Life cycle analysis of pistachio production in Greece

Energy financing, energy projects retrofit and energy poverty: a scenario-analysis approach for energy project cost estimation and energy price determination

The research aims to determine the nexus of energy projects retrofit and poverty under two scenarios: energy project cost estimation and energy price determination. Households in rural areas of northern China are now required to switch from coal to cleaner heating options, including natural gas and electricity, as part of a government-led clean heating initiative. This initiative significantly increased the heating expense for participating homes, even when substantial subsidies were applied. We surveyed a large number of northern Chinese households to learn more about the rise in energy insecurity that has been attributed to government action. Our research shows that switching to electricity and gas from coal considerably worsens energy poverty in several ways, whereas switching to clean coal improves the situation. According to an econometric study, changes in energy poverty reveal heterogeneity in several ways. There is little change in Beijing, while the considerably less developed province of Hebei to the north sees a 75% rise. Energy poverty is more common in families with poorer incomes, lower levels of education, and smaller sizes. People who lack resources to insulate their homes will feel the effects more acutely. These results support the idea that low-income families would suffer disproportionately under a "one policy for all" mandate. For policymakers working on energy transition strategies for a low-carbon economy, it highlights the need to consider the distributional impact.

Environmental and socio-economic performance of intensive farming systems with varying agricultural resource for maize production

The challenge of meeting the rising food demand and the need for achieving this through environment friendly and socio-economically acceptable strategies has posed an unprecedented pressure on the current intensive farming systems. Evidence for integrating the environmental burden and socio-economic profit is lacking. This study quantifies the yield performance, environmental burden (in terms of seven mid-point environmental impact categories, especially for the global warming potential (GWP) in terms of greenhouse gas emissions), and economic benefits among different intensive farming systems with varying agricultural resource input in maize (Zea mays) production. The results showed that seed yields increased with increasing resource inputs under intensive farming systems. Meanwhile, environmental burden in terms of GWP and integrated environmental impacts (IEI) based on per unit grain yield produced increased substantially with increasing resource inputs. The conventional planting accomplished the worst environmental performance (represented by the highest IEI), which was mainly attributed to higher agricultural resource input (such as fertilizer and diesel fuel consumption) per unit of grain yield produced, and thereby increased GWP, abiotic depletion-elements (Ade), ozone layer depletion (ODP), photochemical oxidation (PO), acidification potential (AP), and eutrophication potential (EP) by 22 %, 30 %, 36 %, 25 %, 32 % and 35 %, respectively. The relatively lower resource input under intensive farming coupled with water-saving technology could be highly recommended to local farmers; while extreme resource input planting patterns were not endorsed because of the yield penalty, low net revenue and high environmental burden. This study highlights the importance of an appropriate use of agricultural resources and innovative water-saving technology for mitigating environmental perils and ensuring global food supplies under intensive farming systems.

An appealing review of industrial and nutraceutical applications of pistachio waste

Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) is consumed in almost every part of the world enclosed in shells that are thrown out in baskets. Similarly, hulls separated from pistachio are discarded as waste in food processing industries. These waste materials contain functional constituents having immense industrial and nutraceutical applications. This review article summarizes the scientific investigations regarding the functional constituents and bioactive compounds in pistachio shells (PSs) and pistachio hulls (PHs). It also highlights the nutraceutical potential exhibited by functionally active compounds as well as their potential applications in various industries including nutraceutical, medicinal, and feed industries together with biosynthetic development of useful products and wastewater treatment. Pistachio waste (PW) comprising PS and PH is a rich source of various bioactive compounds. PS is full of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. PH is an excellent source of carbohydrates (80.64 ± 0.98%) (including glucose, galactose, rhamnose, arabinose, xylose, mannose, galacturonic acid) as well as ash (6.32 ± 0.26%) and proteins (1.80 ± 0.28%) with small amounts of fats (0.04 ± 0.005%). Owing to its composition, PW can be beneficial in many nutraceuticals, including antioxidation, cytoprotection, anti-obesity, anti-diabetic, anti-melanogenesis, neuroprotection, anti-cancer, anti-mutagenesis, anti-inflammation, and anti-microbial. The waste materials have vast applications in the food industry, such as bio-preservation of oils and meat products, prevention of enzymatic browning in fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms, development of functional cereal and dairy products, production of food enzymes, emulsions, and manufacturing of biodegradable films for food packaging. The use of these waste products to develop and design novel functional foods with improved quality is important for both food industries and food sustainability.

Improving the Shelf Life of Peeled Fresh Almond Kernels by Edible Coating with Mastic Gum

Coating, as a process in which fruits, vegetables, kernels, and nuts are covered with an edible layer, is an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic wrapping, which has been considered the most effective way to preserve them over the long term. On the other hand, prolonging the shelf life results in a reduction of spoilage and therefore achieving a goal that is very important nowadays—the reduction of food waste. The quality of preserved almonds kernels depends on factors such as grain moisture, storage temperature, relative humidity, oxygen level, packaging, and the shape of the stored nuts (along with being peeled, unpeeled, roasted, etc.). The commercial importance of the almond fruit is related to its kernel. Almonds that are peeled (without the thin brown skin) and stored have a shorter shelf life than unpeeled almonds since the reddish-brown skin, rich in antioxidants, may protect the kernels against oxidation. In this study, a bioactive edible coating has been tested, which may provide an effective barrier against oxygen permeation and moisture, thus preserving the quality of peeled fresh almonds by extending their shelf life. Mastic gum, as a natural coating agent, was used to coat the peeled fresh almond kernels in four different concentrations (0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0% w/v). The effect of mastic gum coating on the quality parameters of the peeled fresh almonds (moisture uptake, oil oxidation, total yeast and mold growth, and Aspergillus species development) was studied during four months of storage. The results showed that mastic gum, as a coating agent, significantly (p < 0.05) reduced moisture absorption, peroxide and thiobarbituric acid indices, total yeast and mold growth, and Aspergillus species development in the peeled and coated fresh almonds, compared to the control, i.e., uncoated fresh almonds, during 4 months of storage, packed at room temperature (25–27 °C) inside a cabinet at 90% humidity. Therefore, mastic gum can be used as a great natural preservative coating candidate with antioxidant and antimicrobial effects.

Measuring the level of environmental performance in insular areas, through key performed indicators, in the framework of waste strategy development

To measure "something that is not there", is not easy and at the same time not fully understandable and perceived by the citizens. Several elements (such as, waste production, waste management cost, social attitude and behaviour, etc.) interrupt and disturb any strategy in the framework of waste management. Additionally, through the European Green Deal (EGD), Europe is trying to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, taking into account the Circular Economy Strategy (CES) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). A Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) breakdown was applied, to establish and organize key information's on the environmental performance (E.P) taking into consideration the existing pollution, reviewing the contemporary knowledge and existing implemented waste strategies on the driving forces, pressures, states and impacts. This paper includes several key performed indicators (KPIs), in order to evaluate the E.P of an area, through hybrid approach which cover among others, the waste compositional analysis, SWOT and PESTEL analysis, waste recycling and waste accumulation index, prevention activities, awareness activities etc. The results indicate that, the selected areas implement periodic measures, but they need to put more effort to boost their citizens to participate in any proposed waste strategy. Furthermore, the results are very valuable and helpful to policy makers, consultants, scientists, competent authorities, stakeholders etc., in order to design and promote synergies and activities (mainly in Local Authorities), to reach the proposed figures that EGD, proposed in relation with the CES as well as with the SDGs.

Environmental impact assessment of air-permeable plastic runway production in China

With the rapid development of plastic runways in China, incidents of toxic runways that are detrimental to human health frequently occurred. This phenomenon has resulted in public concern on the safety and cleanliness of plastic runways. To improve the sustainability of these runways, the environmental performance of the produced plastic runways should be evaluated. The critical hotspots for plastic runway studies should be determined, and a cleaner optimization path of critical materials should be explored. In this study, a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) on the air-permeable plastic runway was conducted. The green factory formula was identified, and the environmental impacts of the production process were quantitatively analyzed. Detailed life cycle inventory data were obtained from the on-site survey of typical plastic runway manufacturer enterprises in China. Environmental impacts were calculated using the CML 2001 method built into the GaBi 8.0 software. Results indicated that the 1: 7 ratio of polyurethane adhesive to ethylene-propylene-diene monomer rubber particles was the greenest formula with the least environmental impact. The environmental hotspots were from the front-end of raw material production during the mixing phase and the biomass steam input during the curing phase. The characteristic pollutants generated from mixing phase were CO₂, methane, NO_x, and VOCs, whereas those from the curing phase were CO₂, NO_x, SO₂, freon, HCl, and NH₃. Moreover, methylene diisocyanate (MDI) was the cleaner raw material for air-permeable plastic runway production, because the environmental impact of producing an equal mass of MDI was 39%-89% of that by toluene diisocyanate. Thus, this LCA study presents a strategy for the sustainable improvement of air-permeable plastic runway production and also proposes policy recommendations for decision makers.

Life Cycle Analysis in the Framework of Agricultural Strategic Development Planning in the Balkan Region

Agricultural sector should be considered, as one of the main economic development sectors in the entire world, while at the same time is responsible for important pollution. The life cycle assessment (LCA) procedure was involved in the agricultural strategic development planning for Balkan region, as a useful tool to identify and quantify potential environmental impacts from the production of apple juice, wine and pepper pesto in three selected sites in Greece, North Macedonia and Bulgaria. These three products were chosen, as are considered as the main economic activities at the areas. The LCA approach covered the entire production line of each product. Based on the LCA results, which comprise the size of six impact categories characterization factors, suggestions were made in order to minimize the footprint of the apples orchard, vineyard and pepper cultivation plots as well as of the production processes of apple juice, wine and pepper pesto as final distribution products. The results indicate that changes in the cultivation and the production must be considered in order to optimize the environmental footprint. Moreover, the whole approach could be useful for agricultural stakeholders, policy makers and producers, in order to improve their products ecological performance, reduce food loss and food waste and increase the productivity of the agricultural sector, while at the same time can improve the three pillars of sustainability through strategy development.

From beans to bar: A life cycle assessment towards sustainable chocolate supply chain

The environmental sustainability has emerged as a crucial aspect in the agri-food sector, nevertheless environmental assessments and certifications of cocoa and chocolate are still missing. Given this gap and the increasing global demand for cocoa derivatives, this study aims to evaluate the environmental impacts of an Italian dark chocolate through a holistic cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The impact categories assessed are acidification potential (AC), eutrophication potential (EU), global warming potential (GW), photochemical ozone creation potential (POC), ozone layer depletion potential (OD), abiotic depletion (AD) and cumulative energy demand (CED). The obtained results highlight the relevant contributions of upstream phase (63% for the ODP, 92% for EU and 99% for the AD) and core processes (39% for the GW and 49% for the CED) on the overall impacts. Specifically, cocoa provisioning and energy supply at the manufacturing plant emerged as environmental hotspots and have been deeper investigated through a sensitivity analysis. Obtained outcomes show the significant variability of the environmental impacts due to the agricultural phase (i.e., depending on agroecosystems and practices) and environmental benefits guaranteed by an efficient trigeneration system implemented in the manufacturing plant. The quantification of the environmental impacts of chocolate through LCA, the identification of the main hotspots along the supply chain and the sensitivity analysis performed in this study could effectively support chocolate companies in their pathway towards environmentally sustainable productions.

Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices

A doubling in global food demand projected for the next 50 years poses huge challenges for the sustainability both of food production and of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the services they provide to society. Agriculturalists are the principal managers of global usable lands and will shape, perhaps irreversibly, the surface of the Earth in the coming decades. New incentives and policies for ensuring the sustainability of agriculture and ecosystem services will be crucial if we are to meet the demands of improving yields without compromising environmental integrity or public health.