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Abstract The reduction of energy demand and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions is a main target of the chemical industry. By implementing Best Practice Technologies (BPTs) (i.e. the most advanced technologies currently in use at industrial scale) as well as by implementing recycling and energy recovery strategies through cogeneration and process intensification, consistent energy savings and CO 2 emissions reduction can be achieved in the short to medium term. Long-term additional cuts may arise from development and deployment of "game changer" technologies, that re-invent the way some large-volume chemicals are made. Although still far from commercial maturity and still facing high economic and technical hurdles, switching to the use of non-food biomass as fuel and feedstock in the chemical industry may represent a suitable option. During the transition towards a more energy efficient chemistry, the environmental performance of bio-based products need to be carefully evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In this study, an overview of energy improvement options is provided and the different patterns of bioethanol as fuel to generate energy or as platform chemical to generate chemical derivatives are compared as a case study within a life cycle perspective. The consequences on the environmental sustainability of the chemical industry are envisaged. Highlights • The energy efficiency implementation in the chemicals sector were investigated. • The feasibility of using non-food biomass as a "game changer" was evaluated. • Environmental impacts of bio-EtOH as fuel or as a platform chemical were assessed. • Results were discussed with regard to fossil-based and alternative bioethanol routes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A ″cradle-to-wheel" life cycle analysis was carried out to investigate the environmental profile of bioethanol (EtOH) production from lignocellulosic wheat straw (WS) and its use as transport fuel in E10 (10% of EtOH and 90% of gasoline) and E85 (85% of EtOH and 15% of gasoline) vehicles. The aims of this study were: (i) to evaluate the environmental performance of the whole WS-EtOH supply chain and (ii) to identify the best performing feedstock for a prospective bio-refinery network in Campania Region (Southern Italy). A comparison of WS-EtOH system against the fossil counterpart (gasoline passenger car) and similar bio-based production-use chains was conducted to fulfil one of the main goals of EnerBiochem and BioPoliS projects: investigating the environmental profitability of a bio-refinery system in Campania Region. Starting from the use of residual feedstock (wheat straw) or the revaluation of marginal lands (cultivation of dedicated perennial giant reed or annul fiber sorghum), through the investigation of an advanced lignocellulosic conversion processes, this work assesses the environmental feasibility of bio-energy production in Campania Region. The WS-E10 environmental profile was driven by the gasoline input in the blend, whilst the WS-E85 results showed the relevance of the crop phase. The comparison of the different blends and the gasoline-fuelled car highlighted for E10-blends similar profiles for almost all the impact categories, nearly overlapping with the conventional vehicle. Differently, for E85 vehicles, the differences between the bio-based systems appeared amplified according to the specific impacts of the feedstock supply and the conversion steps. On the whole, Fiber Sorghum-E85 system showed the worst environmental profile whilst WS-E85 entailed the best performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cradle-to-wheel life cycle analysis evaluated the greenhouse gas (GHG) contribution and fossil energy consumption (FEC) of bio-ethanol (EtOH) from dedicated crops on marginal lands in Campania Region (Southern Italy). The analysis processed experimental agronomic data of giant reed cultivated on hilly areas at high erosion risk and industrial data of feedstock conversion to EtOH, through second generation innovative technologies. Two ethanol–gasoline mixes (E10 and E85) were considered and compared with gasoline vehicle (GV). The E10 GHG and FEC profiles were driven by the gasoline input in the blend and the linked CO 2 tailpipe emissions. The EtOH supply chain, especially the crop phase, was the major contributor to E85 impacts. The higher amount of biogenic C in E85 determined a marked reduction over GV of both GHG emissions (−60%) and FEC (−65%). The soil carbon storage would save 25 g CO 2 eq per MJ; however, the issue is controversial due to the spatial and temporal variability of the process. Based on land availability, E85 contribution to renewables in the regional transport sector would amount to 4% and the blend wall would be far from saturation. A possible mismatch between future flexi-fuel vehicles density and E85 availability should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out to investigate the environmental constrains of Arundo donax L. (common name giant reed) feedstock cultivation, for biorefinery purpose, treated with different amount of nitrogen fertilizations: 50 and 100 kg ha −1 of N as urea (low input- LI and high input- HI, respectively). The analysis was addressed for a cultivation of giant reed (GR) under Mediterranean conditions, considering primary data for the first eight years of cultivation and further modeled for the whole life cycle (15 years). The goals were, to ascertain and compare the environmental profile as well as to identify the hotspots for both investigated N- management techniques. Results highlighted a potential higher environmental performance for the LI giant reed cultivation, due to the reduced up-stream and direct field emissions linked to urea application. LI impacts resulted to be 24% lower than HI impacts, as averaged values for all impact categories. Crop yield represented a driving parameter and the lower biomass productivity under N low input management partially counteracted the entailed benefits of the lower fertilization rates. Through the inclusion of soil carbon storage, after seven years of harvesting, the whole crop phase revealed a net greenhouse gases sink and also differences between LI (−0.21 kg CO 2 eq) and HI (−0.09 kg CO 2 eq) appeared amplified. This was due to the enhanced C accumulation rate in LI trials (about 7.7 ton C ha −1 at the end of the seventh harvest year of GR cultivation), likely promoted by reduced soil organic matter mineralization at lower nitrogen availability. Nevertheless, in order to provide a full and comprehensive picture of the environmental performance of GR feedstock under different N-fertilization, further studies are needed encompassing the whole production chain: from the cultivation, through selected efficient conversion processes towards the co-production of added value products in the framework of the BioPoliS project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A life cycle assessment (LCA) was applied to assess the environmental load of a prospective local bioethanol (EtOH) production system in Southern Italy by using lignocellulosic Fiber sorghum (FS) feedstock. A two steps analysis was carried out considering: (i) a “ cradle-to-farm gate ” LCA to investigate thoroughly the FS cultivation on hilly marginal land and (ii) a “ cradle-to-wheels ” system boundary encompassing the environmental pressure of the whole EtOH supply-use chain. Primary data related to lignocellulosic biomass production were combined with experimental feedstock conversion processes through advanced second generation technology. The purpose was the evaluation of the environmental performance of different EtOH-gasoline mixtures in midsize passenger cars: E10 (10% of EtOH and 90% of gasoline) and E85 (85% of EtOH and 15% of gasoline). N fertilization appeared as the prevailing contributor of the crop phase. The “ cradle-to-wheels ” results concerning E10 passenger car disclosed that the main hotspots were represented by the input of low sulphur petrol (66%) and the linked tailpipe emissions (15%), for almost all the impact categories. Otherwise, for E85 flex-fuel vehicle, the major drivers were represented by the feedstock production (46%) and the imported electricity used in the conversion facility (18%). The FS EtOH blends entailed potential environmental benefits compared with the fossil counterpart (gasoline) for climate change, ozone and fossil depletions. Otherwise, they evidenced a worse profile in terms of acidification, eutrophication and particulate matter formation. Within the context of a the prospective territorial bio-refinery network, the comparison of the annual FS bioethanol based systems with similar EtOH scenarios from giant reed perennial crops highlighted: (i) the importance to optimize the N-management for FS feedstock cultivation and (ii) the need to increase the use of the renewable energy carriers along the industrial conversion pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of bioethanol (EtOH) from perennial Arundo donax L. feedstock. A “cradle-to-wheel” approach was applied considering primary data for the cultivation of dedicated crops on hilly marginal lands and innovative “second generation technologies” for feedstock conversion into EtOH. The goals of the study were to: (i) quantify impacts of lignocellulosic EtOH production/use chain, (ii) identify hotspots and (iii) compare the environmental performance of different bioethanol-gasoline vehicles, E10 (10% EtOH and 90% gasoline) and E85 (85% EtOH and 15% gasoline), with a conventional gasoline passenger car. Results for E85 underlined that the feedstock production and the use phase were the prevailing contributors, whilst for E10 the gasoline production phase shared the largest part of impacts. The comparison showed that vehicles using lignocellulosic bioethanol have potentially significant benefits on global warming, ozone depletion, photochemical oxidant formation and fossil depletion in respect to conventional passenger car. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the recent years, heliciculture has rapidly developed in Italy both in terms of number of companies (about 8000) and average extension of snail farms (5000–10,000 m 2 ). Studies aimed to evaluate the whole environmental performance of heliciculture are still not available in literature. This paper presents a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) performed for Helix aspersa maxima snail production in the South of Italy. The system boundary ( cradle to farm gate ) of the production chain considered the following stages: indoor breeding, outdoor fattening, cleaning out and packaging. The outdoor fattening displayed the largest part of total burdens (about 90%) for all impact categories due to the relevant contribution of its processes (enclosures set-up, fodder cultivation, supplementary feeding and irrigation). The process that highly affected all impact categories was the supplementary feeding used in fattening pens which reached the highest value for Terrestrial acidification (84%) and the lowest one for Ozone depletion (41%). Nevertheless, the impact of enclosures set-up and fodder cultivation appeared marked in particular for Ozone depletion (46%) and Marine Eutrophication (30%), respectively. Results showed the key factors (supplementary feeding, HDPE mesh) to be considered and discussed to proper design a semi-intensive snail management in order to enhance benefits and constrain limitations. Moreover, the snail farming highlighted a lower environmental load, for almost all impact categories, compared to literature data on conventional meat (beef, pig and chicken). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heliciculture for food production has huge potential and new opportunities for rural development and young entrepreneurs in Italy. No studies have yet been performed on the environmental performance of snail rearing which also might be a beneficial tool for producers. The aim of the present paper is to evaluate the impact of snail meat by a cradle-to-farm gate life cycle assessment centred on the carbon footprint (CF). The study considered greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions linked to cultivation stages (indoor breeding, outdoor fattening, cleaning out and packaging) of Helix aspersa maxima meat production in a semi-intensive rearing system in Southern Italy. The shell potential for CO 2 sequestration was also taken into account. Snail CF amounted to 0.7 kg CO 2 eq per kg fresh edible meat, with the highest share (about 60%) from the supplementary feeding production. Due to the combined effect of relevant amount input and restrained lifetime of HDPE mesh applied in the open field, the impact of breeding enclosures appeared considerable (about 29%). Greenhouse gas emissions linked to fodder cultivation and to the cleaning-out phase appeared restrained (nearly 4% and 5%, respectively), whilst the share of reproduction system, irrigation and packaging was negligible (< 1%). The environmental load of supplementary feeding resulted to mainly ascribable (about 74%) to maize and field bean grain cultivation (for feed mixture). It was followed by grain transport (about 17%) and processing (about 4%) to feed mill and further transport of manufactured feed components (maize–field bean–limestone) to the snail farm (about 5%). The CF score might be reduced by 18%, including potential long term CO 2 sequestration in shells. As compared to other conventional macro-livestock meat sources, snail meat showed reduced GHG emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cultivation of giant reed lignocellulosic feedstock on marginal land, appears of great interest in the Mediterranean basin, due to its high production potential under drought conditions. Starting from a three years field survey, in this paper a LCA was applied to the overall 15 years life cycle of a Mediterranean giant reed cultivation in Southern Italy, including Direct Field Emissions (DFE) and non-productive phases of cultivation. Agricultural practices performed yearly for field maintenance (FM-urea fertilization) and harvest operation (HO) shared the largest part of total burdens, nonetheless, the impact of crop establishment and final removal appeared significant. FM was strongly affected by DFE of soil biogenic N 2 O and fossil CO 2 (about 23% and 9% of total Climate change, respectively) and volatilized NH 3 (about 69%, 42% and 35% of total impact for Terrestrial acidification, Particulate matter formation and Marine eutrophication, respectively). For Marine eutrophication, also nitrate leaching in the plantation year, affected significantly the overall life cycle. Differently DFE linked to field application of K-P fertilizers for seedbed preparation (P and heavy metal emissions) and pest for final eradication (glyphosate emission), appeared more circumscribed. The study highlighted the need to carefully approach to soil carbon storage, and disclosed to be sensitive to uncertainty linked to DFE and crop yield pattern estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An evaluation of interlinkages and synergies among the different resources and performance patterns in the city of Rome (Italy) was accomplished by means of decomposition equations, in order to identify the major drivers of change in the investigated period as well as future low-resource scenarios. A half-a-century historical series (1962–2008) of energy and resource consumption in the city of Rome (Italy) was investigated in order to ascertain the links between resource use and complexity change. Environmental, material and energy inputs were firstly evaluated as actual energy and mass flows, then converted to emergy units to provide an assessment on a common ground. Results show that the sustainability of the urban system decreased steadily in the investigated period, as confirmed by both intensive and extensive parameters. The demand for abiotic matter, water, energy and emergy (environmental work) was accounted for over time and referred to the population (per-capita indicators) and current prices economic product generated by the city (GVA, Gross Value Added). Moreover, the effects associated with the emissions were evaluated, with a special focus on global warming and acidification potential. The changes in the urban metabolism occurred within the investigated period were analyzed considering the variation of different inputs necessary to drive the city (electricity, fuels, goods, machineries, etc.). Finally, a decomposition analysis was performed to identify the main causes and drivers associated with the changes in the city metabolism. Decomposition results show that the increased fraction of imports compared to local sources, of non-renewable resources compared to renewables, as well as of population and per capita income not accompanied by sufficient increase of energy and material efficiency are the major drivers of such unsustainability pattern and call for policies that focus on optimization of production and consumption patterns in times of unavoidable shrinking of resource basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agricultural sector is critical for the achievement of sustainable development worldwide. Its present and future sustainability relies on the difficult balance of food production and environmental impact. The need for resource use optimization and increasing reliance on renewable energy, calls for increased development and integration of its supporting, provisioning, regulating and social services (multifunctionality) worldwide, in agreement with the global framework of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the European Union Objectives and other international assessment studies (e.g. the United Nations International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development). The performance of the Italian agricultural system is monitored and evaluated in this paper by means of the emergy accounting method coupled to decomposition analysis techniques, applied to a 25 year time series (1985–2010). The aim of this study is to assess the sustainability of these systems over time as well as to identify the major drivers of performance change, to serve as the basis for future policy scenarios. Two Italian regional agricultural systems (Emilia Romagna, in Northern Italy, and Campania, in Southern Italy) are selected as case studies representative of the Italian agriculture. Results show a steady decrease of cropped land, an increase of the fraction of renewable resource use, an overall increase of sustainability (expressed by emergy indicators) in both regions. The fraction of renewable emergy use increased from 14% to 21% in the Emilia Romagna region and from 23% to 27% in the Campania region, compared to the year 1985, with oscillating behavior over time. The overall Emergy Sustainability Index increased from 14% to 16% in the Emilia Romagna region and from 15% to 19% in the Campania region, recently. The results of decomposition analysis highlight the important role of land use change and labor productivity as major drivers of total emergy use in both agricultural systems. The approach applied in this paper is applicable to the study of other national and regional agricultural sectors wordwide, provided suitable time series of input and output flows are available. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Successful market penetration of Fuel Cell (FC) technologies requires increased research and technological efforts towards improved efficiency, durability, costs and environmental performance according to accepted standards. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can help understand to what extent FCs are environmentally sound, to what extent they can be improved and what steps and components require attention. A guidance manual for LCA application to FC technologies, processes and systems, compliant with the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD), was developed within the European Union-funded Fuel Cell-Hydrogen Guide (FC-Hy Guide) Consortium. The purpose was to provide entrepreneurs, consultants and experts with a specific guidance tool for use in policy context and decision-making. This paper presents the application of the FC-Hy Guide scheme to Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells (MCFC), with focus on the following aspects: (1) data quality; (2) information needed; (3) background and foreground data; (4) FC stack and balance of system; (5) improvement potential; (6) sensitivity of results and data uncertainty. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• The study promotes a standardized framework for the analysis of complex systems. • Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Emergy Accounting (EMA) are integrated for synergy. • Differences and similarities between LCA and EMA add value for deeper understanding. • The proposed framework is based on ex-ante LCA, EMA and ex-post LCA procedures. The analysis of complex systems requires an integrated application of different assessment methods also taking into account different scales and points of view to gain a systemic understanding of the investigated case study. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Emergy Accounting (EMA) are both environmental assessment methods, showing many similarities in the way they are performed, especially with respect to the inventory construction and to the interpretation of results. They also show great differences, the main residing in the different perspectives they give. LCA applies a consumer side perspective, and its space and time scales are set at a boundary capable to include all the process phases in terms of location and durability and their direct impacts on the investigated areas. On the other hand, throughout its donor side perspective, EMA expands the boundaries of the system over the entire biosphere space and time scales. Differences and similarities between LCA and EMA may gain added value by their implementation within a procedural framework which exploits the characteristics of the two methods. The present work proposes a methodological procedure based on the sequential and integrated application of LCA and EMA methods, called LEAF (LCA & EMA Applied Framework). The traditional Amalfi paper production is used as a test case study. The procedure stems include: (i) an ex-ante LCA analysis, to identify the hotspots of the investigated case study; (ii) the assessment of the environmental performance of the system through the development of different EMA-based improvement scenarios built around the chosen hotspots; and (iii) an ex-post LCA application built on each scenario results in order to detect the different environmental burdens. The application of LEAF to the traditional Amalfi paper production shows that the use of a more sustainable energy source is an effective solution (among the set of proposed options) to increase the sustainability of the investigated system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Circular Economy patterns towards sustainability strategies. • Mono-dimensional indicators do not fully capture the features of Circular Economy. • Emergy Accounting method to design different circular hypotheses in urban system. • Emergy based indicators keep track of circular strategies. • Circular Economy is a transitional strategy towards more feasible paradigms. Circular Economy (CE) concepts and tools are getting increasing attention with regard to their implementation in agricultural, urban and industrial sectors towards innovative business models to optimize resource use, process performances and development policies. However, conventional biophysical and economic indicators hardly fit CE characteristics. Life cycle assessment, footprint and economic cost-benefit indicators, do not fully capture the specificity of a closed loop CE framework, characterized by feedbacks and resource use minimization and quality assessment. Commonly used mono-dimensional indicators seem unable to successfully relate the process performance and the use of ecosystem services and natural capital, in that they do not assess the environmental quality and sustainability (renewability, fit to use, recycle potential) of resources and the complexity of interaction between agro/industrial/urban environments and socioeconomic systems, and translate into an incomplete and inadequate picture, far from an effective CE perspective. In this study, Emergy Accounting method (EMA) is used to design an improved approach to CE systemic aspects, focusing on the importance of new indicators capable of capturing both resource generation (upstream), product (downstream) and systems dimensions. This conceptual scheme is built around the case study of the City of Napoli's economy (Campania region, Southern Italy) considering the surrounding agro-industrial area with its smaller urban settlements. In order to design a reasonable and reliable CE framework, a number of already existing and innovative processes is analyzed and discussed, through a bottom-up procedure capable to account for CE development options based on the recovery of locally available and still usable resources (i.e., conversion of waste cooking oil into biodiesel, conversion of slaughterhouse residues to power and chemicals, recovery and conversion of agro-waste residues, amongst others). The result highlighted that EMA was capable to keep track of the improvement generated by the implemented circularity patterns in terms of reduced total emergy of the system. Moreover, EMA indicators suggested that, in any case, the CE business framework should be intended as a transitional strategy towards more feasible paradigms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Current narrative on biofuels is backed up by a large number of studies published in the scientific literature that address second-generation bioethanol only through a single topic approach, nonetheless in the vast majority of cases transition to this energy carrier is evaluated as a generally 'promising' technology. This paper presents a first attempt in proposing an integrated evaluation of the actual benefits expected from bioethanol in the transport sector, by applying the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) to the prospective realization of a local system of bio-refinery in Campania Region (Southern Italy). MuSIASEM is a multi-criteria analysis enabling to deal with the complexity of a territorial energy system. Since the unavoidable intrinsic uncertainty, the study does not focus on predictions, but adopts a strategy of Quantitative Story-Telling about some relevant results underlying the limits and critical issues about the energy converter fabric, the economic profitability, environmental constraints and the questionable concept of marginal land. The findings suggest concluding toward falsification of key points in the current narrative: (i) the system is not an efficient solar energy converter; (ii) it fails to realize many of the expectations for a renewable energy carrier producer; (iii) the contribution to decarbonization strategies is not as high as desired and other environmental impacts could not be neglected; (iv) the very large land requirement is hardly compatible with conversion of truly marginal land in Campania region; (v) compared to alternate land uses it does not seem an actually promising strategy to regain value from rural economy. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Single topic studies are not useful for comprehension of a territorial biorefinery. • Multi-scale and multi-dimensional approach to face the ambiguity of energy concept. • Performance's comparison of two distinct energy production systems is misleading. • Decarbonization and marginal lands concepts are a simplification of the problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China's photovoltaic (PV) sector experiences rapid growth, the availability of land resources has become a pivotal policy focus, driving the need for comprehensive research and strategic planning for roadside PV initiatives. Utilizing a fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making approach, combined with GIS spatial analysis and a modular design framework, our study quantitatively compared the carbon reduction capabilities of PV systems against the carbon sequestration potential of various vegetative arrangements along the roadside space. The roadside space analysis modular considers a range of factors including topography, meteorology, and construction costs. We examined the spatial distribution of suitability for PV installation and vegetation establishment along the provincial expressway network in China. The results revealed that Inner Mongolia stood out as the frontrunner in carbon reduction potential within high-suitability zones for PV construction, achieving an impressive 4.845 million tons of carbon reduction—nearly four times greater than that of Shaanxi Province. In contrast, the carbon sequestration attributed to vegetation greening in areas less suited for PV development revealed a higher propensity in the southeastern provinces. Guangdong led the charge with an impressive annual carbon sequestration of 2.89 million tons. This was closely followed by Yunnan, Sichuan, Hebei, Guizhou, and Henan, each achieving carbon sequestration amounts exceeding 2 million tons. These results offer valuable quantitative support and practical recommendations for achieving low-carbon objectives in the construction of China's expressways. • Develop a multi-criteria decision-making framework. • Photovoltaic construction has great carbon reduction potential. • Modular design calculates vegetation's carbon sequestration. • The insights offer valuable quantitative support to advance low-carbon expressway construction objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural resources are not uniformly distributed over the landscape and, as a consequence, different areas support different social and economic development challenges. In this context, geo-referred information plays a paramount role in the dynamics of economies and their interaction with the environment. Synergic use of geographic information system (GIS), spatial planning (i.e. land use, urban, regional, and environmental planning) and emergy assessment may provide a very meaningful framework toward sustainability. Measuring resources in emergy terms means to quantify their environmental worth to all species in a given area: the integration of emergy and GIS allows the description of the spatial distribution of these resources and consequently the assessment of land's intrinsic environmental value, in support of land use planning policies. Thematic maps showing the distribution and environmental quality of renewable emergy flows (solar radiation, rainfall, wind, and geothermal heat) in Campania Region (Southern Italy) are presented in this work, all converging toward the generation of an annual renewable areal empower density (seJha−1 year−1) map. These maps are useful to identify the primary resource flows that are locally available in support of sustainable land use and production patterns. The main results show that natural areas have the highest annual renewable areal empower density (11.30E+14seJha−1 year−1) among all the different regional land use patterns, much higher than the average value of Campania Region (7.22E+14seJha−1 year−1). The 59.64% of the total annual renewable emergy converges to natural areas although they are only about 38.15% of the total regional land use. The proposed approach allows to classify regional areas according to their environmental value, thus providing useful policy information oriented toward supporting and conserving environmentally valuable land and natural resources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Bio-circular strategies to improve production and consumption can be the answer to decrease the current environmental pressure of the dairy sector. Environmental impacts are related to the extensive fodder production with intense use of fertilizers, greenhouse gasses emission from cattle and fossil fuels. To understand and measure the burdens of a dairy production chain (particularly buffalo mozzarella cheese, a specialty of the Campania Region, Italy), the Life Cycle Assessment and Emergy accounting Applied Framework (LEAF) was applied. Many studies evaluated dairy systems using single methods, which are unable to capture all sustainable perspectives. The LEAF evaluation encompasses an Ex-ante LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) to identify the hotspots and suggest feasible improved scenarios of the investigated case study. Followed by EMA (EMergy Accounting) and Ex-post LCA applications, LEAF assures the feasibility of the proposed solutions and verifies the reduction of the environmental burdens towards increased sustainability. Two different scenarios were built based on the identified hotspots (cleaning products and electricity): (i) a technological improvement (dealing with cleaning processes methods), (ii) an eco-efficiency perspective (fossil energy replaced with renewable alternatives). Additionally, viewpoint shifting scenarios based on (iii) different allocation procedures were proposed to discuss crucial methodological issues. Results showed that technological improvements provide the best environmental performance, with lower emissions and better Emergy indicators, and better work conditions. However, the use of a more renewable electricity mix can deliver similar environmental gains. The change of perspective in the last scenario highlighted that multi-output issues should be carefully treated to avoid misleading results. • Integration of Life Cycle Assessment & Emergy Accounting methods (LEAF) is applied. • A multi-prospective overview with feasible and sustainable solutions. • A buffalo mozzarella production chain and its dairy coproducts are investigated. • Environmental performance is mainly affected by electricity and cleaning inflows. • Multi-output scenarios should be carefully treated to avoid misleading results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this work is to present the application of Emergy Analysis to a biogas power plant, with the aim at assessing its integrated sustainability and studying how the emergy indicators of sustainability depend on the boundary selection. The object of the analysis is a biogas power plant fed on agriculture and zootechnical biomass. The complex interaction of the involved subsystems and the exchange of resource flows require powerful integrated analyses as well as the definition of reliable performance indicators. Emergy Analysis has been addressed as specifically useful to integrate the upstream and the downstream aspects along with the potential circularity of resource flows, providing in this way a quantitative estimation of the sustainability performance of the systems. The analysis was applied at two scales: the Reference System (biogas power plant plus the agricultural cultivations) and the Expanded System, which includes also the cattle breeding, whose main purpose is meat and milk production, but which provides the liquid cattle manure for the Reference System operation. The main emergy indicators have been calculated and reported: for the Reference System, the transformity of produced electricity results similar to fossil-based energy production systems; the Emergy Yield Ratio is about 1, showing that the system cannot be considered as an energy source, rather acting like a consumer; the Environmental Loading Ratio is very high, as the local renewable fraction of the resources exploited is very low compared to the non-renewable ones. The expansion of the system analysis allows to study the added value of linking the subsystems agriculture-breeding-energy production, which provide more products and services to the economy than the sole energy. The need of performing sustainability assessment at different scales appears to be presently the main issue in the analyses that should result suitable for the policy-making processes. • A sustainability evaluation is made of a biogas power plant (BPP) by Emergy Analysis. • Two scales are considered: BPP plus agriculture, and BPP plus agriculture and cattle breeding. • Emergy indicators show that the system acts more as a consumer than an energy source. • BPP efficiency is insufficient to make it competitive with fossil fuel-based power generation. • Improvements require to reduce the dependence of agriculture and livestock on fossil fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]