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Viñals E, Maneja R, Rufí-Salís M, Martí M, Puy N. Reviewing social-ecological resilience for agroforestry systems under climate change conditions. Sci Total Environ 2023; 869:161763. [PMID: 36702286 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Global change is shaping social-ecological systems, threatening both natural and socio-economic ecosystems as a whole. Landscapes with combined nature-human interactions are particularly vulnerable to changing climatic conditions. Therefore, there is a need to find viable and practical solutions for the preservation and recovery of the affected systems. A relevant way to cope with disturbances is to promote social-ecological resilience through the use of strategies targeting the social-ecological system as a whole, in order to ensure an efficient self-reorganization of a landscape. This study presents a research innovation by clarifying the concept of social-ecological resilience while being focused on providing a useful tool for landscape managers. For doing so, the research first defines social-ecological resilience and aims to give a clear idea of its characteristics and application features. Second, it explains the importance of social-ecological resilience for landscapes, focusing on the relationship of humans with nature and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) for biodiversity conservation. Third, it proposes guidelines and measures for the promotion and enhancement of social-ecological resilience. The outcomes of the study show a broad perspective on the concept of social-ecological resilience to understand the necessary adaptation to global change. As findings, this research highlights the significance of nature-human interactions for agroforestry systems, citing also the potential contribution that digital innovation can play for the conservation of those interactions in a sustainable way. Moreover, it uncovers the key role of local communities in building social-ecological resilience through the application of a variety of described strategies that can have a relevant impact and be useful for landscape management practices to face upcoming challenges linked to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esteve Viñals
- Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia (CTFC), Solsona, Catalonia, Spain; Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Roser Maneja
- Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia (CTFC), Solsona, Catalonia, Spain; Department of Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Edifici Cn, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Martí Rufí-Salís
- Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Miquel Martí
- Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia (CTFC), Solsona, Catalonia, Spain; Department of Urbanism and Regional Planning, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Av. Diagonal, 649, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Neus Puy
- Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia (CTFC), Solsona, Catalonia, Spain; Department of Chemistry, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Edifici Cn, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
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Cirone F, Petruzzelli M, De Menna F, Samoggia A, Buscaroli E, Durante E, Orsini F, Rufí-Salís M, Tonini P, Durany XG, Graamans L, Fargue-Lelièvre A, Saint-Ges V, Fox-Kämper R, Specht K, Pascual-Fernández JJ, Vittuari M. A sustainability scoring system to assess food initiatives in city regions. Sustain Prod Consum 2023; 36:88-99. [PMID: 36597516 PMCID: PMC9801700 DOI: 10.1016/j.spc.2022.12.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/26/2022] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
The City Region Food Systems approach has been proposed to achieve food system resilience and nutrition security while promoting the urgent ecological transition within urban and peri-urban areas, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the great diversity of the initiatives composing City Region Food Systems in Europe poses barriers to the assessment of their integrated sustainability. Hence, the present work is developed within the EU-H2020 project Food System in European Cities (FoodE), to build a consistent sustainability scoring system that allows comparative evaluation of City Region Food System Initiatives. Adopting a Life Cycle Thinking approach, it advances on existing knowledge and past projects, taking advantage of a participatory process, with stakeholders from multidisciplinary expertise. As a result, the research designs, and tests on 100 case studies a simplified and ready-to-use scoring mechanism based on a quali-quantitative appraisal survey tool, delivering a final sustainability score on a 1-5 points scale, to get insights on the social, economic, and environmental impacts. As in line with the needs of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the outcome represents a step forward for the sustainable development and social innovation of food communities in cities and regions, providing a practical and empirical lens for improved planning and governance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Cirone
- Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Mara Petruzzelli
- Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Fabio De Menna
- Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Antonella Samoggia
- Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Enrico Buscaroli
- Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Emanuele Durante
- Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Francesco Orsini
- Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Martí Rufí-Salís
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017SGR1683), Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, ICTA-UAB (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pietro Tonini
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017SGR1683), Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, ICTA-UAB (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Xavier Gabarrell Durany
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017SGR1683), Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, ICTA-UAB (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Luuk Graamans
- Greenhouse Horticulture, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | | | | | - Runrid Fox-Kämper
- ILS- Institut für Landes- und Stadtentwicklungsforschung (Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development), Dortmund, Germany
| | - Kathrin Specht
- ILS- Institut für Landes- und Stadtentwicklungsforschung (Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development), Dortmund, Germany
| | - José J Pascual-Fernández
- Instituto Universitario de Investigación Social y Turismo, Universidad de La Laguna, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
| | - Matteo Vittuari
- Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy
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Rufí-Salís M, Petit-Boix A, Leipold S, Villalba G, Rieradevall J, Moliné E, Gabarrell X, Carrera J, Suárez-Ojeda ME. Increasing resource circularity in wastewater treatment: Environmental implications of technological upgrades. Sci Total Environ 2022; 838:156422. [PMID: 35662600 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2022] [Revised: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
A paradigm shift is needed in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to progress from traditional pollutant removal to resource recovery. However, whether this transformation produces overall environmental benefits will depend on the efficient and sustainable use of resources by emerging technologies. Given that many of these technologies are still being tested at the pilot scale, there is a lack of environmental assessments quantifying their impacts and benefits. In particular, an integrated approach to energy and nutrient recovery can elucidate the potential configurations for WWTPs. In this study, we conduct a life cycle assessment (LCA) of emergent wastewater treatment technologies aimed at increasing resource circularity in WWTPs. We focus on increasing energy self-sufficiency through biogas upgrades and a more radical circular approach aimed at nutrient recovery. Based on a case-study WWTP, we compare its current configuration with (1) implementing autotrophic nitrogen removal in the mainstream and deriving most of the organic matter for biogas production, which increases the quality and quantity of biogas available for energy production; (2) implementing struvite recovery through enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) as a radical approach to phosphorus management, offering an alternative to mineral fertilizer; and (3) a combination of both approaches. The results show that incremental changes in biogas production are insufficient for compensating for the environmental investment in infrastructure, although autotrophic nitrogen removal is beneficial for increasing the quality of the effluent. Combined phosphorus and energy recovery reduce the environmental impacts from the avoided use of fertilizers and phosphorus and the nitrogen release into water bodies. An integrated approach to resource management in WWTPs is thus desirable and creates new opportunities toward the implementation of circular strategies with low environmental impact in cities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martí Rufí-Salís
- Sostenipra, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Unidad de excelencia "María de Maeztu" (MDM-2015-0552), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Escola d'Enginyeria, c/de les Sitges s/n, Edifici Q, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Anna Petit-Boix
- Sostenipra, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Unidad de excelencia "María de Maeztu" (MDM-2015-0552), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sina Leipold
- Department of Environmental Politics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Chair of Environmental Politics, University of Jena, Bachstr. 18k, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Gara Villalba
- Sostenipra, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Unidad de excelencia "María de Maeztu" (MDM-2015-0552), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Escola d'Enginyeria, c/de les Sitges s/n, Edifici Q, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joan Rieradevall
- Sostenipra, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Unidad de excelencia "María de Maeztu" (MDM-2015-0552), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Escola d'Enginyeria, c/de les Sitges s/n, Edifici Q, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Eduard Moliné
- Depuración de Aguas del Mediterráneo (DAM), Guglielmo Marconi, 11 piso 2°, 10 despacho 19, Parque Tecnológico, 46980 Paterna, Valencia, Spain
| | - Xavier Gabarrell
- Sostenipra, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Unidad de excelencia "María de Maeztu" (MDM-2015-0552), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Escola d'Enginyeria, c/de les Sitges s/n, Edifici Q, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Julián Carrera
- GENOCOV Research Group, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Escola d'Enginyeria, c/de les Sitges s/n, Edifici Q, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - María Eugenia Suárez-Ojeda
- GENOCOV Research Group, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Escola d'Enginyeria, c/de les Sitges s/n, Edifici Q, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
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Mendoza Beltran A, Jepsen K, Rufí-Salís M, Ventura S, Madrid Lopez C, Villalba G. Mapping direct N 2O emissions from peri-urban agriculture: The case of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. Sci Total Environ 2022; 822:153514. [PMID: 35101482 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Geographically explicit datasets reflecting local management of crops are needed to help improve direct nitrous oxide (N2O) emission inventories. Yet, the lack of geographically explicit datasets of relevant factors influencing the emissions make it difficult to estimate them in such way. Particularly, for local peri-urban agriculture, spatially explicit datasets of crop type, fertilizer use, irrigation, and emission factors (EFs) are hard to find, yet necessary for evaluating and promoting urban self-sufficiency, resilience, and circularity. We spatially distribute these factors for the peri-urban agriculture in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB) and create N2O emissions maps using crop-specific EFs as well as Tier 1 IPCC EFs for comparison. Further, the role of the soil types is qualitatively assessed. When compared to Tier 1 IPCC EFs, we find 15% more emissions (i.e. 7718 kg N2O-N year-1) than those estimated with the crop-specific EFs (i.e. 6533 kg N2O-N year-1) for the entire AMB. Emissions for most rainfed crop areas like cereals (e.g. oat and barley) and non-citric fruits (e.g. cherries and peaches), which cover 24% and 13% of AMB's peri-urban agricultural area respectively, are higher with Tier 1 EF. Conversely, crop-specific EFs estimate higher emissions for irrigated horticultural crops (e.g. tomato, artichoke) which cover 33% of AMB's peri-urban agricultural area and make up 70% of the total N2O emissions (4588 kg N2O-N year-1 using crop-specific EFs). Mapping the emissions helps evaluate spatial variability of key factors such as fertilizer use and irrigation of crops but carry uncertainties due to downscaling regional data to represent urban level data gaps. It also highlighted core emitting areas. Further the usefulness of the outputs on mitigation, sustainability and circularity studies are briefly discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelica Mendoza Beltran
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 01412), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Kelzy Jepsen
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 01412), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Martí Rufí-Salís
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 01412), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sergi Ventura
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 01412), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cristina Madrid Lopez
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 01412), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gara Villalba
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 01412), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
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Arcas-Pilz V, Rufí-Salís M, Parada F, Petit-Boix A, Gabarrell X, Villalba G. Recovered phosphorus for a more resilient urban agriculture: Assessment of the fertilizer potential of struvite in hydroponics. Sci Total Environ 2021; 799:149424. [PMID: 34375876 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Urban agriculture (UA) is a means for cities to become more resilient in terms of food sovereignty while shortening the distance between production and consumption. However, intensive soilless UA still depends on the use of fertilizers, which relies on depleting non-renewable resources such as phosphorous (P) and causes both local and global impact for its production and application. With the aim to reduce such impacts and encourage a more efficient use of nutrients, this study assesses the feasibility of using struvite precipitated from an urban wastewater treatment plant as the unique source of P fertilizer. To do so, we apply various quantities of struvite (ranging from 1 to 20 g/plant) to the substrate of a hydroponic Phaseolus vulgaris crop and determine the yield, water flows and P balances. The results show that treatments with more than 5 g of struvite per plant produced a higher yield (maximum of 181.41 g/plant) than the control (134.6 g/plant) with mineral fertilizer (KPO4H2). On the other hand, P concentration in all plant organs was always lower when using struvite than when using chemical fertilizer. Finally, the fact that different amounts of struvite remained undissolved in all treatments denotes the importance to balance between a correct P supply to the plant and a decrease of P lost through the leachates, based on the amount of struvite and the irrigated water. The findings of this study show that it is feasible for UA to efficiently use locally recovered nutrients such as P to produce local food.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verónica Arcas-Pilz
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 01412), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Martí Rufí-Salís
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 01412), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Felipe Parada
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 01412), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Anna Petit-Boix
- Chair of Societal Transition and Circular Economy, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher Str. 4, 79106 Freiburg i. Br., Germany
| | - Xavier Gabarrell
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 01412), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Gara Villalba
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 01412), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
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Parada F, Gabarrell X, Rufí-Salís M, Arcas-Pilz V, Muñoz P, Villalba G. Optimizing irrigation in urban agriculture for tomato crops in rooftop greenhouses. Sci Total Environ 2021; 794:148689. [PMID: 34323776 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Revised: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The rise of population in urban areas makes it ever more important to promote urban agriculture (UA) that is efficient in terms of water and nutrients. How to meet the irrigation demand of UA is of particular concern in urban areas where water sources are often limited. With the aim of determining how to reduce water use for irrigation while maintaining productivity and reducing environmental impacts in UA, this study explores the agronomic performance and environmental life cycle impacts and benefits of three different fertigation management practices used in a rooftop greenhouse for tomato crop in Barcelona: 1) open management (OP); 2) recirculation (RC), in which 30% of the drained, unused water is used to irrigate the crop; and 3) the same recirculated management of RC with a further reduction in fresh water input of 15%(RR). Despite the recirculation and reduction of water and nutrients, all three irrigation management practices resulted in similar yields: 16.2, 17.9, and 16.8·kg·m-2 for OP, RC, and RR, respectively. In terms of water-use efficiency, RR management was the most efficient, requiring 48.7·liters·kg-1 of tomato, followed by RC (52.4·L·kg-1) and OP (75.2·L·kg-1). RR presented an improvement of 7% in water-use efficiency. In terms of environmental performance, RC had the best performance in almost all impact categories during the operational phase, especially in regard to marine and freshwater eutrophication, with 44% and 93% fewer impacts than OP due to the recirculation of nutrients and reduced nutrient loss through leachates. In terms of infrastructure, even though recirculation management requires additional equipment, the materials present better performance in the range from 0.2 to 14% depending on the impact category. This study can support evaluation of agricultural projects in the city, through yields and water consumption presented, incentivizing good practices aligned with the sustainability of UA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felipe Parada
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 1683), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (ICTA-UAB), MdM Unit of Excellence, Universitat (CEX2019-000940-M) Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Xavier Gabarrell
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 1683), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (ICTA-UAB), MdM Unit of Excellence, Universitat (CEX2019-000940-M) Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Building Q, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
| | - Martí Rufí-Salís
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 1683), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (ICTA-UAB), MdM Unit of Excellence, Universitat (CEX2019-000940-M) Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Verónica Arcas-Pilz
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 1683), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (ICTA-UAB), MdM Unit of Excellence, Universitat (CEX2019-000940-M) Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Pere Muñoz
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 1683), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (ICTA-UAB), MdM Unit of Excellence, Universitat (CEX2019-000940-M) Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Gara Villalba
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 1683), Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (ICTA-UAB), MdM Unit of Excellence, Universitat (CEX2019-000940-M) Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Building Q, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
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Arcas-Pilz V, Rufí-Salís M, Parada F, Gabarrell X, Villalba G. Assessing the environmental behavior of alternative fertigation methods in soilless systems: The case of Phaseolus vulgaris with struvite and rhizobia inoculation. Sci Total Environ 2021; 770:144744. [PMID: 33736378 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2020] [Revised: 12/23/2020] [Accepted: 12/24/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Urban agriculture, while being a promising solution to increase food sovereignty in cities, can lead to an unprecedented discharge of nutrient and fertilizer-related emissions into the urban environment. Especially relevant are nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), due to their contribution to marine and freshwater eutrophication. Therefore, alternative methods of fertilization need to be put into practice to avoid such impacts to the surrounding environment. Struvite, has been studied as a potential slow releasing fertilizer due to its high P content, while the bacteria rhizobium has been used to fix N directly from the atmosphere. Legumes, like the common bean are N-demanding crops capable of symbiosis with the bacteria rhizobium and have previously shown positive responses to fertilization with struvite. This study aims to analyze the environmental performance of plant production in hydroponic systems combining rhizobium inoculation and struvite (2 g, 5 g, 10 g, 20 g) irrigated with a N and P deficient nutrient solution, using life cycle analysis (LCA). The nutrient content of in- and out-going irrigation was analyzed as well as in plants and beans. The functional unit for the LCA was 1 kg of fresh beans. The results obtained indicate a yield reduction of 60% to 50% in comparison to the control which was irrigated with a full nutrient solution. The impacts from operational stage are less in all impact categories, where most significant reductions up to 69% and 59% are seen in marine-eutrophication and global warming respectively. Although the infrastructure does not change between treatments, its impacts increase due to the lower yields. We determine that below a 10% of the control yield, the alternative systems have more impact than the use of conventional mineral fertilizers in almost all impact categories, thus pointing to the importance of infrastructure to truly reduce environmental impacts for urban agriculture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verónica Arcas-Pilz
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017 SGR 1683), Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Martí Rufí-Salís
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017 SGR 1683), Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Felipe Parada
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017 SGR 1683), Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Xavier Gabarrell
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017 SGR 1683), Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Gara Villalba
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017 SGR 1683), Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (CEX2019-000940-M), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
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Rufí-Salís M, Parada F, Arcas-Pilz V, Petit-Boix A, Villalba G, Gabarrell X. Closed-Loop Crop Cascade to Optimize Nutrient Flows and Grow Low-Impact Vegetables in Cities. Front Plant Sci 2020; 11:596550. [PMID: 33281854 PMCID: PMC7688993 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.596550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2020] [Accepted: 10/26/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Urban agriculture systems can significantly contribute towards mitigating the impacts of inefficient and complex food supply chains and increase urban food sovereignty. Moreover, improving these urban agriculture systems in terms of nutrient management can lead to a better environmental performance. Based on a rooftop greenhouse in the Barcelona region, we propose a cascade system where the leachates of a tomato cycle from January to July (donor crop) are used as the main irrigation source for five successive lettuce cycles (receiving crop). By determining the agronomic performance and the nutrient metabolism of the system, we aimed to define the potential of these systems to avoid nutrient depletion and mitigate eutrophication, while scaling the system in terms of nutrient supply between the donor and the receiving crops. The results showed that low yields (below 130 g per lettuce plant) are obtained if a cascade system is used during the early stage of the donor crop, as the amount of nutrients in donor's leachates, specially N (62.4 mg irrigated per plant in the first cycle), was not enough to feed the lettuce receiving crop. This effect was also observed in the nutrient content of the lettuce, which increased with every test until equaling the control (4.4% of N content) as the leachates got richer, although too high electrical conductivity values (near 3 dS/m) were reached at the end of the donor crop cycle. Findings on the uptake of the residual nutrient flows showed how the cascade system was able to take advantage of the nutrients to produce local lettuce while mitigating the effect of N and P in the freshwater and marine environments. Considering our case study, we finally quantified the scale between the donor and receiving crops and proposed three major ideas to optimize the nutrient flows while maintaining the yield and quality of the vegetables produced in the receiving crop.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martí Rufí-Salís
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017 SGR 1683), María de Maeztu Unit, CEX2019-000940-M, Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Felipe Parada
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017 SGR 1683), María de Maeztu Unit, CEX2019-000940-M, Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Verónica Arcas-Pilz
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017 SGR 1683), María de Maeztu Unit, CEX2019-000940-M, Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Anna Petit-Boix
- Chair of Societal Transition and Circular Economy, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Gara Villalba
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017 SGR 1683), María de Maeztu Unit, CEX2019-000940-M, Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Xavier Gabarrell
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017 SGR 1683), María de Maeztu Unit, CEX2019-000940-M, Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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Rufí-Salís M, Brunnhofer N, Petit-Boix A, Gabarrell X, Guisasola A, Villalba G. Can wastewater feed cities? Determining the feasibility and environmental burdens of struvite recovery and reuse for urban regions. Sci Total Environ 2020; 737:139783. [PMID: 32516664 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2020] [Revised: 05/25/2020] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Phosphorus (P) resources are decreasing at an alarming rate due to global fertilizer use and insufficient nutrient recovery strategies. Currently, more circular approaches are promoted, such as recovering P from wastewater in the form of struvite. This is especially attractive for urban areas, where there is a growing trend of local crop production and large volumes of wastewater are treated in centralized wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). This research aims to assess the technical and environmental feasibility of applying a struvite recovery and reuse strategy to meet the P requirements to fertilize the agricultural fields of an urban region. To do so, we analyze the potential P recovery and the environmental impacts of integrating three recovery technologies (REM-NUT®, Ostara® and AirPrex®) in the two biggest WWTPs of the Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona. The results show that all technologies are able to recover between 5 and 30 times the amount of P required to fertilize the agricultural area of the region annually (36.5 t). As can be expected, including P recovery technologies result in additional impacts per m3 of wastewater due to increased electricity consumption and chemicals required for the struvite precipitation. However, struvite recovery results in less eutrophication potential, especially in the REM-NUT® case, with an average reduction of 5.4 times. On the other hand, Ostara®, that recovers P from the digestate, had the lowest impacts (9 kgCO2eq/kgP), even compared to the production of mineral fertilizer. When we apply our findings to the whole region, we can see that chemical use for struvite precipitation and energy consumption during the wastewater treatment process are the elements with the greatest impact. Thus, choosing the most appropriate technology in the most suitable WWTP is the most efficient strategy to diminish the environmental impacts of the system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martí Rufí-Salís
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 01412), Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB) (MDM-2015-0552), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, XRB, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Nadin Brunnhofer
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 01412), Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB) (MDM-2015-0552), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Anna Petit-Boix
- Chair of Societal Transition and Circular Economy, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher Str. 4, 79106 Freiburg i. Br., Germany
| | - Xavier Gabarrell
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 01412), Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB) (MDM-2015-0552), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, XRB, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Albert Guisasola
- Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, XRB, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; GENOCOV, Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental, Escola d'Enginyeria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gara Villalba
- Sostenipra Research Group (SGR 01412), Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB) (MDM-2015-0552), Z Building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, XRB, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
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Boneta A, Rufí-Salís M, Ercilla-Montserrat M, Gabarrell X, Rieradevall J. Agronomic and Environmental Assessment of a Polyculture Rooftop Soilless Urban Home Garden in a Mediterranean City. Front Plant Sci 2019; 10:341. [PMID: 30967889 PMCID: PMC6439533 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2019.00341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2018] [Accepted: 03/05/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Urban planning has been focusing its attention on urban rooftop agriculture as an innovative way to produce local and reliable food in unused spaces in cities. However, there is a lack of quantitative data on soilless urban home gardens and their contribution to self-sufficiency. The aim of the present study is to provide quantitative agronomic and environmental data on an actual soilless urban garden to estimate its degree of self-sufficiency and sustainability. For this purpose, an 18 m2 soilless polyculture rooftop urban home garden in the city center of Barcelona was analyzed. From 2015 to 2017, 22 different crops were grown to feed 2 people in an open-air soilless system, and a life cycle assessment was performed. A total productivity of 10.6 kg/m2/year was achieved, meaning that 5.3 m2 would be needed to fulfill the yearly vegetable requirements of an average citizen (in terms of weight). Considering the vegetable market basket of Catalonia, an 8.2 m2 soilless garden would be needed to cover 62% of the market basket for one person. The top 5 most productive crops were tomato, chard, lettuce, pepper and eggplant, accounting for 85.5% of the total production. The water consumption was 3.7 L/m2/day, and 3.3 kg/year/m2 of waste was generated. A high degree of self-sufficiency was achieved, although adjustments could be made to adapt the production to the market basket. The environmental assessment showed that the fertilizers and their associated leachates accounted for the highest environmental impacts in all the studied impact categories. Overall, 0.6 kg CO2 eq. was generated per kg of vegetables produced. The quantitative data provided by the present study offer a reference from which urban planners and researchers can project future implementations of rooftop urban agriculture (UA) on a large scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Boneta
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017 SGR 1683), Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Martí Rufí-Salís
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017 SGR 1683), Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mireia Ercilla-Montserrat
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017 SGR 1683), Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Xavier Gabarrell
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017 SGR 1683), Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joan Rieradevall
- Sostenipra Research Group (2017 SGR 1683), Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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