Abstract
Agriculture accounts for 5% of the entire energy used worldwide. Most of it is not in a renewable form, so it can be linked to greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Paris Agreement, on climate change, one of its major targets is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the agricultural production process must drastically change. Currently, the sustainable use of water is critical for any agricultural development. Agricultural production effects water quality and sufficiency, as well as, freshwater wetlands. Energy balance, carbon, and water footprint are crucial for sustainable agricultural production. Agroforestry systems are important in reducing high inputs of non-renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions, along with better water use, leading to the most minimal influence on climate change. Energy analysis, carbon, and water footprint can be applied to agroforestry systems’ production. An outline could be applied by adopting a modified—for agricultural production—life cycle assessment methodology to assess energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and water consumption in agroforestry ecosystems.
Highlights
Agroforestry ecosystems are land-use systems in which tree species are grown in conjunction with crops or grassland grazing or post-harvest grazing [1,2]
Agroforestry ecosystems could be evaluated with environmental indicators based on energy use, yield, greenhouse gas emissions (GGE), and water consumption of the production process
The scope of this review is to present how energy analysis, carbon and water footprint (CF and WF), and life cycle assessment (LCA) methods could assess the environmental impacts on agroforestry ecosystems and agroecosystems in general
Summary
Agroforestry ecosystems are land-use systems in which tree species are grown in conjunction with crops or grassland grazing or post-harvest grazing [1,2]. The major environmental benefits of agroforestry ecosystems are: increased soil fertility, reduced soil erosion, improved water quality, increased biodiversity, improved microclimate, and larger carbon sequestration [4,5,6,7,8]. The application of agroforestry systems could minimize non-renewable energy inputs in agricultural production, reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GGE), and apply better water use during the production process [10,11,12,13]. Agroforestry ecosystems could be evaluated with environmental indicators based on energy use, yield, GGE, and water consumption of the production process. The scope of this review is to present how energy analysis, carbon and water footprint (CF and WF), and life cycle assessment (LCA) methods could assess the environmental impacts on agroforestry ecosystems and agroecosystems in general
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