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Abstract Wine industry faces significant sustainability challenges in the wake of climate change. Life cycle assessments for carbon footprint in wineries suggest that the conventional farming exhibits higher values of 0.06–3.0 kg CO2-eq bottle–1 of 750 mL wine as compared to mixed and organic farming. Life cycle assessment findings highlight that most studies often overlooked the resources in farming practices, biogenic emissions, and wastewaters in the overall reduction of winery carbon footprint. We demonstrate that the adoption of eco-innovations such as constructed wetlands and Phycosol utilize the overlooked resource loop and significantly reduce the winery carbon footprint. Empirical data analysis suggests that the use of these eco-innovative models results in 25‒30% reduction of CO2 emissions bottle–1 of 750 mL wine besides embracing Sustainable Development Goal 9, and effectively synergizing with Sustainable Development Goals 6 and 12, thus emphasizing their critical role in ensuring the sustainability of wine production.

Biodiesel represents a renewable alternative to conventional diesel, offering comparable potential. This paper delves into the production of biodiesel from non-edible oil seeds, emphasizing kernel-based feedstocks for their sustainable qualities. We discuss the critical stages of kernel separation and degumming, offering an in-depth examination of seed distribution, attributes, pretreatment, and oil extraction methodologies. Additionally, the paper considers the status of life cycle assessment (LCA) associated with biodiesel. Furthermore, it outlines the necessary steps toward sustainable biodiesel production and underscores the importance of integrating a sustainable circular bioeconomy in biodiesel synthesis.

Acclimatory phenotypic response is a common phenomenon in microalgae, particularly during heavy metal stress. It is not clear so far whether acclimating to one abiotic stressor can alleviate the stress imposed by another abiotic factor. The intent of the present study was to demonstrate the implication of acidic pH in effecting phenotypic changes that facilitate microalgal tolerance to biologically excess concentrations of heavy metals. Two microalgal strains, Desmodesmus sp. MAS1 and Heterochlorella sp. MAS3, were exposed to biologically excess concentrations of Cu (0.50 and 1.0 mg L‒1), Fe (5 and 10 mg L‒1), Mn (5 and 10 mg L‒1) and Zn (2, 5 and 10 mg L‒1) supplemented to the culture medium at pH 3.5 and 6.7. Chlorophyll autofluorescence and biochemical fingerprinting using FTIR-spectroscopy were used to assess the microalgal strains for phenotypic changes that mediate tolerance to metals. Both the strains responded to acidic pH by effecting differential changes in biochemicals such as carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids. Both the microalgal strains, when acclimated to low pH of 3.5, exhibited an increase in protein ( 1.5-fold). Strain MAS1 grown at pH 3.5 showed a reduction (1.5-fold) in carbohydrates while strain MAS3 exhibited a 17-fold increase in carbohydrates as compared to their growth at pH 6.7. However, lower levels of biologically excess concentrations of the selected transition metals at pH 6.7 unveiled positive or no effect on physiology and biochemistry in microalgal strains, whereas growth with higher metal concentrations at this pH resulted in decreased chlorophyll content. Although the bioavailability of free-metal ions is higher at pH 3.5, as revealed by Visual MINTEQ model, no adverse effect was observed on chlorophyll content in cells grown at pH 3.5 than at pH 6.7. Furthermore, increasing concentrations of Fe, Mn and Zn significantly upregulated the carbohydrate metabolism, but not protein and lipid synthesis, in both strains at pH 3.5 as compared to their growth at pH 6.7. Overall, the impact of pH 3.5 on growth response suggested that acclimation of microalgal strains to acidic pH alleviates metal toxicity by triggering physiological and biochemical changes in microalgae for their survival.

Sustainability evaluation of wastewater treatment helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as it emphasizes the development of green technologies and optimum resource use rather than the end-of-pipe treatment. The conventional approaches for treating acid mine drainages (AMDs) are efficient; however, they need enormous amounts of energy, making them less sustainable and causing greater environmental concern. We recently demonstrated the potential of immobilized acid-adapted microalgal technology for AMD remediation. Here, this novel approach has been evaluated following emergy and carbon footprint analysis for its sustainability in AMD treatment. Our results showed that imported energy inputs contributed significantly (>90%) to the overall emergy and were much lower than in passive and active treatment systems. The microalgal treatment required 2–15 times more renewable inputs than the other two treatment systems. Additionally, the emergy indices indicated higher environmental loading ratio and lower per cent renewability, suggesting the need for adequate renewable inputs in the immobilized microalgal system. The emergy yield ratio for biodiesel production from the microalgal biomass after AMD treatment was >1.0, which indicates a better emergy return on total emergy spent. Based on greenhouse gas emissions, carbon footprint analysis (CFA), was performed using default emission factors, in accordance with the IPCC standards and the National Greenhouse Energy Reporting (NGER) program of Australia. Interestingly, CFA of acid-adapted microalgal technology revealed significant greenhouse gas emissions due to usage of various construction materials as per IPCC, while SCOPE 2 emissions from purchased electricity were evident as per NGER. Our findings indicate that the immobilized microalgal technology is highly sustainable in AMD treatment, and its potential could be realized further by including solar energy into the overall treatment system.

Aims: This study focused on the determination of various physico-chemical characteristics of groundwater and to perform a statistical analysis to determine the relationship between the measured parameters. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out during April-May 2011, in Vellore city, India. The various physico-chemical characteristics such as pH, turbidity, chlorides, acidity, alkalinity, sulphates, dissolved oxygen, and hardness were determined by following the procedure prescribed by American Public Health Association standard methods. This study was carried out to ensure the quality of groundwater to make use of it for domestic purpose by comparing the analytical results with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water quality standards. A statistical study such as correlation analysis and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) has been carried out using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) ver. 20 software. The correlation analysis was performed for measured parameters to determine the relationship between the variables. The One-way ANOVA was applied to estimate the uncertainty in measured values. Results: All the measured parameters are within the permissible limit as per WHO and BIS. The statistical analysis for all the parameters has revealed a positive correlation and the F test values are significant at 95% level. Conclusion: From the investigation results, it can be concluded that the water quality of the study area is fit for domestic purposes. The descriptive statistics of the parameters analyzed along with correlation matrix and one-way analysis proved that there is no variation among the measured parameters.

This document is an editorial published in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. It discusses the global concerns surrounding the extensive use of agrochemicals, such as pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, and their impacts on ecological and human health. The editorial highlights several research articles that delve into various aspects of agrochemical use, including the reduction of pesticide and fertilizer use, residue determination and dietary risk assessment of herbicides in maize, pesticide residues in tomatoes, and pesticide regulations for pollinator protection. The research emphasizes the need for innovative approaches, monitoring, and regulation to ensure the safe and sustainable use of agrochemicals. [Extracted from the article]