Assessment of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Life Cycle of Energy Products

Autores
Kock, Sven; Piastrellini, Roxana; Arena, Alejandro Pablo
Año de publicación
2024
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Given the urgent need to achieve energy security and transition from conventional to renewable energy sources, the energy sector is expanding rapidly. However, this growth often involves trade-offs with food and water resources. One way to address this complex interplay is to adopt the Water-Energy-Food nexus within a Life Cycle Assessment. This approach allows the analysis of interrelationships among the three sectors, aiming to foster synergies and minimize trade-offs. While numerous indicators exist to quantify the water-energy relationship, no similar approaches for the energy-food relationship could be found. To bridge this gap, in this paper, we introduce a novel indicator that measures the amount of food that could be produced causing the same land use impact in form of biodiversity damage as 1 MJ of the energy product. Together with another existing indicator that measures the water scarcity footprint per megajoule, a new framework for the analysis of the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus of energy products is developed. Additionally, we present an optional net factor for both indicators. This factor helps to consider the energy use within the product´s processes, contributing to a more comprehensive analysis. In our case study, we implement the outlined framework by examining biodiesel production in Argentina. We specifically analyze the impacts of two distinct agricultural technologies—Early and Late Soybean—on the Food and Water sectors. Our findings reveal that for every megajoule of the evaluated product, one could produce 62 or 93 kcal of food causing the same species loss. Additionally, the production process incurs a water scarcity footprint of 6.5 or 6.8 liters per megajoule, depending on the technology used. The proposed framework offers a means to mitigate the water and land use impacts associated with energy products. Consequently, it has the potential to enhance the WEF nexus.
Fil: Kock, Sven. University of Applied Sciences; Alemania
Fil: Piastrellini, Roxana. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Mendoza. Grupo CLIOPE. Energía, Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Arena, Alejandro Pablo. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Mendoza. Grupo CLIOPE. Energía, Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Materia
WEF-Nexus
Life-cycle assessment
Soybean biodiesel
Sustainability
Trade-offs
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/237600
Acceder
id CONICETDig_afab4ef2c84a2bf4dd2bb99a8597eb39
oai_identifier_str oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/237600
network_acronym_str CONICETDig
repository_id_str 3498
network_name_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
spelling Assessment of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Life Cycle of Energy ProductsKock, SvenPiastrellini, RoxanaArena, Alejandro PabloWEF-NexusLife-cycle assessmentSoybean biodieselSustainabilityTrade-offshttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/2.7https://purl.org/becyt/ford/2Given the urgent need to achieve energy security and transition from conventional to renewable energy sources, the energy sector is expanding rapidly. However, this growth often involves trade-offs with food and water resources. One way to address this complex interplay is to adopt the Water-Energy-Food nexus within a Life Cycle Assessment. This approach allows the analysis of interrelationships among the three sectors, aiming to foster synergies and minimize trade-offs. While numerous indicators exist to quantify the water-energy relationship, no similar approaches for the energy-food relationship could be found. To bridge this gap, in this paper, we introduce a novel indicator that measures the amount of food that could be produced causing the same land use impact in form of biodiversity damage as 1 MJ of the energy product. Together with another existing indicator that measures the water scarcity footprint per megajoule, a new framework for the analysis of the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus of energy products is developed. Additionally, we present an optional net factor for both indicators. This factor helps to consider the energy use within the product´s processes, contributing to a more comprehensive analysis. In our case study, we implement the outlined framework by examining biodiesel production in Argentina. We specifically analyze the impacts of two distinct agricultural technologies—Early and Late Soybean—on the Food and Water sectors. Our findings reveal that for every megajoule of the evaluated product, one could produce 62 or 93 kcal of food causing the same species loss. Additionally, the production process incurs a water scarcity footprint of 6.5 or 6.8 liters per megajoule, depending on the technology used. The proposed framework offers a means to mitigate the water and land use impacts associated with energy products. Consequently, it has the potential to enhance the WEF nexus.Fil: Kock, Sven. University of Applied Sciences; AlemaniaFil: Piastrellini, Roxana. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Mendoza. Grupo CLIOPE. Energía, Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Arena, Alejandro Pablo. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Mendoza. Grupo CLIOPE. Energía, Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaElsevier2024-05info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/237600Kock, Sven; Piastrellini, Roxana; Arena, Alejandro Pablo; Assessment of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Life Cycle of Energy Products; Elsevier; Heliyon; 10; 11; 5-2024; 1-122405-8440CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2405844024079921info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31961info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-03T09:53:56Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/237600instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-09-03 09:53:56.627CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Assessment of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Life Cycle of Energy Products
title Assessment of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Life Cycle of Energy Products
spellingShingle Assessment of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Life Cycle of Energy Products
Kock, Sven
WEF-Nexus
Life-cycle assessment
Soybean biodiesel
Sustainability
Trade-offs
title_short Assessment of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Life Cycle of Energy Products
title_full Assessment of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Life Cycle of Energy Products
title_fullStr Assessment of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Life Cycle of Energy Products
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Life Cycle of Energy Products
title_sort Assessment of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Life Cycle of Energy Products
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Kock, Sven
Piastrellini, Roxana
Arena, Alejandro Pablo
author Kock, Sven
author_facet Kock, Sven
Piastrellini, Roxana
Arena, Alejandro Pablo
author_role author
author2 Piastrellini, Roxana
Arena, Alejandro Pablo
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv WEF-Nexus
Life-cycle assessment
Soybean biodiesel
Sustainability
Trade-offs
topic WEF-Nexus
Life-cycle assessment
Soybean biodiesel
Sustainability
Trade-offs
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/2.7
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/2
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Given the urgent need to achieve energy security and transition from conventional to renewable energy sources, the energy sector is expanding rapidly. However, this growth often involves trade-offs with food and water resources. One way to address this complex interplay is to adopt the Water-Energy-Food nexus within a Life Cycle Assessment. This approach allows the analysis of interrelationships among the three sectors, aiming to foster synergies and minimize trade-offs. While numerous indicators exist to quantify the water-energy relationship, no similar approaches for the energy-food relationship could be found. To bridge this gap, in this paper, we introduce a novel indicator that measures the amount of food that could be produced causing the same land use impact in form of biodiversity damage as 1 MJ of the energy product. Together with another existing indicator that measures the water scarcity footprint per megajoule, a new framework for the analysis of the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus of energy products is developed. Additionally, we present an optional net factor for both indicators. This factor helps to consider the energy use within the product´s processes, contributing to a more comprehensive analysis. In our case study, we implement the outlined framework by examining biodiesel production in Argentina. We specifically analyze the impacts of two distinct agricultural technologies—Early and Late Soybean—on the Food and Water sectors. Our findings reveal that for every megajoule of the evaluated product, one could produce 62 or 93 kcal of food causing the same species loss. Additionally, the production process incurs a water scarcity footprint of 6.5 or 6.8 liters per megajoule, depending on the technology used. The proposed framework offers a means to mitigate the water and land use impacts associated with energy products. Consequently, it has the potential to enhance the WEF nexus.
Fil: Kock, Sven. University of Applied Sciences; Alemania
Fil: Piastrellini, Roxana. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Mendoza. Grupo CLIOPE. Energía, Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Arena, Alejandro Pablo. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Mendoza. Grupo CLIOPE. Energía, Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
description Given the urgent need to achieve energy security and transition from conventional to renewable energy sources, the energy sector is expanding rapidly. However, this growth often involves trade-offs with food and water resources. One way to address this complex interplay is to adopt the Water-Energy-Food nexus within a Life Cycle Assessment. This approach allows the analysis of interrelationships among the three sectors, aiming to foster synergies and minimize trade-offs. While numerous indicators exist to quantify the water-energy relationship, no similar approaches for the energy-food relationship could be found. To bridge this gap, in this paper, we introduce a novel indicator that measures the amount of food that could be produced causing the same land use impact in form of biodiversity damage as 1 MJ of the energy product. Together with another existing indicator that measures the water scarcity footprint per megajoule, a new framework for the analysis of the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus of energy products is developed. Additionally, we present an optional net factor for both indicators. This factor helps to consider the energy use within the product´s processes, contributing to a more comprehensive analysis. In our case study, we implement the outlined framework by examining biodiesel production in Argentina. We specifically analyze the impacts of two distinct agricultural technologies—Early and Late Soybean—on the Food and Water sectors. Our findings reveal that for every megajoule of the evaluated product, one could produce 62 or 93 kcal of food causing the same species loss. Additionally, the production process incurs a water scarcity footprint of 6.5 or 6.8 liters per megajoule, depending on the technology used. The proposed framework offers a means to mitigate the water and land use impacts associated with energy products. Consequently, it has the potential to enhance the WEF nexus.
publishDate 2024
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2024-05
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/237600
Kock, Sven; Piastrellini, Roxana; Arena, Alejandro Pablo; Assessment of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Life Cycle of Energy Products; Elsevier; Heliyon; 10; 11; 5-2024; 1-12
2405-8440
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/237600
identifier_str_mv Kock, Sven; Piastrellini, Roxana; Arena, Alejandro Pablo; Assessment of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Life Cycle of Energy Products; Elsevier; Heliyon; 10; 11; 5-2024; 1-12
2405-8440
CONICET Digital
CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2405844024079921
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31961
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
collection CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
_version_ 1842269257751068672
score 13.13397

Publicaciones similares