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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]

About one-third of annual global food production for human consumption is wasted, increasing the pressure on the environment in providing resources to support food supply-chains. Food waste reduction is of fundamental importance towards a more sustainable world, as recognized by the United Nations in the twelfth of its seventeen sustainable development goals for 2030. Among other practices, food donation appears as an alternative to overcome the existing social and environmental issues related to food waste, however, donation also causes environmental pressure by requiring additional energy investment on infrastructure and operational goods, while releasing gases to atmosphere, due to its processes. This work applies the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to evaluate the environmental impacts of plausible food donation scenarios in the 'CEAGESP' food distribution center in São Paulo city, Brazil, the third largest in the world regarding marketable food (about 3 million tons/yr). Under the concept of waste hierarchy management options, six scenarios for the CEAGESP's non-marketable food (37,652 tons/yr) were established, from landfilling as a baseline to a donation alternative. Results show that donation scenarios have the least environmental burdens for all nine LCA impact categories. Worst-case scenarios were obtained by landfilling the non-marketable food, considering electricity generation or otherwise. Differences over tenfold in comparative bases among the best and worst-case scenarios were obtained by fossil depletion, global warming, human toxicity, water and metal depletion LCA's impact categories. Results highlight the environmental advantages of donating the non-marketable food of distribution centres, which is aligned with the concepts of circular and regenerative economy towards a sustainable development that should be promoted by public policies. Regional variables as the Brazilian electricity grid based on hydropower plants have considerable influence in some LCA impact categories, especially when accounting for the avoided emissions, emphasizing the importance of carrying out this study for Brazilian conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this work, emergy analysis was used in association with the Geographical Information System (GIS) in order to improve the evaluation of family-managed farms that adopt either the ecological or the chemical production models. Three small farms, located in Amparo County, in São Paulo state, Brazil, were studied. One of them, Duas Cachoeiras farm, uses agroecological concepts for its agricultural production. The two others (Santa Helena farm and Três Lagos farm) use the conventional chemical model. In an attempt to improve the precision of the data used in emergy analysis, the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) was incorporated to the GIS tool to calculate the topsoil loss in the farms. The GIS tool also allowed the calculation of the amount of rain water that infiltrates the ground and can recharge the aquifer. This percolated water is a system output and was incorporated in the emergy accounting. Another modification in comparison to previous emergy analyses was that the renewability factor of each input was considered in the emergy accounting. Results showed that the agroecological farm is more sustainable and can be used as a model for small farms in their transition to ecological agriculture. The GIS–emergy tools were used to compare the environmental performance of the four main productive areas of Duas Cachoeiras farm (annual cultures, orchard, forest, and pasture). These results demonstrate the emergy performance of each kind of land use and may be used in watershed planning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The seventh edition of the International Workshop "Advances in Cleaner Production" (IWACP) was held at Universidad de La Costa, Colombia, in June 2018. Thematic sections were held for allowing theoretical discussions and practical activities, with the main goal of supporting discussions on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs). Participants provided their perception on the allocation of UN-SDGs as relevant for managing the main forms of capital (environmental, economic and social) within two different sustainability conceptual models: a "traditional" model (representing the interdependence and substitutability among the environment, social and economic capitals), and the five sectors sustainability model (5SenSu). Results show an unbalanced distribution of SDGs among the capitals for both sustainability models, with social capital perceived as the most relevant across the SDGs. Particularly, the environment as a resource provider supporting societal development is perceived as relevant only for SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation). The main outcomes of the workshop emphasize the need for further efforts towards a more objective interpretation of policy goals in post Agenda-2030 initiatives. The SDGs must be clearly understood and have a scientific resonance to objectively support public policies. Sustainability models, such as the 5SenSu, have the potential to support a more balanced definition of sustainable development goals across the different dimensions of sustainability. • The UN SDGs should be fundamentally aligned to one or more sustainability conceptual models. • Cleaner production experts of the 7th IWACP provided their perception on the 17 SDGs with sustainability conceptual models. • The SDGs are not evenly distributed among the economic, social and environmental forms of capital. • Social capital is the most representative among the SDGs, while environmental capital is relevant only for SDG 6. • Balanced and objective interpretations of policy goals in post Agenda-2030 initiatives are claimed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate about the negative impacts that production and consumption cause on the environment is in vogue. Strategies that point to a sustainable, healthy, and resilient path are being sought. One of these paths is the Circular Economy, which emerges as an alternative to reduce the socio-environmental impacts caused by the linear model of production-use-disposal, presenting opportunities to generate revenue, income, and wealth with circular processes. However, despite the circular economy being considered an essential strategy to improve overall performance toward sustainability in its three dimensions, recent research has shown that the predominant focus of circular approaches is on the economic and environmental dimensions. At the same time, the social aspects still need to be explored. This article addresses this problem, aiming to explore circular economy environmental, economic, and social elements in three economic blocs from 2000 to 2020 using the Five Sector Sustainability Model, establishing a baseline to co-create an equitable and regenerative future. The results showed that ASEAN in 2000 occupied the first position in the general ranking. The European Union had the best classification in the economic sector, and Mercosur was the best regarding social benefits. In 2020, while the European bloc was better positioned in the general ranking, the South American bloc occupied the last post in almost all sectors. Comparatively, the highest-ranked bloc in 2020 in overall sustainability is more in line with the UN SDG due to circular actions oriented towards the three fundamental pillars of sustainability. • CE advocates reducing dependence on finite resources. • The 5SEnSU model is used to monitor sustainability performance. • The sustainability of ASEAN, EU and Mercosur was analyzed. • Economic development influenced the environmental issues of the studied blocks. • EU is the highest-ranked bloc for overall sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A methodological framework is proposed to analyze carbon inequality across BRI countries and regions. • The most severe bilateral trade carbon inequality existed between China and BRI West Asia. • Most of BRI countries and regions were negatively affected by global trade carbon inequality. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has boosted global trade and economic development. Carbon inequality embodied in global trade may occur across BRI countries and regions in the world. How to quantify this inequality is the key to achieving the green development of the Belt and Road. In this study, we constructed a methodological framework to analyze carbon inequality across BRI countries and regions under the global trade network. Results showed that nearly half of BRI countries and regions exported net embodied carbon emissions while obtaining net economic benefits. The most severe bilateral trade carbon inequality existed between China and BRI West Asia, whose bilateral trade carbon inequality index (BCI) reached 2.76. Except for Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and BRI West Asia, BRI countries and regions were negatively affected by global trade carbon inequality, with China and India suffering the most, whose global trade carbon inequality indices (GCI) were -2.06 and -1.26, respectively. This methodological framework can be applied to analyze the inequality of other kinds of ecological impacts embodied in trade on any scale. Furthermore, this study can provide policy implications for the green development of the Belt and Road. [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]