A critique on the water-scarcity weighted water footprint in LCA

The water footprint (WF) has been developed within the water resources research community as a volumetric measure of freshwater appropriation. The concept is used to assess water use along supply chains, sustainability of water use within river basins, efficiency of water use, equitability of water allocation and dependency on water in the supply chain. With the purpose of integrating the WF in life cycle assessment of products, LCA scholars have proposed to weight the original volumetric WF by the water scarcity in the catchment where the WF is located, thus obtaining a water-scarcity weighted WF that reflects the potential local environmental impact of water consumption. This paper provides an elaborate critique on this proposal. The main points are: (1) counting litres of water use differently based on the level of local water scarcity obscures the actual debate about water scarcity, which is about allocating water resources to competing uses and depletion at a global scale; (2) the neglect of green water consumption ignores the fact that green water is scarce as well; (3) since water scarcity in a catchment increases with growing overall water consumption in the catchment, multiplication of the consumptive water use of a specific process or activity with water scarcity implies that the resultant weighted WF of a process or activity will be affected by the WFs of other processes or activities, which cannot be the purpose of an environmental performance indicator; (4) the LCA treatment of the WF is inconsistent with how other environmental footprints are defined; and (5) the Water Stress Index, the most cited water scarcity metric in the LCA community, lacks meaningful physical interpretation. It is proposed to incorporate the topic of freshwater scarcity in LCA as a “natural resource depletion” category, considering depletion from a global perspective. Since global freshwater demand is growing while global freshwater availability is limited, it is key to measure the comparative claim of different products on the globe's limited accessible and usable freshwater flows.     

Water footprint assessment for service sector: A case study of gaming industry in water scarce Macao

Although numerous studies have been carried out to investigate the water footprint of different economies at global, national and regional scales, the research on water footprint of individual economic sector, which is the elementary part of each economy, is still lacking. To fill the gap, this paper for the first time employs a hybrid method to evaluate the water footprint of gaming industry in water scarce Macao, based on the latest statistics and most exhaustive embodied water intensity databases. The results show that direct water use only accounts for extremely small fraction of the gaming industry's water footprint, indicating that the exchange of water embodied in product and service between different sectors is also a useful mean to satisfy individual sector's demand for water resources. As Macao's demand for water is growing, integrated plans including economic instruments and measures like reducing the scale of commission input and promoting efficiency would ease Macao's water pressure. Water footprint assessment in this study brings along new perspectives on gaming industry's water management and encourages wise use of goods, materials and services in a sustainable way.     

Methodological proposal to assess the water footprint accounting of direct water use at an urban level: A case study of the Municipality of Vicenza

Climate change, world population growth and industrialization have placed considerable stress on the local availability of water resources. Considering that most of the world's population currently resides in cities, this issue has particular relevance in an urban environment. One of the methods that is recognized to support better water management is water footprint accounting. However, due to the requirement of large amounts of data and their limited availability, applications of this method at an urban scale use national or regional water use data. The goal of this study is to develop a methodological proposal to assess the water footprint accounting of direct water use at an urban level to support the local management of water resources by using local data, by adopting a bottom-up approach and by verifying its applicability in a real case study. The water footprint accounting approach was modified by adopting a modular approach in the definition of boundaries and by adapting the blue, green and gray water footprint accounting formulations. The proposed method was successfully tested in the municipality of Vicenza (north east Italy) and provided interesting responses in terms of water management. Herein, we also discuss the latest developments in impact assessments related to water based on a life cycle assessment, which should be used as a framework for the future development of the model that is presented.     

The water footprint of Tunisia from an economic perspective

This paper quantifies and analyses the water footprint of Tunisia at national and sub-national level, assessing green, blue and grey water footprints for the period 1996–2005. It also assesses economic water and land productivities related to crop production for irrigated and rain-fed agriculture, and water scarcity. The water footprint of crop production gave the largest contribution (87%) to the total national water footprint. At national level, tomatoes and potatoes were the main crops with relatively high economic water productivity, while olives and barley were the main crops with relatively low productivity. In terms of economic land productivity, oranges had the highest productivity and barley the lowest. South Tunisia had the lowest economic water and land productivities. Economic land productivity was found to explain more of the current production patterns than economic water productivity, which may imply opportunities for water saving. The total blue water footprint of crop production represented 31% of the total renewable blue water resources, which means that Tunisia as a whole experienced significant water scarcity. The blue water footprint on groundwater represented 62% of the total renewable groundwater resources, which means that the country faced severe water scarcity related to groundwater.     

Comparison of volumetric and stress-weighted water footprint of grain products in China

The water footprint (WF) concept links physical and virtual forms of water, which can be used for research on the impact on water resources imposed by human consumption or production activities. Debates remain on the calculation methods due to WF being applied for different research purposes, and the large amounts of data required for the calculation being hard to obtain. This paper calculated and compared two WFs called volumetric WF (the volumes of blue and green water are combined with the same weight) and stress-weighted WF (the volumes of blue and green water are combined with different weights) based on water use data to research crop water productivity of grain crops and its impact on water resources in each region of China. Results for volumetric WF and stress-weighted WF of grain products of each region in China differed greatly. In 2010, the average volumetric WF was 1.25 m³/kg with the blue component 0.53 m³/kg, and the average stress-weighted WF was 0.51 m³/kg. In addition, there were significant differences of both kinds of WFs among regions in China. The results showed that volumetric WF could be used as a comprehensive indicator for evaluating crop water productivity, specified in space and time by source (green and blue WFs). Stress-weighted WF could offer a meaningful way of making quantitative comparisons between products, production systems and services in terms of their potential to contribute to water scarcity. The spatial distribution of these two WFs can help decision making to develop water-saving measures, relieve water stress and restore ecosystems for each region in China.     

Sustainability assessment of straw utilization circulation modes based on the emergetic ecological footprint

In order to find a reasonable way to return the straw and reduce waste of resources, sustainability assessment of four types of maize straw circulation modes, straw direct returning to the farmland (control), “straw-biogas-straw” (S-B-S), “straw-dairy-straw” (S-D-S) and “straw-dairy-biogas-straw” (S-D-B-S), are analyzed and compared. Based on the Emergetic Ecological Footprint (EEF) method, which is an integration of Ecological Footprint (EF) analysis and emergy accounting, the Footprint Investment per unit of Footprint Delivered (FIFD) was used as an indicator of the sustainability of an ecological system. The results showed that the FIFDs for these straw circulation modes were 0.81, 1.96 and 0.43, respectively, and a sustainability sequence of S-D-B-S>S-B-S>S-D-S, in which S-D-B-S has the highest sustainability and S-D-S is unsustainable. Therefore, the agriculture-biogas mode is better than the agriculture-livestock mode, and longer circulation chains correspond with stronger sustainability. Based on the results, we suggest that integrated-biogas subsystem should be developed and all wastes in agrosystem should be used more efficiently in order to increase the sustainability.     

Evaluation of water footprint and economic water productivities of dairy products of South Africa

Assessment of water footprint sustainability indicators and economic water productivities is regarded as a cornerstone of the world’s sustainability goal and the reduction of the fresh water scarcity risk. These assessments are gaining much prominence because about four billion people face severe water scarcity, globally. Attaining sustainable and economically efficient water use goals requires a thorough assessment of all the existing sectors that use water. This paper examined the water footprint and economic water productivities of dairy products in South Africa for the periods 1996–2005 and 2006–2013 using the water footprint network assessment methodology. We found the total water footprints of all the selected dairy products in South Africa to be higher than the global averages are. During the period of 1996–2005, South African dairy producers utilized more green water in their dairy production. The production of butter and cheese products, whether grated or not grated, powdered or not powdered, blue-veined and cheese of all kinds had the highest total water footprints among all the dairy products in South Africa. Dairy production under a sole grazing system has high water footprints and low economic water productivities, relative to mixed production systems, for the period 2006–2013. With blue water becoming scarcer in South Africa, it is time for dairy livestock producers to shift their production to a system that is highly productive and has low water footprints. The water footprints of most of the dairy products for period 2006–2013 have reduced by varying amounts, relative to 1996–2005, which shows that water users along the dairy industry chains are managing water cautiously. Our findings have revealed dairy products that have high economic water productivities, and suggest that profit maximising and environmentally sustainable dairy producers and water users should integrate both blue water sustainability and economic water productivity indicators in their production decisions.     

基于ISO 14046的工业产品水足迹评价研究——以电缆为例

水足迹国际标准(ISO 14046)于2014年发布,基于生命周期评价(LCA)的思想,水足迹被定义为量化与水相关潜在环境影响的指标。在ISO14046的原则、要求和方法学框架基础上,介绍了工业产品水足迹的计算和评价方法,并以铜电缆和铝合金电缆为例进行研究,分别评价了两类电缆生命周期过程产生的与水相关环境影响。与水足迹网络(WFN)的方法侧重于计算生产产品所需要的水资源总量不同,ISO的方法更关注于产品全生命周期过程的环境影响评价。案例研究表明:铜电缆生命周期全过程耗水量与铝合金电缆相比少24.8%,水短缺足迹相比则少97.9%。这是因为铜电缆生产地江苏的水压力指数(WSI)小于铝合金电缆生产地河北的WSI。由此,在江苏地区生产电缆使用的水资源对当地水环境压力造成的影响远小于在河北地区生产电缆造成的影响。采用科学合理的水足迹评价方法,量化工业产品全生命周期带来的环境影响,能为我国实现工业布局的合理规划和水资源的可持续利用提供科学依据。     

Identification of Key Sustainability Performance Indicators and related assessment methods for the carbon fiber recycling sector

The need for the extensive use of sustainability assessment as a standalone tool to evaluate the environmental, economic and social aspects of an activity be it at project, product, company or region level has resulted in the development of various methods and standards. There are several indicator issues to address each aspect of sustainability and it is not easy for decision makers to understand the result due to the use of multiple indicators. In this regard, the paper aims at the identification and combination of indicators allowing to assess the sustainability which is applicable to a carbon fiber recycling sector. Indicators selection were carried out by performing an extensive literature review on existing publications dealing with the different pillars of sustainability and setting a number of selection criteria to prioritize indicators that are relevant to the sector. For the environmental aspect global warming, acidification and human toxicity seem to be the most relevant. The social-economic aspect can be addressed through considering the resource impact assessment by considering the supply risk due to the geological scarcity of a resource and the potential supply disruption due to geopolitical and other social factors. The finding shows that three indicators have been identified enabling the assessment of the environmental pillar. Then the necessity to use extra resources indicators was shown and justified by the need of providing a shorter timeframe perspective as well as to consider the amount of fiber to be recycled in the future and also to determine the potential benefit provided by the creation of this sector to the resource strategy point of view. This will be made possible by using such method as the criticality assessment that enable the consideration of geological and geopolitical supply risk as well as the characterization of the system dependence to a specific resource.Finally, these results lead to the expression of the need to the development of a novel indicator assessing the criticality of carbon fibers as well as the expression of the necessity for further research on the socio-economic perspectives.     

工业水足迹评价与应用

大规模的工业生产不但消耗了大量的水资源,同时产生了大量的工业废水,这是造成和加剧全球或区域水资源危机和水环境问题最重要的原因之一。对工业生产过程的水资源综合影响进行科学有效评估是目前资源环境管理领域研究的重要问题之一,是采取有效措施、提升工业生产的水资源利用效率和管理水平的重要前提和基础。以发展和完善工业生产过程的水资源综合影响的评价系统和方法体系为目标,基于水足迹理论,提出了工业水足迹的概念,即用以测量由某一产品、工业企业、行业或区域的工业生产过程引发的水资源利用增量的一个多维指标。以此概念为理论基础,进而首先分析了工业水足迹的内涵,包括直接工业水足迹与间接工业水足迹两部分。另外,区别于全生命周期的水足迹,工业水足迹评价是针对工业生产过程中由于工业原料、辅料、能源和水的输入,以及废水、废物与产品的输出产生的水足迹,其系统边界不包括分销零售、消费使用与废物处理等环节。其次,在确定的系统边界内构建了工业水足迹的核算框架和基础方法体系,即从生产、公共及运输3个方面收集数据、处理并核算。最后,从产品、企业、行业和区域4个层面对工业水足迹的应用及其意义进行了展望。     

三江平原粮食作物生产水足迹时空特征及影响因素

水足迹是评价人类活动对水资源开采和水环境污染程度的重要方法,对农作物生长过程的绿水足迹、蓝水足迹和灰水足迹进行量化和分析,可以为农业用水综合评价和用水管理提供指导。以三江平原为研究区域量化粮食作物生产水足迹的时空特征,揭示粮食生产对区域水资源的占用情况,并分析水足迹的影响因素。结果表明:(1)三江平原粮食生产水足迹总量在2005-2018年间呈显著增加趋势,其中绿水足迹、蓝水足迹和灰水足迹在水足迹总量中的占比历年平均为28%、8%和64%;(2)粮食生产水足迹空间差异明显,在地市尺度,佳木斯市水足迹最高,占三江平原总量的47%,在县区尺度,富锦市、依兰县和桦南县是水足迹热点地区;(3)只考虑蓝水足迹,粮食生产给三江平原水资源造成轻度压力,而同时考虑蓝水和灰水足迹,粮食生产给三江平原水资源造成重度压力;各地市间水资源压力有较大差异,其中佳木斯市负担了该区域将近一半的粮食产量,水资源压力最高,鹤岗市则水资源压力最低;(4)降雨量、灌溉水利用效率、化肥施用量、粮食种植结构和作物单产水平等都会影响粮食作物生产水足迹,其中蓝水足迹响应种植结构的变化最敏感,灰水足迹响应化肥施用量的变化最敏感,而水足迹总量响应作物单产水平的变化最敏感。因此,建议减少化肥施用量、提高作物单产水平和优化作物种植结构纳入区域水资源可持续管理之中。     

中国省际灰水足迹测度及荷载系数的空间关联分析

借鉴Hoekstra等提出的灰水足迹计算公式,从农业、工业及生活三方面计算了1998—2012年中国31个省市(自治区)的灰水足迹及其灰水足迹荷载系数。结果表明:1研究期间全国灰水足迹呈现波动趋势,1998年至2006年的灰水足迹呈现波动上升趋势;2007年开始,全国灰水足迹呈现下降趋势;农业在总灰水足迹的贡献率最高、工业最低;231个省市(自治区)15a灰水足迹荷载系数整体呈现小幅波动趋势。在全国内部也存在着明显的地区差异,大体分为5类,分别为高荷载地区、较高荷载区、中度荷载区、较低荷载区、低荷载区。3借助全局与局部空间自相关对全国31个省市(自治区)灰水足迹荷载系数进行空间关联格局分析可知,中国省级灰水足迹存在空间集聚现象且集聚现象逐渐减弱,其中H-H集聚区主要集中在华北地区,L-L集聚区主要集中在南方与青藏地区。通过全国灰水足迹测度与灰水足迹荷载系数空间关联格局分析为灰水足迹分析提供新的研究思路同时为区域可持续发展提供理论支持。     

基于农牧业产品和生活用水的京津冀地区水足迹时空特征研究

水足迹将实体水消费和虚拟水消费联系起来,能真实地反映水资源利用的空间差异状况。运用自下而上的方法,分别计算了京津冀地区市级、区县尺度2000—2014年水足迹与人均水足迹,并分析其时空变化特征。结果表明:(1)市级尺度上,北京市水足迹、人均水足迹最高,天津市次之。石家庄市水足迹、人均水足迹相对较高,衡水市水足迹、人均水足迹均相对较低。京津冀市级平均水足迹由2000年的35.88亿m~3增长到2014年的50.82亿m~3,天津市、北京市增长幅度最大。(2)区县尺度上,北京市主城六区水足迹、人均水足迹最高,北京市其他市辖区和天津市主城六区、滨海新区水足迹、人均水足迹次之,石家庄市主城区水足迹、人均水足迹也相对较高。北部燕山山区、西部太行山区及衡水市所辖区县水足迹、人均水足迹最低。京津冀区县平均水足迹由2000年的2.30亿m~3增长为2014年的3.16亿m~3。北京市市辖区水足迹增长幅度最大,天津市市辖区次之。(3)水足迹的构成比例从大到小依次是消费虚拟水量、生活用水量和生态环境用水量,消费虚拟水量约占水足迹的90%。京津冀生态环境用水所占水足迹比例总体呈现增加的趋势,北京市生态环境用水所占水足迹的比例高于天津市和河北省。本文对京津冀地区水足迹的计算与时空变化特征分析,以期为研究京津冀地区城镇化对水资源量的胁迫效应提供参考与依据。     

生态设计家具的碳足迹核算与减排效果分析——以木质家具为例

我国的木质家具不仅产量大,而且碳排放强度也相对较高,利用生态设计理念可以降低木质家具的碳足迹。为了定量化生态设计所带来的减排效果,按照减少资源消耗和环境污染、节省住宅空间等木质家具生态设计原则,通过在一款多功能家具的框架内安装不同面板,形成了4种不同材质和结构的设计方案,利用生命周期分析方法核算了4种方案的碳足迹,并进一步量化了改进方案的减排效果。结果表明:4种家具设计的碳足迹从小到大为三聚氰胺板家具、木皮板家具、拼板家具、嵌条板家具,其中,实木类家具原材料碳排放较低,人造板类家具加工过程电力碳排放较低(主要来源于喷涂工段,占电力排放的83%—92%);通过各种减排方案的减排效果分析,发现采用"可拆卸无胶连接方式"改进方案减排效果显为明显;同时发现,合理的"低碳设计"(采用以实木板为基板,以三聚氰胺纸为贴面制作面板),可以避免中纤板喷涂过程的碳排放,从而减少产品整体碳足迹。     

基于生态足迹思想的皂市水利枢纽工程生态补偿标准研究

如何确定生态补偿标准是生态补偿研究的重点和难点问题.基于生态足迹思想方法,以皂市水利枢纽工程为例,构建了5个生态补偿主体受益评估模型(生态供给足迹评估模型)和8个生态补偿对象受损评估模型(生态需求足迹评估模型),对皂市工程生态补偿标准进行了定量评估.结果表明:①皂市工程生态补偿主体受益值为88482.2974 hm2/a,货币化转换结果为6.2353×108元/a;生态补偿对象受损值为14946.4861 hm2/a,货币化转换结果为1.0533×108元/a;生态补偿主体受益值是生态补偿对象受损值的5.92倍.②以明确生态补偿主体和生态补偿对象为前提,提出了3种生态补偿标准方案,目前推荐第2种生态补偿标准方案.③第2种生态补偿标准方案的生态补偿额为0.5238×108元/a,政府和水电开发业主是主要的生态补偿主体,其承担的生态补偿额分别占总生态补偿额的52.50％和35.77％;移民和河流生态系统本身是主要的生态补偿对象,其获得的生态补偿额分别占总生态补偿额的72.16％和15.68％.     

中国人均灰水足迹区域差异及因素分解

促进我国整体水资源利用率和水环境质量的提升,已成为当前亟待解决的问题。为探究生产要素和其他传统因素对人均水资源环境差异的影响,基于对中国31省区(港、澳、台尚未统计) 2000—2014年人均灰水足迹的测算,应用Theil指数和扩展的Kaya恒等式对其区域差异及驱动因子进行探究。结果表明:1)近年全国人均灰水足迹差异缓幅波动,组间差异指数逐渐提升,组内差异为总体差异的主要来源,西部地区组内差异最大。2)在单一要素方面,资本深化和技术效率为全国差异的主导因素,也分别为中、东部组内差异的主导因素;经济活度对各类差异的驱动效应最小,且西部除该效应外,都为驱动差异的重要因素。3)相互作用成分中,除西部资本产出效应与单位GDP灰水足迹相互作用的贡献值最高外,其他地区资本深化效应与单位资本存量灰水足迹相互作用的贡献较大。在技术效率效应与环境效率效应相互作用方面,技术效率的提升可以带动东、西部灰水足迹所占比重下降和中部灰水足迹比重提高。经济活度效应与就业人口人均灰水足迹相互作用的贡献最小。     

华北平原冬小麦-夏玉米生产灰水足迹及其县域尺度变化特征

华北平原是种植冬小麦和夏玉米的主要区域,农民为达高产而过量使用化肥对该区造成了严重的面源污染。"有河皆干,有水皆污"已经成为华北平原水资源与水环境现状的概语。灰水足迹理论与方法的提出为定量评价农业生产对水环境的影响提供了一条新的思路。因此,基于精细的县域尺度农业基础数据,运用灰水足迹评价方法,分析了华北平原1986—2010年的冬小麦-夏玉米灰水足迹及其时空变异特征。结果表明:华北平原冬小麦和夏玉米产品灰水足迹分别为0.55—2.97m3/kg和0.50—2.02m3/kg,均为美国、德国等地区的2—10倍;河北衡水、保定等地区灰水足迹较低,渤海湾等地区灰水足迹较高;冬小麦和夏玉米25a总灰水体积为2.67×1010—5.84×1010m3,平均值为3.90×1010m3,总体表现为随时间变化呈波动上升趋势。建议在华北平原要注意严格控制施肥量、提高肥效,积极推广测土配方施肥、缓释肥等养分资源管理技术,积极发展利用沼液、有机肥等化肥替代技术;要控制肥料地表流失和地下淋失,大力发展冬小麦-夏玉米轮作条件下的机械化喷灌、滴灌、微喷带等灌溉系统条件下的水肥一体化技术,全面实施秸秆、地膜等覆盖技术减少农田土壤流失以及深松等耕作技术实现土壤水库的增容扩蓄。     

中国人均灰水生态足迹变化驱动效应测度及时空分异

将传统灰水足迹和水生态足迹方法相结合,运用扩展的Kaya恒等式和LMDI指数分解方法对中国各省市的人均灰水生态足迹变化的驱动因素进行测度分析,充分考虑了资本和劳动力因素,选取经济活度效应,资本深化效应,资本效率效应,足迹强度效应,环境效率效应5个效应对人均灰水生态足迹变化的影响,结合ISODATA聚类模型对各效应进行空间聚类,从而分析各效应的空间特征。结果显示:中国人均灰水生态足迹产出变化是这5种因素共同作用的结果,资本深化效应和经济活度效应具有增量效应特点,而环境效率效应、足迹强度效应、资本效率效应呈减量效应特点;在各驱动效应的的强弱对比中,资本深化效应和足迹强度效应的特征较为明显。经济发展带动了科技进步也使得用水效率不断提高是足迹强度效应呈减量效应的主要原因;而工业化阶段经济向资本密集型转变是资本效率下降的主要原因。研究对中国灰水生态变化与资本要素之间的关系进行了探讨,对环保政策的调整及水资源可持续利用研究具有一定的参考价值。     

A semantic study of the Emergy Sustainability Index in the hybrid lifecycle-emergy framework

Emergy-based indicators are claimed to be useful outcomes of the emergy evaluation framework, which aims at guiding decision-makers toward environmental sustainability. The calculation of the Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI), in particular, seems widely consensual among emergy scholars, but several variants actually exist in the scientific literature, which may lead to different interpretations or misunderstanding of the ESI result. This paper proposes a semantic study of two variants in both components of the ESI (the Emergy Yield Ratio and the Environmental Loading Ratio, respectively EYR and ELR), to enhance standardization and reproducibility in the calculation of emergy indicators. It is shown that ESI can be consistently defined at the level of the production site as well as from a lifecycle perspective, although several case studies in the literature use an intermediary version with inconsistent system boundaries. A recent definition of lifecycle-oriented EYR is made operational by the development of an algorithm to be implemented in the emergy accounting software SCALE. However, the classification of foreground inputs needs further precision. ESI is also decomposed using partial derivatives, in order to analyze the influence of each input category and retrieve generic recommendations. These multiple outcomes demonstrate the added value of hybrid lifecycle-emergy evaluation to identify specific potential actions toward enhancing ESI of human activities.