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The contractual relationship between the processing firm and the broiler smallholder presents incessant conflicts of interest and inequality due to technical and economic discrepancies, leading to an undervaluation of the producers' remuneration. This study aims to deepen the discussion on searching for a more balanced monetary exchange between processing firms and broiler smallholders based on scientific aspects. For this, the emergy theory and its concepts are used while considering a representative broiler production system at Concórdia, Brazil. The results indicate the importance of including cultural information in the emergy-based model calculation, which achieved the highest emergy contribution (~63%; transformity = 1.73 ×   10 8 sej/J) for the broiler smallholder. On the other hand, the cultural information was not sufficient to increase the sustainability of the broiler production system. The results show an imbalance in the monetary exchange between the processing firm and broiler smallholder from both perspectives (the economic and emergy-based ones), which indicates higher values (USD 0.32/broiler and EmUSD 1.62/broiler) than the practiced payment value of USD 0.24/broiler. Evaluating the "(eco)cost" from an emergy-based accounting perspective recognizes that production depends not only on tangible physical resources but also on knowledge, skills and information ("iceberg of value" thinking). Policy and decision makers must therefore consider the promotion of public policies that subside initiatives, including social and environmental welfare programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family farming is a lifestyle and agricultural base that has ensured food for the world's growing population in addition to the family's own subsistence. However, the intensification of production processes to primarily generate exportable surpluses is based on the constant input of industrial inputs of low local socioeconomic viability. This study aims to evaluate the sustainability of family farms and their impact on the adoption of homeopathy instead of traditional/conventional intensification techniques. The study was conducted at six family farms located in the Serrana Mesoregion, Santa Catarina, Brazil, and include farms were classified according to the management and representativeness of their agricultural activity, i.e., conventional grains-cattle, milk-grains, grains and diversified, and according to their ecological basis, i.e., agroecological and organic. To discuss the sustainability of the family farms that were evaluated, the of metrics emergy synthesis, ecotoxicity potential and socioeconomic indicators are used. The results indicate that conventional diversified property has the best overall performance with regard to sustainability, including emergy yield ratio (EYR 1.88), emergy investment ratio (EIR 1.13), return on assets (1.22), hourly income of work (36.6 BRL/h) and income sufficiency (3.3). Agroecological and organic properties have better performance in renewability (76% and 75%), environmental load (ELR = 0.32 and 0.34), sustainability (ESI = 4.78 and 3.5) and potential ecotoxicity (1.736 and 1.579 kg 1.4 DCB-eq/ha). The contribution of homeopathy in an alternative scenario results in a 19% reduction in nonrenewable flows in conventional management properties and a decrease of up to 91% in ecotoxicity in grain + cattle properties. Using homeopathy, the return on assets and profit margin can be increased by up to 43% and income per hour of work and income sufficiency can be increased by 20% and 16%, respectively. This study contributes to discussions about the importance of using homeopathic therapies as a viable strategy that can be used in strategic public policy plans to improve the sustainability of family farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Municipal solid waste (MSW) management drives fundamental future shifts. • An innovative and integrated biorefinery (2IB) is evaluated. • Detailed technical information on the 2IB is presented. • An emergy return of about 20 sej is made available to society by investing in 2IB. • 2IB emerges to be a powerful technological alternative to manage MSW. The rampant municipal solid waste (MSW) generation caused mainly by people's lifestyle has required technological solutions to deal with this global issue. This paper assess an innovative and integrated biorefinery (2IB) to manage MSW. The 2IB is rooted in the circular economy concept, and it differs from any other currently existing technological route in managing MSW due to its integrated processes that receives both inorganic and organic fractions at the same time, besides unveiling an innovative aspect related to thermoplastic production. Due to its scientific-based advantages, the emergy accounting (withy 'm') is considered as method to quantify the 2IB environmental performance, comparing the results with alternatives MSW management facilities. Results show that 2IB has similar performance for the three traditional emergy indicators (m-EYR of 1.17, m-ELR of 5.73 and m-ESI of 0.20) compared to incineration and landfilling, indicating low yield, moderate load on the environment, and unsustainable. On the other hand, the emergy return indicator (ERI of 20.33) indicates higher performance for the 2IB, in which for each solar emjoule (sej) – the measure unit of emergy – invested it generates a return of about 20 sej that becomes available as benefits for societal development. From an emergy perspective, results support that 2IB should be considered as a powerful technological alternative to manage MSW. This study contributes from a theoretical perspective with discussions on the emergy accounting procedures applied on systems located at far right side of energy hierarchy, while contributing from a practical perspective by providing technical information about the 2IB that supports decision makers towards more sustainable MSW management systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Human-Nature nexuses are evident when we evaluate the different contributions of economic systems and ecosystems to human well-being. In this paper, the amount of services for well-being and the effectiveness in producing them has been assessed for the national economy and national ecosystem mosaic of Brazil, in historical series (1981–2011). The emergy methodology has been used as a tool able to evaluate different contributions to well-being on the same basis, thus allowing rightful comparisons. Results show that the monetary value of Nature’s contributions to national welfare is higher than contributions from the economy. Furthermore, ecosystems provide services in a more effective and sustainable way, relying on a lower amount of total resources and using exclusively renewable resources. In addition, Nature’s contributions are almost constant throughout the historical series considered, where services from the economy oscillate, representing a less stable source of well-being. This study confirms results already highlighted at the global and national scales by previous studies, adding a time-series perspective to that. These results inspire a re-consideration of the interactions among the biosphere and the technosphere in order to better address trade-offs between different forms of services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social housing projects of Brazil are focused on providing shelter for families with low income and on reaching the ultimate objective of more sustainable development of the nation. The Brazilian program, in supporting these families, is carried out through three main standardized housing projects: popular housing (R1), popular building (PP4), and building for social interest (PIS). Decisions regarding the choice of one project instead of another are usually based on economic considerations, disregarding environmental issues important for achieving sustainable development. The main goal of this work is to assess which social housing projects should be promoted in each Brazilian state, aiming for higher sustainability. For this purpose, emergy accounting is used to quantify the environmental sustainability index (ESI*) and the emergy index for construction productivity (EICP, in m 2 /sej). Results show the existence of different degrees of ESI* and EICP values among the three types of social housing projects, when considering the state in which projects are implemented. Analysis of the results identified the social housing projects that should be promoted to maximize ESI* and EICP aiming for higher sustainability. Choosing a project exclusively based on economic considerations could be premature, because it may forgo the opportunity to maximize sustainability of the national social housing program. This study also provides a scientific contribution to the emergy accounting method with regard to the scales of analysis that support the criteria used to count a resource as local or imported and in considering the partial renewabilities of resources according to regional characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of information and communication technology (ICT) sector on the global energy consumption and CO 2 emissions tend to grow. ICTs have a fundamental role in collaborating for a sustainable development by providing services in an efficient way, however, its own structure should also follow sustainable principles, for instance, by consuming lower energy amount. The quest for sustainability of ICTs has been focused on data centers (DC) optimization through techniques of sharing infra-structures, which would result in energy efficiency increase, carbon footprint reduction, and reduction of e-waste material disposal. In this scenario, the cloud computing technique rises as the most promising one, often receiving the “green” label. However, this label is usually based on electricity consumption reduction and disregards several other important “green” label-related aspects. This work uses emergy accounting (spelled with an “m”) and direct energy consumption in calculating indicators of eco-energy efficiency for DC operating under traditional and cloud computing techniques. A traditional decentralized DC and a centralized cloud computing DC are herein considered for illustrating figures and for discussion. Results show that centralized DC is able to provide a virtual machine (VM) by demanding 51% less electricity than decentralized DC, and it consumes 87% less electricity to store a byte. Under an emergy accounting perspective, the centralized DC demands 45% less global resources than the decentralized DC to provide a VM while demanding 85% less global resources to store a byte. Although the assessed indicators point out better eco-energy efficiency performance for the DC using cloud computing techniques, labeling it as “green” could be considered as premature due to a lack of threshold which allows for categorizing a system as “green”. Nevertheless, the centralized DC evaluated should be promoted due to its better performance as for the considered indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The worldwide use of chromium-based processes in tanneries generates increased concerns about their related environmental burdens. Cleaner production alternatives for leather production are being proposed, based on the optimization of specific aspects or criteria, for instance, reducing demand for specific materials and energy, or reducing local toxicological emissions. While improvement on individual characteristics of the process is certainly to be favored, a more comprehensive evaluation of alternatives is also needed to prevent the risk of shifting the burden to increase global load while addressing one specific critical factor of production. This work aims to discuss the importance of a multicriteria, multiscale approach to address cleaner production strategy costs and benefits. For this, materials balance, an economic approach, and emergy (with an “m”) accounting methods are applied to selected unhairing/liming, pickling/tanning and wastewater treatment steps in a tannery process, which was chosen as a case study. Results show that the assessed recycling cleaner production strategies assessed allow the manufacturer to reduce by one half the amount of water used and the demand for chemicals up to 4% with respect to the business-as-usual process, at the expense of increasing electricity demand by 10%. Economic cost-to-benefit ratio was 25$ benefits per 1$ invested, as well as an emergy-based cost-to-benefit of 33Em$ per 1Em$ invested, of course these improvements were limited to the three investigated process steps. The improvement in cost/benefit ratios indicates that converting scenario #0 into #1 is favorable under economic and emergy views. However, when the two scenarios are investigated from the point of view of the imbalance in local and renewable resource use versus imported and nonrenewable use, the emergy method shows a small overall increase in renewability (from 3.51% to 3.85%), a low, but expected, emergy yield ratio equal to 1, and a high environmental loading ratio (24.95 and 27.47). While the environmental cost–benefit ratio shows that recycling is a favorable option, the emergy performance indicators highlight that the efficiency of recycling is still insufficient and improvements in the tanning processes are needed to ensure renewability and sustainability. A number of process chemicals were involved in the investigated tannery operations, which required emergy evaluations. As a side result of this study, the Unit Emergy Values (UEVs) of SO 2 , H 2 SO 4 Na 2 SO 4 , HCL, Na 2 S, NaOH, CaO, Ca(OH) 2 , Cr 2 O 3 , MnSO 4 , and Al(OH) 3 , were also calculated thus adding to the emergy database about chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater pond aquaculture is the prevailing fish culture system worldwide, especially in developing countries. The sustainability of such systems has not been assessed and it can be improved based on suitable scientific analyses. In the present study, we apply the emergy synthesis to assess the sustainability of lambari aquaculture, used as a model of freshwater pond monoculture in Brazil, to identify the key practices, and to propose changes to improve them towards sustainability. As a study model, nine semi-intensive lambari farms operating at three levels of management were evaluated: low (LC), moderate (MC) and high (HC) control. Results showed that the main inputs for LC were services (27–46%), feed (7–39%) and water (15–21%), while for the MC and HC farms, they were feed (35–49% and 17–48%, respectively) and services (33–39% and 26–36%, respectively). All farms required more than 60% of their emergy from purchased inputs, resulting in low emergy sustainability index (ESI = 0.1–0.5). Increasing juvenile productivity, using superficial water instead of springwater, controlling pond fertilization and replacing animal protein in diet composition by vegetable sources can lead systems to higher efficiency and resilience, increasing sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The end of the age of cheap oil and global warming are causing worldwide concerns about energy security and climate change mitigation. Recognizing that the continuous growth paradigm will not change at short to medium time periods, alternative energy sources to fossil fuels are being sought, in which a promising source seems to be that obtained from vegetal biomass. Specifically in Brazil, there are Conventional Ethanol Plants (CEP) using sugarcane, but due to the energy versus food debate and an increasing demand for ethanol, cellulosic ethanol produced by Biorefineries seems to be a viable option. The question is whether the Biorefinery is more sustainable than CEP. This work aims to assess the energetic-environmental performance of a Biorefinery scenario in Brazil, comparing its results against CEP and another alternative small-scale system. For this, a multi-criteria approach was considered through the following methodologies: Embodied Energy Analysis, Ecological Rucksack, Emergy Accounting and Gas Emission Inventory. Results show that Biorefinery scenario has better rating than CEP for the most indicators when the functional unit is mass of ethanol produced, but when dealing with overall system performance, the Biorefinery performance worse. Neither the Biorefinery nor CEP was superior for all indicators, showing the existence of a trade-off. On the other hand, the small-scale system suggests being the best alternative if the aim is to get higher energetic-environmental performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Society needs urgently good tools to understand the biosphere dynamics, become aware of Earth''s biophysical limits and make appraisals of environmental performance of human dominated systems. In this context, the Ecological Footprint (EF) was suggested as one of the most important tools. But, according to calculations based on Emergy Analysis, the indicators of EF could underestimate the problem of human carrying support. EF does not consider the work of untouched nature in productivity and ecosystems services. In order to improve the EF results, the present study suggests: (a) to include the ecosystems not considered in conventional EF i.e. tundra, deserts and areas covered by ice; (b) to consider the value of Net Primary Production (NPP) in Emergy units (seJm−2 year−1) as the base for the calculation of Equivalent Factors (EQF); (c) to account for the consumption of fossil energy used in collection, treatment and distribution of water for domestic use, for this the carbon emissions data (in tonCm−3 of water) were used. Introducing these changes to the conventional EF calculation and considering the Peruvian economy (in 2004) as the study case, the Biocapacity obtained was 14.31ghacapita−1 and the footprint was 6.68ghacapita−1. These values mean that Peru can support 2.14 times its population if the current life style is maintained, as opposed to the 4.0 times ratio obtained with a conventional EF calculation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As a powerful tool for assessing cities development, the emergy synthesis considers the energy quality concept, which allows it to quantify all the effort provided by nature in providing resources, however, it usually demands a huge amount of data and still lacks a complete and updated database for long-term studies. Cities seem to develop according to fractals, building up parts that resemble the whole, which is also relevant in emergy theory and observable through night-time lights from cities that are used to investigate how energy use distributes as cities change. This work proposes an alternative method for estimating the fractal dimension and non-renewable empower density (NRED) of cities from satellite night-time images and assess the relationship between them. Nine cities in Brazil, selected through a cluster analysis, were considered as a case study. Results show a strong positive correlation (0.94 for Pearson index) between fractals and NRED, which can be of help in estimating each other for further studies. The method proposed is time and cost effective when compared to previously used methods based on red/blue/green (RBG) satellite images, representing a potential alternative for assessing urban expansion in spatiotemporal models and assessing cities limits to growth. • Nighttime satellite imagery is used as a proxy to estimate cities' fractal and emergy. • Urban expansion in spatiotemporal models is used to assess cities limits to growth. • There is strong positive correlation between fractal and emergy. • Cities evaluated are all at the growing stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergy diagram of grassland ecosystems services. • An emergy-based index of classification management of grassland is implemented. • We perform evaluations of delivery of ES of grasslands using a systems approach. • We provide quantitative analysis of the value added to economies by ecosystems. • The contributions ecosystems should be evaluated using the idea of net benefit ratio. Though grasslands cover one fifth area of global land and provide vital services for humans, half of them are degraded due to human interference and climate change. In this paper we perform evaluations of the delivery of ecosystem services (ES) of grasslands using a systems approach and the technique of emergy accounting. Firstly, we address the issue of anthropocentricity of ES through discussion and analysis using the concept of emergy as contrasted to economic value, i.e. willingness-to-pay. Secondly, we explore from a systems classification of provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services. Thirdly, we provide quantitative analysis of the value added (surplus value) to economies by ecosystems. An emergy-based index of classification management of grassland (ICG), is also implemented, together with a non-monetary benefit-cost analysis of grassland ES. It is established that emergy provides an approach to evaluating the contributions ecosystems make to the economy using the idea of net benefit ratio, computed as the emergy cost of providing a service through technology (aka replacement cost) divided by emergy required to sustain ecosystem functions. This study can provide a systematic biophysical accounting method for grassland ESV to implement future sustainable management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquaponics is a food production system that aims higher sustainability by integrating advantages gained from aquaculture and hydroponic production. Aquaponics aims to mimic the biological process that happens in the natural environment in a controlled production system. As it can be applied to small scales, aquaponics is considered an important alternative for urban regions, which have low availability of agricultural land and water resources. Furthermore, the advantage is that it is located close to final consumers. Aquaponics has been labeled as an environmentally friendly food production system, but its demand for energy and materials cast doubt on its sustainability. A systemic understanding of aquaponics production systems is needed to determine the magnitude and balance between its potentialities and constraints, in which emergy synthesis appears as a powerful tool for this purpose. This study applies emergy synthesis to assess the sustainability of two different (scale and marketable products) urban aquaponics farms in Brazil, but differently from other emergy studies, ecosystem services and disservices are included in the analysis as an attempt to represent the system performance holistically. Results show that the type of materials used in aquaponics infrastructures has the highest influence on total emergy demand. Surprisingly, electricity and fish feed showed a low influence on the total emergy, reinforcing the idea that aquaponics systems have a more efficiency feeding management than traditional aquaculture systems. Besides producing vegetables and fish, the inclusion of ecosystem services highlights the importance of aquaponics for educational and tourism purposes. Finally, the obtained indicators from modeling scenarios revealed that replacing the water source and some materials deserves priority attention to increase the sustainability of urban aquaponics farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing sustainable development strategies and alternatives depends on placing human well-being and the environment at the core of policy efforts and developing accounting methods to determine whether countries are progressing towards increasingly equal well-being. In this work, emergy accounting was used within the five-sector sustainability model (5SenSu) for measuring resource use inequality. As a diagnostic proposal, the 5SEnSU model based on the theory of ecologically unequal exchanges and emergy synthesis were used to assess Mozambique's poverty traps. Inequalities were measured considering the flows of goods, energy, and money between the social, economic, and environmental sectors as representative of the national economy. The 5SEnSU model showed that the environment directly supports a large part of the Mozambican population and that the country has growth potential according to the natural environment over 38 sej/sej, which must be used to ensure sustainable and equitable growth. Mozambique also has the potential (23:1 in emergy units) to maintain carbon neutrality and preserve forests and soil resources while undergoing economic development and growth. Mozambique has carbon credit and a resource surplus but needs to develop mechanisms to improve economic sectors through cleaner and well-being-centered development policies. High inequality between the social sectors and the economic system exposed a high dependency on local environmental resources characterizing a condition of vulnerability. The reduction in the number of people living below the poverty line and the effective implementation of the sustainable development goals may be achieved by balancing the capacity of the economic system with the country's environmental/social capacitiy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture production in Pakistan is one of the main economic and social sector. It contributes about 20–25% to the country GDP and provides more than 60% employment opportunities for rural peoples, playing a backbone role in the country economy and food security. However, sustainable production of the agricultural system is very important to address a societal concern for environmental impacts and nutritional value, while maintaining an economically feasible production system for farmers. Therefore, this study used various indicators based on emergy accounting method to analyze the sustainability of the agriculture production systems in Pakistan from 2001 to 2015 in four provinces namely Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan are investigated. The analysis indicates that (1) in all selected provinces the maximum portion among all inputs are purchase non-renewable inputs and purchase renewables input. Among in purchase non-renewable comprise inputs the largest portion are for labors, agriculture machinery and fertilizer inputs, while in purchase renewables comprise inputs the largest share are for water that used during irrigation purposes in all provinces. (2) In Punjab and Sindh, among purchase non-renewable comprise inputs the labor, pesticides and diesel were found decreased, while in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan the pesticides, diesel and electricity were found declined. The efficiency of overall output agriculture production in selected provinces are in the order of Punjab > Sindh > Kbyber-Pakhtunkhwa > Baluchistan. The output emergy share of the agriculture production increased by 66% in Punjab, 34% in Sindh, 110% in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and 72% in Baluchistan in the study period. (3) The analysis of overall agriculture performance through emergy based indicators indicates that the NRP% (non-renewable portion) ratio for Punjab declined by 12% while for Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan increased by 1%, 8% and 1%, respectively. That is why the EIR (emergy investment ratio) value is lower in Punjab and higher in other selected provinces. (4) The ESI (emergy sustainability index) values were declined for Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan by 18.91%, 16.19%, 35.51% and 11.21% respectively, with average values of 0.51, 0.11, 0.22, and 0.21 indicates increased in Punjab than other provinces. We believe this study provides the policy makers and producers the understanding of the important drivers influencing agricultural system productivity and environmental, social and economic sustainability, and to create more adaptable and responsive management practices and strategies for truly sustainable agricultural production systems in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agriculture ecosystem is very important, complex and humankind largest engineered ecosystem providing essential ecosystem services as well as many disservices, depending on management and agriculture practices. Due to the complications, uncertainties, overestimations and double counting in ecosystem services accounting frameworks, (1) this study establishes a non-monetary "donor side" ecosystem services valuation methods constructing the emergy-based agriculture ecosystem services framework, propose the ecosystem services calculations method and classify the services into direct, indirect and existing services. (2) Further, it assess the sustainability of agriculture ecosystem nature's and human's contribution in the services through RNP% (renewability) and NRP% (non-renewability). Taking the case of agriculture ecosystem in Bahawalnagar, Pakistan, five agriculture cultivating ecosystems including wheat, rice, sugarcane, maize and cotton are selected for services and disservices valuation. (3) A total of eleven ecosystem services were evaluated in which four belongs to direct services category such as biomass increase, carbon sequestration, soil building and groundwater recharge; four are included in indirect services category (dis-services) such as human health and ecosystem quality losses due to greenhouse gases emissions, soil, water pollution and soil erosion increase; existing services includes climate regulation, agro-tourism & recreational, cultural and educational values. (4) The results indicate that the green revolution in agriculture ecosystem encourage and increase dependency of human inputs such as synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and energy which produces higher productions but on other side it produces dis-services which is harmful for humans and other ecosystems diversity. The method proposed by this study can deliver improved theoretical and policy insights to ecosystem services accounting for agriculture ecosystem, as the agriculture ecosystem is the major source of food but along with it drive's significant environmental degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]