LCA study of unconsumed food and the influence of consumer behavior

Purpose

In the light of anthropogenic resource depletion and the resulting influences on the greenhouse effect as well as globally occurring famine, food waste has garnered increased public interest in recent years. The aim of this study is to analyze the environmental impacts of food waste and to determine to what extent consumers’ behavior influences the environmental burden of food consumption in households.

Methods

A life cycle assessment (LCA) study of three food products is conducted, following the ISO 14040/44 life cycle assessment guidelines. This study addresses the impact categories climate change (GWP100), eutrophication (EP), and acidification (AP). Primary energy demand (PED) is also calculated. For adequate representation of consumer behavior, scenarios based on various consumer types are generated in the customer stage. The customer stage includes the food-related activities: shopping, storage, preparation, and disposal of food products as well as the disposal of the sales packaging.

Results and discussion

If the consumer acts careless towards the environment, the customer stage appears as the main hotspot in the LCA of food products. The environmental impact of food products can be reduced in the customer stage by an environmentally conscious consumer. Shopping has the highest effect on the evaluated impact categories and the PED. Additionally, consumers can reduce the resulting emissions by decreasing the electric energy demand, particularly concerning food storage or preparation. Moreover, results show that the avoidance of wasting unconsumed food can reduce the environmental impact significantly.

Conclusions

Results of this study show that the influence of consumer behavior on the LCA results is important. The customer stage of food products should not be overlooked in LCA studies. To enable comparison among results of other LCA studies, the LCA community needs to develop a common methodology for modeling consumer behavior.

     

Life cycle assessment of printing and writing paper produced in Portugal

Goal, Scope and Background The environmental sustainability is one of the current priorities of the Portuguese pulp and paper industry. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was the methodology chosen to evaluate the sustainability of the printing and writing paper production activity. This paper grade represents about 60% of the total production of paper in Portugal and its production is expected to increase in the near future. The main goal of this study was to assess the potential environmental impacts associated with the entire life cycle of the printing and writing paper produced in Portugal from Eucalyptus globulus pulp and consumed in Germany, in order to identify the processes with the largest environmental impacts. Another goal of this study was to evaluate the effect on the potential environmental impacts of changing the market where the Portuguese printing and writing paper is consumed: German market vs. Portuguese market. Methods The main stages considered in this study were: forestry, pulp production, paper production, paper distribution, and paper final disposal. Transports and production of chemicals, fuels and energy in the grid were also included in these stages. Whenever possible and feasible, average or typical data from industry were collected. The remaining data were obtained from the literature and specialised databases. A quantitative impact assessment was performed for five impact categories: global warming over 100 years, acidification, eutrophication, non-renewable resource depletion and photochemical oxidant formation. Results In the German market scenario, the paper production stage was a remarkable hot spot for air emissions (non-renewable CO₂, NO_x and SO₂) and for non-renewable energy consumption, and, consequently, for the impact categories that consider these parameters: global warming, acidification and non-renewable resource depletion. These important environmental impacts are due to the energy requirements in the printing and writing paper production process, which are fulfilled by on-site fuel oil burning and consumption of electricity from the national grid, which is mostly based on the use of fossil fuels. The pulp production stage was identified as the largest contributor to water emissions (COD and AOX) and to eutrophication. Considering that energy consumed by the pulp production processes comes from renewable fuels, this stage was also the most contributing to renewable energy consumption. Discussion The paper distribution stage showed an important contribution to NO_x emissions, which, however, did not result in a major contribution to acidification or eutrophication. The final disposal stage was the main contributor to the photochemical oxidant formation potential due to CH₄ emissions from wastepaper landfilling. On the other hand, paper consumption in Portugal was environmentally more favourable than in Germany for the parameters/impact categories where the paper distribution stage has a significant contribution (non-renewable CO₂, NO_x, non-renewable energy consumption, acidification, eutrophication and non-renewable resource depletion) due to shorter distances needed to deliver paper to the consumers. For the remaining parameters/impact categories, the increase observed in the final disposal stage in the Portuguese market was preponderant, and resulted from the existence of significant differences in the final disposal alternatives in the analysed markets (recycling dominates in Germany, whereas landfilling dominates in Portugal). Conclusions The pulp and paper production stages were found to be of significance for almost all of the inventory parameters as well as for the impact assessment categories. The paper distribution and the final disposal stages were only of importance for some of the inventory parameters and some of the impact categories. The forestry stage played a minor role in the environmental impacts generated during the paper life cycle. The consumption of paper in Portugal led to a decrease in the environmental burdens of the paper distribution stage, but to an increase in the environmental burdens of the final disposal stage, when compared with the consumption of paper in Germany. Recommendations and Perspectives This study provides useful information that can assist the pulp and paper industry in the planning of future investments leading to an increase in its sustainability. The results of inventory analysis and impact assessment show the processes that play an important role in each impact category, which allow the industry to improve its environmental performance, making changes not only in the production process itself, but also in the treatment of flue gases and liquid effluents. Besides that concern regarding pollution prevention, other issues with relevance to the context of sustainability, such as the energy consumption, can also be dealt with.     

The influence of consumer behavior on energy,greenhouse gas,and water footprints of showering

Understanding variability in consumer behavior can provide further insights into how to effectively reduce environmental footprints related to household activities. Here, we developed a stochastic model to quantify the energy, greenhouse gas (GHG), and water consumption footprints of showering in four different countries (Australia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America). We assessed the influence of two broadly distinct categories of behavior on the footprints of showering: habitual behaviors and one‐off reasoned actions. We also investigated whether changing showering behavior has a substantial impact on the associated energy, GHG, and water footprints. Our results show that the variation in environmental footprints within the countries due to differences in consumer behavior is a factor of 6–17 (95th percentile/5th percentile) depending on the country and the indicator selected. Both consumers’ reasoned actions (especially the choice of a specific heater and shower type) and habitual behaviors (length of showering in particular, are the dominant sources of footprint variability. Significant savings are achievable by making better one‐off decisions such as buying an efficient water heater and by taking shorter showers.     

Comparing urban food system characteristics and actions in US and Indian cities from a multi‐environmental impact perspective: Toward a streamlined approach

Food action plans in many global cities articulate interest in multiple objectives including reducing in‐ and trans‐boundary environmental impacts (water, land, greenhouse gas (GHG)). However, there exist few standardized analytical tools to compare food system characteristics and actions across cities and countries to assess trade‐offs between multiple objectives (i.e., health, equity) with environmental outcomes. This paper demonstrates a streamlined model applied for analysis of four cities with varying characteristics across the United States and India, to quantify system‐wide water, energy/GHG, and land impacts associated with multiple food system actions to address health, equity, and environment. Baseline diet analysis finds key differences between countries in terms of meat consumption (Delhi 4; Pondicherry 16; United States 59, kg/capita/year), and environmental impact of processing of the average diet (21%, 19%, <1%, <1% of community‐wide GHG‐emissions for New York, Minneapolis, Delhi, and Pondicherry). Analysis of supply chains finds city average distance (food‐miles) varies (Delhi 420; Pondicherry 200; United States average 1,640 km/t‐food) and the sensitivity of GHG emissions of food demand to spatial variability of energy intensity of irrigation is greater in Indian than US cities. Analysis also finds greater pre‐consumer waste in India versus larger post‐consumer accumulations in the United States. Despite these differences in food system characteristics, food waste management and diet change consistently emerge as key strategies. Among diet scenarios, all vegetarian diets are not found equal in terms of environmental benefit, with the US Government's recommended vegetarian diet resulting in less benefit than other more focused targeted diet changes.     

Energy Cost of Living and Associated Pollution for Beijing Residents

China's remarkable economic growth in the last 3 decades has brought about big improvements in quality of life while simultaneously contributing to serious environmental problems. The aim of all economic activities is, ultimately, to provide the population with products and services. Analyzing environmental impacts of consumption can be valuable for illuminating underlying drivers for energy use and emissions in society. This study applies an environmentally extended input‐output analysis to estimate household environmental impact (HEI) of urban Beijing households at different levels of development. The analysis covers direct and indirect energy use and emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and nitrogen oxide (NO_x). On the basis of observations of how HEI varies across income groups, prospects for near‐future changes in HEI are discussed. Results indicate that in 2007, an urban resident in Beijing used, on average, 52 gigajoules of total primary energy supply. The corresponding annual emissions were 4.2 tonnes CO₂, 27 kilograms SO₂, and 17 kilograms NO_x. Of this, only 18% to 34% was used or emitted by the households directly. While the overall expenditure elasticity of energy use is around 0.9, there is a higher elasticity of energy use associated with transport. The results suggest that significant growth in HEI can be expected in the near future, even with substantial energy efficiency improvements.     

Life cycle assessment of cane-sugar on the island of mauritius

Goal, Scope and Background  Agricultural production includes not only crop production, but also food processing, transport, distribution, preparation, and disposal. The effects of all these must be considered and controlled if the food chain is to be made sustainable. The goal of this case study was to identify and review the significant areas of potential environmental impacts across the whole life cycle of cane sugar on the island of Mauritius. Methods  The functional unit was one tonne of exported raw sugar from the island. The life cycle investigated includes the stage of cane cultivation and harvest, cane burning, transport, fertilizer and herbicide manufacture, cane sugar manufacture and electricity generation from bagasse. Data was gathered from companies, factories, sugar statistics, databases and literature. Energy depletion, climate change, acidification, oxidant formation, nutrification, aquatic ecotoxicity and human toxicity were assessed. Results and Discussion  The inventory of the current sugar production system revealed that the production of one tonne of sugar requires, on average, a land area of 0.12 ha, the application of 0.84 kg of herbicides and 16.5 kg of N-fertilizer, use of 553 tons of water and 170 tonne-km of transport services. The total energy consumption is about 14235 MJ per tonne of sugar, of which fossil fuel consumption accounts for 1995 MJ and the rest is from renewable bagasse. 160 kg of CO₂ per tonne of sugar is released from fossil fuel energy use and the net avoided emissions of CO₂ on the island due to the use of bagasse as an energy source is 932,000 tonnes. 1.7 kg TSP, 1.21 kg SO₂,1.26 kgNO_xand 1.26 kg CO are emitted to the air per tonne of sugar produced. 1.7 kg N, 0.002 kg herbicide, 19.1 kg COD, 13.1 kgTSS and 0.37 kg PO₄ ^3- are emitted to water per tonne of sugar produced. Cane cultivation and harvest accounts for the largest environmental impact (44%) followed by fertilizer and herbicide manufacture (22%), sugar processing and electricity generation (20%), transportation (13%) and cane burning (1%). Nutrification is the main impact followed by acidification and energy depletion. Conclusions  There are a number of options for improvement of the environmental performance of the cane-sugar production chain. Cane cultivation, and fertilizer and herbicide manufacture, were hotspots for most of the impact categories investigated. Better irrigation systems, precision farming, optimal use of herbicides, centralisation of sugar factories, implementation of co-generation projects and pollution control during manufacturing and bagasse burning are measures that would considerably decrease resource use and environmental impacts. Recommendation and Outlook  LCA was shown to be a valuable tool to assess the environmental impacts throughout the food production chain and to evaluate government policies on agricultural production systems.     

Environmental impacts of German food consumption and food losses

Purpose

The objective was to assess the environmental burden of food consumption and food losses in Germany with the aim to define measures to reduce environmentally relevant food losses. To support the finding of measurements, the study provides differentiated information on life phases (agriculture, processing, retailer, and consumption), consumption places (in-house and out-of-home), and the average German food basket consisting of eight food categories.

Methods

In order to obtain information on the environmental impacts of German food consumption, the study analyzed the material flows of the food products in the German food basket starting from consumption phase and going backwards until agricultural production. The analysis includes all relevant impact categories such as GWP, freshwater and marine eutrophication, particular matter formation, and agricultural land and water use. The life stages consumers, retail, wholesale, food production, and agriculture have been taken into account. Furthermore, transports to and within Germany have been considered. Consumption and production data have been taken from the German income and consumption sample, German production and trade statistics, and studies recently carried out on food losses. In order to model German food consumption, some simplifications had to be done.

Results and discussion

Results show that German food consumption is responsible for 2.7 t of greenhouse gases per person and year. Fourteen cubic meters of blue water is used for agricultural food production per person, and 2673 m² of agricultural land is occupied each year per German for food consumption. Between 14 and 20 % of the environmental burdens (depending on the impact category) result from food losses along the value chain. Out-of-home consumption is responsible for 8 to 28 % of the total environmental impacts (depending on the impact category). In particular, animal products cause high environmental burdens. Regarding life cycle phases, agriculture and consumption cause the highest impacts: together, they are responsible for more than 87 % of the total environmental burdens.

Conclusions

The study shows that food production and consumption as well as food losses along the value chain are of high relevance regarding Germany’s environmental impacts. In particular, animal products are responsible for high environmental burdens. Thus, with respect to reducing environmentally relevant food losses, measures should focus in particular on the reduction of food waste of animal origin. The most relevant life cycle phases to reduce environmental impacts are agricultural production and consumption in households and out-of-home.

     

Pursuing More Sustainable Consumption by Analyzing Household Metabolism in European Countries and Cities

Bringing about more sustainable consumption patterns is an important challenge for society and science. In this article the concept of household metabolism is applied to analyzing consumption patterns and to identifying possibilities for the development of sustainable household consumption patterns. Household metabolism is determined in terms of total energy requirements, including both direct and indirect energy requirements, using a hybrid method. This method enables us to evaluate various determinants of the environmental load of consumption consistently at several levels—the national level, the local level, and the household level.
The average annual energy requirement of households varies considerably between the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Sweden, as well as within these countries. The average expenditure level per household explains a large part of the observed variations. Differences between these countries are also related to the efficiency of the production sectors and to the energy supply system. The consumption categories of food, transport, and recreation show the largest contributions to the environmental load. A comparison of consumer groups with different household characteristics shows remarkable differences in the division of spending over the consumption categories.
Thus, analyses of different types of households are important for providing a basis for options to induce decreases of the environmental load of household consumption. At the city level, options for change are provided by an analysis of the city infrastructure, which determines a large part of the direct energy use by households (for transport and heating). At the national level, energy efficiency in production and in electricity generation is an important trigger for decreasing household energy requirements.     

典型社区家庭消费碳排放特征与影响因素——以北京市为例

家庭消费碳排放是中国碳排放总量的重要组成部分,已成为碳排放增长的主要驱动力,从消费角度研究家庭碳排量特征及影响因素对家庭碳减排和低碳社区建设有重要意义。使用碳排放系数法和消费者生活方式法计算北京市5种典型社区家庭消费月均碳排量,通过最优尺度回归和多重比较分析对不同社区家庭碳排放影响因素进行探究。研究发现：北京市5种社区户均碳排放总量及构成差异显著,影响因素不一致。其中：（1）平房类社区家庭直接碳排量732.26 kgCO₂/月高于其他社区,燃煤取暖是平房社区家庭直接碳排放高的主要因素,单位社区、政策性住房社区和商品房社区家庭直接碳排量较低,约50.00 kgCO₂/月。家庭类型显著影响每个社区家庭直接碳排量,家庭积极参与节能环保活动有利于减少家庭直接碳排放;（2）商品房社区家庭间接碳排量最高,达3879.06 kgCO₂/月,平房类社区家庭最低,间接碳排量仅为商品房社区的1/3,间接碳排放是家庭生活消费碳排放的主体。食品和居住消费产生的间接碳排量较高,老龄化社区家庭医疗保健消费碳排量更高;（3）家庭类型和月总收入对所有社区家庭间接碳排量影响显著,但社区环保工作满意度、社区环境满意度、家庭节能环保活动参与度、耐用品使用年限等因素影响程度存在差异,胡同社区和平房类社区中受教育水平高的家庭产生的间接碳排量更高,需积极灌输环保理念。进一步分析了主要影响因素在不同水平下对应的家庭碳排量差异程度与变化规律,有助于社区管理者识别高碳排家庭,为社区低碳管理提供新思路。     

Environmental Impacts of Products: A Detailed Review of Studies

Environmental effects of economic activities are ultimately driven by consumption, via impacts of the production, use, and waste management phases of products and services ultimately consumed. Integrated product policy (IPP) addressing the life‐cycle impacts of products forms an innovative new generation of environmental policy. Yet this policy requires insight into the final consumption expenditures and related products that have the greatest life‐cycle environmental impacts. This review article brings together the conclusions of 11 studies that analyze the life‐cycle impacts of total societal consumption and the relative importance of different final consumption categories. This review addresses in general studies that were included in the project Environmental Impacts of Products (EIPRO) of the European Union (EU), which form the basis of this special issue. Unlike most studies done in the past 25 years on similar topics, the studies reviewed here covered a broad set of environmental impacts beyond just energy use or carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. The studies differed greatly in basic approach (extrapolating LCA data to impacts of consumption categories versus approaches based on environmentally extended input‐output (EEIO) tables), geographical region, disaggregation of final demand, data inventory used, and method of impact assessment. Nevertheless, across all studies a limited number of priorities emerged. The three main priorities, housing, transport, and food, are responsible for 70% of the environmental impacts in most categories, although covering only 55% of the final expenditure in the 25 countries that currently make up the EU. At a more detailed level, priorities are car and most probably air travel within transport, meat and dairy within food, and building structures, heating, and (electrical) energy‐using products within housing. Expenditures on clothing, communication, health care, and education are considerably less important. Given the very different approaches followed in each of the sources reviewed, this result hence must be regarded as extremely robust. Recommendations are given to harmonize and improve the methodological approaches of such analyses, for instance, with regard to modeling of imports, inclusion of capital goods, and making an explicit distinction between household and government expenditure.     

How origin,packaging and seasonality determine the environmental impact of apples,magnified by food waste and losses

Purpose

Using apple consumption in Belgium as a case study, this study examines the environmental impacts associated with Belgian (BE) and New Zealand (NZ) apples, how impacts evolve throughout the year and how packaging affects this impact. Additionally, impacts associated with food losses and food waste along the chain are assessed. The study aims to delineate the most important factors in determining environmental impacts associated with apple.

Methods

The environmental impacts are calculated using the ILCD (International Reference Life Cycle Data System) approach. The functional unit is 1 kg of apples purchased by a consumer in the supermarket. Primary data was collected through players along the chain. Various scenarios are analysed for both the BE and NZ apples, based on the moment of purchase and packaging method. Food loss and waste impacts are assessed by splitting the impacts along the chain into three categories: apples lost along the supply chain, apples purchased and eaten by the consumer and apples purchased and wasted by the consumer.

Results and discussion

For all impact categories assessed, NZ apples come at a higher environmental cost than BE ones due to overseas transport. For both BE and NZ apples, minimum impacts are found for bulk apples at the beginning of the season, whereas maximum values are found for pre-packed apples at the end of the season. For BE apples, the choice of packaging method highly affects the impact, while it is negligible relative to shipping impacts for NZ apples. Altering secondary packaging materials of BE apples allows for impact reductions up to 50%. In the case of climate change, food waste and losses contribute up to 25% or 15% for BE or NZ apples, respectively, as all lost food travels in vain through the food chain and needs to be disposed of.

Conclusions

The study shows the importance of origin and packaging, whereas the moment of purchase hardly affects the environmental impact of apples. From a supply chain perspective, there is room for improvement as altering the use of secondary packaging greatly reduces impacts along the chain. The study further highlights how impacts are magnified by food waste and losses.

     

Life Cycle Assessment of Biomass‐based Combined Heat and Power Plants

Norway, like many countries, has realized the need to extensively plan its renewable energy future sooner rather than later. Combined heat and power (CHP) through gasification of forest residues is one technology that is expected to aid Norway in achieving a desired doubling of bioenergy production by 2020. To assess the environmental impacts to determine the most suitable CHP size, we performed a unit process‐based attributional life cycle assessment (LCA), in which we compared three scales of CHP over ten environmental impact categories—micro (0.1 megawatts electricity [MWe]), small (1 MWe), and medium (50 MWe) scale. The functional units used were 1 megajoule (MJ) of electricity and 1 MJ of district heating delivered to the end user (two functional units), and therefore, the environmental impacts from distribution of electricity and hot water to the consumer were also considered. This study focuses on a regional perspective situated in middle‐Norway's Nord‐ and Sør‐Trøndelag counties. Overall, the unit‐based environmental impacts between the scales of CHP were quite mixed and within the same magnitude. The results indicated that energy distribution from CHP plant to end user creates from less than 1% to nearly 90% of the total system impacts, depending on impact category and energy product. Also, an optimal small‐scale CHP plant may be the best environmental option. The CHP systems had a global warming potential ranging from 2.4 to 2.8 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per megajoule of thermal (g CO₂‐eq/MJ_th) district heating and from 8.8 to 10.5 grams carbon dioxide equivalent per megajoule of electricity (g CO₂‐eq/MJ_el) to the end user.     

Environmental Assessment of Refuse‐Derived Fuel Co‐Combustion in a Coal‐Fired Power Plant

Municipal residual waste (RW) produced in the Venice area undergoes mechanical‐biological treatment (MBT) in the Fusina plant to produce refuse‐derived fuel (RDF) that is then co‐combusted in a nearby coal‐fired power station. Being the first significant project for RDF co‐firing in power plants in Italy, a number of different testing phases were performed starting in 2003, aimed at evaluating differences between so‐called blank operation (i.e., with only coal feeding) and RDF co‐firing at different feeding rates. The analysis of data gathered during the industrial experimentation shows a savings of 0.7 tonnes (t) of coal per each tonne of co‐fired RDF; stack concentrations of some pollutants (hydrochloric acid [HCl], ammonia [NH₃], carbon monoxide [CO], chromium [Cr], and lead [Pb]) appear slightly higher during co‐combustion compared with blank operation, whereas concentrations of dust, sulfur oxides (SOx), and some metals (manganese [Mn], nickel [Ni], vanadium [V]) are lower. To assess the overall environmental performance of this practice, a life cycle assessment (LCA) study was then performed, where different strategies of energy recovery from RW were compared: production of RDF and its co‐combustion in the Fusina power plant, RW combustion without any pretreatment in a mass‐burn waste‐to‐energy (WTE) plant, and production of RDF and its combustion in a dedicated WTE plant. The LCA results show that co‐combustion of RDF performs better than the other strategies for all impact categories evaluated. The only exception is when the WTE plant operates in combined heat and power mode, with very high overall conversion efficiencies.     

Do nuclear and renewable energy improve the environment? Empirical evidence from the United States

The central focus of this article is to assess the dynamic effects of nuclear and renewable energy consumption on CO₂ emissions, for a given level of income and energy consumption. We apply an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration to U.S. data from 1960 to 2010. We find that nuclear energy consumption indeed reduces CO₂ emissions in both the short- and long-run, while renewable energy consumption does only in the short-run. We also find that income increases CO₂ emissions in the long-run after showing the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) initially in the short-run. Finally, energy consumption is found to have a negative impact on reducing CO₂ emissions in the short- and long-run.     

Life cycle assessment of integrated food chains—a Swedish case study of two chicken meals

Background, aims, and scope  Food is a vital human need that not only provides essential nutrition but is also a key part of our social life as well as being a valued sensory experience. However, food, or rather the production chain of food, from primary production (agriculture/aquaculture/fishing) to consumer and beyond, also results in some form of environmental impact, as does transport between steps. There are several life cycle assessment studies of food products, most of them analysing the impact of the food chain of single food items. Still, detailed studies of complete meals are less frequent in the literature. In the Swedish study presented in this article, the environmental impacts of two different chicken meals (homemade and semi-prepared) were analysed. The aim of the study was to gain knowledge of the environmental impact of integrated food chains and also to explore the effect of improvement measures in the post-farm systems. To this end, two chicken meals were chosen for analysis, with two scenarios for each meal; the first scenario reflects the present conditions of the food chain, and the second scenario incorporates a number of improvement actions in the stages after the farm. Materials and methods  Input data to the model were based mainly on previous life cycle assessment (LCA) studies of Swedish food products and studies on wastage and consumer transport. Food engineering data and information from producing companies were used for modelling the industries. The improvement scenario was constructed using insight from a preceding LCA study of a meatball meal (Sonesson et al., Ambio, 34:411–418, 2005a) along with goals set out by a Swedish agreement between representatives from national and regional government, food industry sectors and retailers. The impact assessment was conducted according to Lindfors et al. (Nordic guidelines on life cycle assessment, The Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1995), and the following environmental effects were included: global warming potential, eutrophication potential, acidification potential, photochemical ozone creation potential, and use of primary energy carriers and secondary energy. Results  In terms of energy use, the largest part is used in the steps after the farm for both meal types. Hence, the changes made in the improvement scenario have a significant impact on the total energy use. For the homemade and semi-prepared meal, the reduction is 15% and 20% respectively, not only due to less consumer transport and packaging but also reduction in industry (semi-prepared). Agriculture is also a significant contributor to emissions of greenhouse gases and eutrophying emissions; for the homemade meal, around 40% of the greenhouse gases originate from agriculture, and for the semi-prepared meal, the figure is 50%. The improvement actions with the greatest reduction in greenhouse gases are, again, less consumer transport and, in the case of the semi-prepared meal, the reduction in energy use in industry. Regarding eutrophication, more than 90% of the emissions originate from agriculture. Hence, the only improvement action that has an effect here is the utilisation of raw material downstream in the production chain; a slight reduction in waste still gives a notable reduction in overall eutrophic emissions. Discussion  There are two significant areas of research to reduce the impact of meals that are not explored in this study: choice of meal components and production methods in agriculture. However, the aim with this study was to explore if there are further ways of reducing the impact without going into these very complex areas, and our conclusion is that there are effective ways in the post-farm chain to cut emissions that, together with choices of diet and agricultural research, can significantly reduce the impact of our food consumption. Conclusions  Actions in the post-farm chain that can significantly reduce the environmental impact of a meal are less food thrown away in the household, fewer car trips to the supermarket (e.g. only once a week) and, for semi-prepared food products, more efficient energy use in the food industry. The study shows that consumer actions prove just as important as industrial actions. Recommendations and perspectives  Further research is needed to understand the mechanism for the disposal of food, i.e. the reasons for food being wasted, and the relationship between shopping frequency, retail location, size of packaging, etc. in order to reduce the impact of waste and consumer transport. Responsible editor: Niels Jungbluth     

Environmental Load from Dutch Private Consumption: How Much Damage Takes Place Abroad?

This article describes a method for determining the environmental load of Dutch private consumption. The method generates detailed information about consumption-related environmental impacts. The environmental load of households (direct) and production (indirect) was determined for 360 expenditure categories reported in the Dutch Expenditure Survey. The indirect environmental load was calculated with linked input-output tables covering worldwide production and trade. The environmental load per Euro turnover of industries was linked to consumer expenditures. With this method we can quantify several types of environmental load per expenditure category and per economic production region.
It was found that food production, room heating, and car use are the most important elements in the environmental load of Dutch private consumption. The impacts taking place abroad were—with the exception of emission of greenhouse gases and road traffic noise—found to be larger than domestic impacts. Most land use was found to take place in developing (non-OECD) countries, whereas most emissions occur in industrialized (OECD) countries.     

Life cycle and matrix analyses for re-refined Oil in Japan

Unstable market systems and consumer preferences for virgin oil have inhibited the development of waste oil re-refining in Japan. In this papery comparative life cycle inventories were developed for re-refining waste oil and for the no-refining case in which the waste oil is incinerated and needs are supplied with virgin oil. Total energy, CO₂, NO_x, and SO₂ emissions were included during the re-refining and consumption (incineration) stages; all are lower in the case of re-refined fuel use. In addition, by using a streamlined LCA matrix, we demonstrate that re-refining waste oil can reduce environmental impacts compared with the case in which virgin oil is chosen.     

Energy and Environmental Issues in Organic and Conventional Agriculture

Humanity is facing possibly the greatest challenge in its history. Population is expected to reach 9 billion in 2030. At the same time agricultural land is becoming scarcer and poorer in quality. Furthermore, the environmental impact of intensive agriculture and the effects of climate change are threatening food security in many regions of the globe. Further, shortage of fossil fuels will have dramatic effects on the performance of intensive agriculture. There is an urge to develop more ecological agricultural practices both to meet the need to preserve agroecosystems health and to deal with the reduced availability of “cheap” energy from fossil fuels. This paper reviews a number of studies comparing the performances of conventional and organic agriculture in light of energy use, CO ₂ emission and other environmental issues. Organic agriculture, along with other low input agriculture practices, results in less energy demand compared to intensive agriculture and could represent a means to improve energy savings and CO₂ abatement if adopted on a large scale. At the same time it can provide a number of important environmental and social services, such as preserving and improving soil quality, increasing carbon sink, minimizing water use, preserving biodiversity, halting the use of harmful chemicals, thereby guaranteeing healthy food to consumers. We claim that more work should be done in terms of research and investment to explore the potential of organic farming for reducing environmental impact of agricultural practices. However, in the case of organic agriculture, the implications of a reduced productivity for the socioeconomic system should be considered and suitable agricultural policies worked out.     

辽宁省能源消费和碳排放与经济增长的关系

在广泛收集资料的基础上,对辽宁省的能源利用效率、能源消费强度与经济增长的关系进行探索,其目的为辽宁省的节能与CO2减排及经济的快速发展提供科学依据。结果表明:辽宁整体单位GDP能耗高出全国水平52%—70%,第二产业单位GDP能耗是第三产业的5.67—8.41倍,第一产业的7.2—9.0倍;辽宁能源利用率只有全国平均水平的60%左右,第二产业能源利用效率只有第一产业的11.89%,第三产业的12.60%;GDP年增长速率大于能源消费量年增长速率,能源投入增加促进了国民生产总值的提高,但是经济增长并不是完全依赖能源消费的增长;能源消费量与经济增长的关系,呈现出"N型"曲线特征,随着GDP的增加,能源消费量出现反复上升和下降过程,辽宁省能源消费和经济增长关系没有达到长期的均衡性,尚处于非平衡的发展阶段。     

Development of a Consumer Environmental Index and Results for Washington State Consumers

Consumer choices affect sustainability of societal systems, and state governments increasingly are interested in environmental impacts of consumption. This article describes a Consumer Environmental Index (CEI) to track the impacts of product purchase, use, and disposal and applies this initial CEI to Washington State in the United States. CEI has modules for product and service use, upstream resource extraction and manufacturing, and downstream disposal. CEI uses hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) methods, combined with purchasing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Expenditure Survey. For Washington State, when human health and ecosystem toxicity impact was assessed with the TRACI/CalTOX methods, weighted aggregate and per consumer impacts in all categories increased during the 6 years from 2000 to 2005. For impacts per real dollar spent, only the CEI's climate change component declined, falling nearly 7% between 2000 and 2005. Purchasing details in the BLS expenditure surveys enable the CEI to track environmental impact details on 700 individual categories of products and services. For example, sugar, motor oil, and wood heat appear to have serious environmental impacts, whereas recycling of paper, cardboard, and food and beverage container discards can be as effective at reducing greenhouse gas emissions as cutting vehicle fuel usage nearly in half. Such results may serve to increase understanding of environmentally effective actions to reduce climate, human health, and ecosystem impacts of consumption.