Author: Seyyed Hassan Pishar-Komleh
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781801462150
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on life cycle assessment (LCA) of crops. The first chapter discusses the application of LCA to agricultural systems and highlights key issues associated with its implementation, including delimitation of systems boundaries, defining the functional unit, handling coproduction, and the choosing of impact assessment methods. The second chapter explores the concepts of LCA and the coffee value chain. The chapter discusses how carbon footprint performances can be used to upgrade coffee value chains. The third chapter assesses the environmental impact of oil palm production during cultivation and as a result of land use change for new plantations. The chapter describes the principles and modelling steps of LCA, as well as the challenges ahead regarding further development and application. The fourth chapter reviews the core principles of LCA methodology, the state of the art of LCA for fruits and associated key challenges. The first complete LCA case study for export mango is also discussed. The final chapter assesses the environmental impact of banana production and highlights the importance of LCA in influencing the adoption of practices that can reduce or offset the carbon footprint of the banana value chain. What is an Instant Insight? An Instant Insight gives you immediate access to key research on a topic, allowing you to get right to the heart of a subject in an instant and empowering you to contribute to sustainable agriculture.
Author: Ralph E Horne
Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
ISBN: 0643099204
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 188
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Book Description
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has developed in Australia over the last 20 years into a technique for systematically identifying the resource flows and environmental impacts associated with the provision of products and services. Interest in LCA has accelerated alongside growing demand to assess and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across different manufacturing and service sectors. Life Cycle Assessment focuses on the reflective practice of LCA, and provides critical insight into the technique and how it can be used as a problem-solving tool. It describes the distinctive strengths and limitations of LCA, with an emphasis on practice in Australia, as well as the application of LCA in waste management, the built environment, water and agriculture. Supported by examples and case studies, each chapter investigates contemporary challenges for environmental assessment and performance improvement in these key sectors. LCA methodologies are compared to the emerging climate change mitigation policy and practice techniques, and the uptake of ‘quick’ LCA and management tools are considered in the light of current and changing environmental agendas. The authors also debate the future prospects for LCA technique and applications.
Author: Hardev S. Sandhu
Publisher: Burleigh Dodds Science: Instan
ISBN: 9781801462907
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on using crops as biofuel. The first chapter reviews the key issues and challenges faced when expanding sugarcane cultivation for bioenergy, primarily, competition with food crops, loss of biodiversity, water, air and soil pollution, as well as a potential increase in pest problems. The second chapter describes current technologies and constraints of biodiesel production, including the need for a consistent supply of feedstock to ensure a sustainable biodiesel industry. The chapter also examines life cycle assessment (LCA) of canola/rapeseed biodiesel production. The third chapter addresses the sustainability of biofuels derived from palm oil and discusses the impact of their production on our ecosystems. The chapter also reviews the economics of biofuel and the levels of governmental support needed for sustainable production. The fourth chapter examines the potential of varying grassland types for biomass production. The chapter details the options for use of grassland biomass, citing its suitability for combustion, pyrolysis, biorefining and for use in bioenergy applications. The final chapter reviews best agronomic practices for increasing overall biomass output in the face of pressing environmental changes. It also utilises the LCA framework to review strategies for crop improvement, such as intercropping and crop rotations. What is an Instant Insight? An Instant Insight gives you immediate access to key research on a topic, allowing you to get right to the heart of a subject in an instant and empowering you to contribute to sustainable agriculture.
Author: Xinguo Mao
Publisher: Burleigh Dodds Science: Instant Insights
ISBN: 9781801460699
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
This collection features four peer-reviewed literature reviews on drought-resistant crops. The first chapter assesses the genes involved in drought and heat tolerance, as well as the physiological traits related to increased tolerance to abiotic stress in wheat. It reviews advances in our understanding of the molecular markers associated with these physiological traits, and the roles of key genes in determining a wheat plant's response to heat and drought stress. The second chapter discusses mechanisms of drought resistance in rice. It reviews ways of assessing drought tolerance performance, identifying genes promoting drought tolerance through quantitative trait loci (QLT) analysis, as well as breeding for drought tolerance. The third chapter highlights the genetic diversity and quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with the traits contributing to drought and heat tolerance in soybean. It also reviews genomic resources that can facilitate a better understanding of phenotype-genotype associations and formulate genomic-assisted breeding strategies. The final chapter addresses the polygenic nature of tolerance to drought and to heat in grain legumes. It reviews advances in understanding plant adaptation to stress, the assembly of molecular and phenotyping tools to support breeding and the development of tolerance through traditional and molecular breeding techniques.
Author: Claudine Basset-Mens
Publisher: Quae
ISBN: 2759234673
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 213
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Book Description
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the internationally recognized method to assess the environmental impacts of products and services. This operational guide provides best practice recommendations for LCA practitioners to carry out LCA studies on agri-food systems in developing and emerging contexts.
Author: Dr Megan Long
Publisher: Burleigh Dodds Science: Instant Insights
ISBN: 9781801465069
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
This collection provides a comprehensive overview of the recent advances in crop pest monitoring and forecasting models. Chapters address emerging technologies in the area, as well as some of the issues and challenges that can arise as a result of implementing particular models.
Author: Gilbert G. Sigua
Publisher: Burleigh Dodds Science: Instant Insights
ISBN: 9781801460590
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on crop rotations in agriculture. The first chapter discusses the effects of crop rotation and intercropping management practices and their impact on soil health enhancement and stability. It also considers the importance of leguminous crops and soil organic matter in maintaining healthy soils, sustaining crop productivity and enhancing biodiversity. The second chapter examines the principles of crop rotation, precrop effects in crop rotations, and the nutrient effects of legumes and other rotation crops. It also reviews the role of rotation crops in suppressing weeds, diseases and pests and studies rotations and crop yields, as well as the challenge of designing a crop rotation. The third chapter illustrates how crop models account for the interactions between soil, genotypes, management, and climate, on crops grown in various rotations, and their effects on yield and environmental outcomes under current and future climate scenarios. The fourth chapter assesses the potential of decision support systems for crop rotations in improving soil health and agricultural sustainability. The final chapter reviews how crop rotations with non-cereal species can be implemented to substantially reduce inoculum sources for residue-borne cereal leaf diseases. What is an Instant Insight? An Instant Insight gives you immediate access to key research on a topic, allowing you to get right to the heart of a subject in an instant and empowering you to contribute to sustainable agriculture
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309483360
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257
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Book Description
In the quest to mitigate the buildup of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere, researchers and policymakers have increasingly turned their attention to techniques for capturing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, either from the locations where they are emitted or directly from the atmosphere. Once captured, these gases can be stored or put to use. While both carbon storage and carbon utilization have costs, utilization offers the opportunity to recover some of the cost and even generate economic value. While current carbon utilization projects operate at a relatively small scale, some estimates suggest the market for waste carbon-derived products could grow to hundreds of billions of dollars within a few decades, utilizing several thousand teragrams of waste carbon gases per year. Gaseous Carbon Waste Streams Utilization: Status and Research Needs assesses research and development needs relevant to understanding and improving the commercial viability of waste carbon utilization technologies and defines a research agenda to address key challenges. The report is intended to help inform decision making surrounding the development and deployment of waste carbon utilization technologies under a variety of circumstances, whether motivated by a goal to improve processes for making carbon-based products, to generate revenue, or to achieve environmental goals.
Author: Michael Z. Hauschild
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319564757
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 1215
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Book Description
This book is a uniquely pedagogical while still comprehensive state-of-the-art description of LCA-methodology and its broad range of applications. The five parts of the book conveniently provide: I) the history and context of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with its central role as quantitative and scientifically-based tool supporting society’s transitioning towards a sustainable economy; II) all there is to know about LCA methodology illustrated by a red-thread example which evolves as the reader advances; III) a wealth of information on a broad range of LCA applications with dedicated chapters on policy development, prospective LCA, life cycle management, waste, energy, construction and building, nanotechnology, agrifood, transport, and LCA-related concepts such as footprinting, ecolabelling,design for environment, and cradle to cradle. IV) A cookbook giving the reader recipes for all the concrete actions needed to perform an LCA. V) An appendix with an LCA report template, a full example LCA report serving as inspiration for students who write their first LCA report, and a more detailed overview of existing LCIA methods and their similarities and differences.
Author: Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 9811645620
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 206
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Book Description
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (ELCA) that was developed about three decades ago demands a broadening of its scope to include lifecycle costing and social aspects of life cycle assessment as well, drawing on the three-pillar or ‘triple bottom line’ model of sustainability, which is the result of the development of the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). LCSA refers to the evaluation of all environmental, social and economic negative impacts and benefits in decision-making processes towards more sustainable products throughout their life cycle. Combination of environmental and social life cycle assessments along with life cycle costing leads to life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA). This book highlights various aspects of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA).
