO 14046). Products, Processes,

Organization.

1) It is not a comprehensive assessment but focused only on water


…integrated by Hoekstra in 2002…

Comprehensive indicator of freshwater resources

appropriation. Products, Nation, Population (Hoekstra et al.,

2011)

Evolved with the support of the Life Cycle Assessment

community.

Metric(s) that quantify(ies) the potential environmental

impacts related to water (ISO 14046). Products, Processes,

Organization.

The concept of Virtual Water was firstly introduced by

Allan in the 90’s…

Water needed for the production of a product…global trade of

embedded water into products.

The ISO 14046 model

WATER FOOTPRINT

INVENTORY

WATER FOOTPRINT

Scarsity – quantity

Availability – quantity and quality

Aquatic ecotoxicity – Emissions of chemicals to

water

Aquatic acidification – emissions of SOx Nox

Aquatic eutrophication – emissions of P/N to

water

What can we measure?

WATER FOOTPRINT

Potential indicator profile

Qualificatori del

tipo di

Water Footprint

54

Weighting

WATER FOOTPRINT

e.g. Ecopoint

Goal of the study

GOAL OF THE STUDY.

Compare Water Accounting for organic and non-organic

cultivation in a specific location; (WFN)

Quantification of the Water Footprint for a jar of 330 grams of

Organic strawberry Jam (LCA Approach_WSI)

Manzardo A.*, Mazzi A., Niero M., Toniolo S., Scipioni A. : “Water footprint accounting of organic and non-organic

strawberries including ancillary materials: a case study”. Proceeding LCA FOOD 2012.

1) Boundaries of analysis

WATER ACCOUNTING (organic and non-organic)

Blue, green and grey water of processes

are assessed (Hoekstra et al., 2011)

CROPWAT model is employed

(http://www.fao.org/nr/water/infores_datab

ases_cropwat.html) to determine Blue and

Green Water.

The results are expressed as l/kg of

strawberries

Water Accounting

http://www.fao.org/nr/water/infores_databases_cropwat.html










1) Water Inventory

Organic Non Organic

Yield of cultivation [20 t/ha]

Natural fertilizers used and leaching

rate

Data refer to a 15 months period between 2009 and 2010


Chemical fertilizers used and leaching

rate

The two fields are located in the same location and data

collected using the same tools

Climate data (climate station located in the field)

Primary data of irrigation water volume

Micro-irrigation is used on both cases

1) Water Accounting

The organic farming method in this case study resulted to be more

water intensive than the non-organic one. This result strongly depends on

the yield of the two farming methods in the specific production site.

NON ORGANIC

FARMING

ORGANIC

FARMING

Green Water [l/kg] 90.7 117.9

Blue Water [l/kg] 98.1 127.5

Grey Water [l/kg] 40.0 2.5

Total [l/kg] 228.8 247.9

These are site-specific data!! The results can vary

signicantly in other location and using other

cultivation methods. Uncertainty need to be

addressed!

2) Boundaries of the analysis

PRODUCT WATER FOOTPRINT

(organic)

A life cycle approach is adopted

Water Stress Index (WSI) is

employed (Pfister et al., 2009)

•Functional Unit: 330g of organic

strawberry jam sold in Italy

The results are expressed as

l/Functional Unit (FU)

SYSTEM

BOUNDARIES

2) Water Inventory


Natural fertilizers used

Transport of material (from suppliers and from Site 1 to Site 2)

Ancillary materials involved in the process

Water Stress

Index (WSI)

Data refer to a 15 months period between 2009 and 2010

Impacts related to water limited to

stress

Metodo: Pfister et al, 2009

2) Inventory assesment

The farming processes resulted to be responsible for

the majority of the product water footprint. Other processes

account for over the 10% of the product overall water footprint

Accounting: 237,7 l/FU Footprinting: 88,4 l/FU

Metodo: Pfister et al, 2009

Identification of

hot-spot

2) Impact Assessment: water footprint progile

Conclusions

I. In the specific case study the Organic strawberry farming resulted in higher

water use than non-organic strawberry farming per kg of strawberry. The

main reason is the different yields of the two farming methods.

I. The Product Water Footprint of the 330g organic strawberry jam is 88.4 l.

II. Overheads water footprint contribution resulted to be over 10%.

III. Ancillary materials and processes should be considered when looking at

strategies to reduce a product water footprint.

IV. Other studies in other location will be performed to test the validity of the

results;

V. Assessemnet methodology need to be improved to be comprehensive

Water Accounting


Future challanges

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