Water Footprint Perspective Research Articles

Social water cycle and sustainable consumption in the perspective of water footprint – taken the low water consumption patterns of Zhangye city as a case

Social water cycle and sustainable consumption in the perspective of water footprint – taken the low water consumption patterns of Zhangye city as a case

Using Water Footprints for Examining the Sustainable Development of Science Parks

The Hsinchu Science Park was established in Taiwan in the 1980s, replacing traditional industries with high value-added and technology-intensive industries. Taiwan has become one of the Newly-Industrialized Economies (NIEs). However, the continued expansion of high-tech enterprises in science parks requires large amounts of resources to be consumed, deteriorating the quality of the environment, for which society must pay a high cost. In this study, the input-output model was used to explore the water footprints of the Hsinchu Science Park. The study results revealed that among the six industries at the Hsinchu Science Park, the integrated circuit industry (whether in 2001, 2004, or 2006) had the lowest total water consumption per unit of output. From a water footprint perspective, compared with the other industries of the science park, the development of the integrated circuit industry has had a lower impact on the environment. Furthermore, the integrated circuit industry, precision machinery industry, and biotechnology industry have become increasingly dependent on foreign water resources to alleviate the water shortage in Taiwan. In contrast to previous studies on water consumption, this study incorporated indirect water usage into the analysis; thus, a comprehensive view of the water consumption of each industry was analyzed from a broad perspective.

Life Cycle Assessment from food to food: A case study of circular economy from cruise ships to aquaculture

Industrial symbiosis principles, reprized in industrial ecology definition, are recently embraced by circular economy concept as the basis for characterization of cradle-to-cradle approach, with particular interest on global markets with growing environmental issues such as food sector. This paper investigates a potential innovative pattern of recycling food waste from cruise ships for use as feed in aquaculture, in terms of environmental sustainability. Comparative Life Cycle Assessment is used to evaluate the possible potential benefits of replacing conventional formulations of feed mix for salmon with food waste, generated and processed onboard a vessel where turbo-drying technology has been tested as a case study. A set of three indices, otherwise possible stand-alone indicators, is selected to measure global warming potential, non-renewable cumulative energy demand, and water scarcity index. The basis for comparison is represented by a typical commercial feed product for aquaculture in Norway and UK. A conventional feed formulation shows higher life cycle burdens for the whole set of indicators, with respect to the analysed case study. In particular, traditional feed product in UK shows the worst performance in terms of carbon footprint and non-renewable energy demand, whilst the Norwegian traditional mix is source of the highest impact for water scarcity. The investigation of supply chains results particularly relevant for highlighting that bottle-necks are not univocal for the different impact categories. For instance, when conventional mix in Norway is analysed from a water footprint perspective, crop-derived products result to be more influent than fish-derived ones, unlike for carbon and energy indicators.

A Preliminary Assessment of the Environmental Sustainability of the Current Italian Dietary Pattern: Water Footprint Related to Food Consumption

Sustainable diets concept has recently gained an increased momentum. The sustainability of food systems and diets is not simply related to health concerns as it also involves environmental impacts. The paper aims at analysing the environmental cost of non-adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern in from a water footprint perspective. The water footprint of the current Italian food consumption pattern is compared with North American and Scandinavian ones as well as with the proposed food Mediterranean dietary pattern i.e. the diet (MD). The paper is mainly based on secondary data from different sources (e.g. FAOSTAT; Water Footprint Network). According to FAOSTAT, food supplies in (3649 kcal/capita/day) and the (3766 kcal/capita/day) are slightly higher than in (3217 kcal/capita/day). The share of plant-based energy in the diet in (74.2%) and the (72.6%) is higher than in (63.5%). The average water footprint of an Italian citizen (1848.29 m3/capita/year) is 65.5% higher than a Finnish one (1116.69 m3/capita/year) but 15.9% lower than that of a North American citizen (2198.66 m3/capita/year). Meat and dairy products represent more than a half of the total water footprint of food supply. The water footprint of the current Italian dietary pattern is 69.9% higher than that of the proposed diet. That’s to say that a 100% adherence of the Italian population to the proposed Mediterranean diet from 2006 to 2011, would have allowed an estimated saving of about 152,749 million m3 of water; corresponding to total freshwater abstraction for about three and half years. Adherence of the Italian population to the Mediterranean dietary pattern can bring about not only significant health benefits but also reduces the food environmental footprint on natural resources especially water consumption.