Assessing farming eco-efficiency: a Data Envelopment Analysis approach

This paper assesses farming eco-efficiency using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) techniques. Eco-efficiency scores at both farm and environmental pressure-specific levels are computed for a sample of Spanish farmers operating in the rain-fed agricultural system of Campos County. The determinants of eco-efficiency are then studied using truncated regression and bootstrapping techniques. We contribute to previous literature in this field of research by including information on slacks in the assessment of the potential environmental pressure reductions in a DEA framework. Our results reveal that farmers are quite eco-inefficient, with very few differences emerging among specific environmental pressures. Moreover, eco-inefficiency is closely related to technical inefficiencies in the management of inputs. Regarding the determinants of eco-efficiency, farmers benefiting from agri-environmental programs as well as those with university education are found to be more eco-efficient. Concerning the policy implications of these results, public expenditure in agricultural extension and farmer training could be of some help to promote integration between farming and the environment. Furthermore, Common Agricultural Policy agri-environmental programs are an effective policy to improve eco-efficiency, although some doubts arise regarding their cost-benefit balance.     

Carbon footprint in corporate logistics operations in the food sector

Global warming is negatively affecting the environment of the planet. This situation has led to the development of international standards, such as the International Organisation for Standardization's DIS 14064‐1 and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard, both of which measure corporate carbon footprints. These standards provide guidelines that can be applied to different organizational sectors. However, these are not sufficient for controlling the reduction of carbon emissions, because although they propose the use of indicators, they do not explicitly define them. In addition, in the case of emissions from wastewater treatment, they only suggest that the emissions associated with this process be considered. In the present study, an eight‐step, unified methodology based on these two international standards is proposed, focusing on direct emissions. Moreover, the step‐by‐step to data collection, calculations, and the required indicators to control the emissions are defined. The first scope considers direct emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by the company. Methane generation measurement from wastewater treatment has been included in the methodology within Scope 1, as it is the second most polluting gas after carbon dioxide, both of which give rise to global warming. The proposed methodology was tested as a case study in one of the most important companies in the food sector in Colombia.     

The potential for improvements in energy efficiency and CO2 emissions in the EU27 cement industry and the relationship with the capital budgeting decision criteria

This paper performs a cost-effectiveness analysis of some of the best available technologies (BAT) that can contribute to decreasing the energy consumption and CO₂ emissions in the European Union’s (EU27) cement industry. Several capital budgeting decision criteria have been used (the payback period, the net present value and the internal rate of return) to study whether or not an investment should be considered worthwhile. The results show that, independent of the capital budgeting decision criteria used, the number of cost-effective retrofitting possibilities available is large compared to the rate of improvements that the industry undertakes annually. This shows the insensitivity of the industry to financial criteria when it comes to making their investment decisions. The possible thermal energy improvement in the clinker production, if all these BATs were implemented, has been quantified to be around 10%. This achievement would place the cement industry in the upper bound of the benchmark range for clinker manufacture. However considering the delays observed nowadays in terms of diffusion of BATs in the cement industry, it requires a conducive policy environment that combines support for both technology development and to their deployment.     

Pruning waste management and climate change in Sierra Mágina’s olive groves (Andalusia,Spain)

Regional Environmental Change - In the context of climate change, concern is raising about the negative effects of some pruning waste management practices. On the one hand, burning of pruning...     

Integrating intraseasonal grassland dynamics in cross-scale distribution modeling to support waterbird recovery plans

Despite much discussion about the utility of remote sensing for effective conservation, the inclusion of these technologies in species recovery plans remains largely anecdotal. We developed a modeling approach for the integration of local, spatially measured ecosystem functional dynamics into a species distribution modeling (SDM) framework in which other ecologically relevant factors are modeled separately at broad scales. To illustrate the approach, we incorporated intraseasonal water-vegetation dynamics into a cross-scale SDM for the Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago), which is highly dependent on water and vegetation dynamics. The Common Snipe is an Iberian grassland waterbird characteristic of European agricultural meadows and a member of one of the most threatened bird guilds. The intraseasonal dynamics of water content of vegetation were measured using the standard deviation of the normalized difference water index time series computed from bimonthly images of the Sentinel-2 satellite. The recovery plan for the Common Snipe in Galicia (northwestern Iberian Peninsula) provided an opportunity to apply our modeling framework. Model accuracy in predicting the species’ distribution at a regional scale (resulting from integration of downscaled climate projections with regional habitat–topographic suitability models) was very high (area under the curve [AUC] of 0.981 and Boyce's index of 0.971). Local water-vegetation dynamic models, based exclusively on Sentinel-2 imagery, were good predictors (AUC of 0.849 and Boyce's index of 0.976). The predictive power improved (AUC of 0.92 and Boyce's index of 0.98) when local model predictions were restricted to areas identified by the continental and regional models as priorities for conservation. Our models also performed well (AUC of 0.90 and Boyce's index of 0.93) when projected to updated water-vegetation conditions. Our modeling framework enabled incorporation of key ecosystem processes closely related to water and carbon cycles while accounting for other factors ecologically relevant to endangered grassland waterbirds across different scales, allowed identification of priority areas for conservation, and provided an opportunity for cost-effective recovery planning by monitoring management effectiveness from space.     

A safety analysis of roundabouts and turbo roundabouts based on Petri nets

Objective: In this work, a roundabout and a turbo roundabout model are compared and previous modeling with continuous Petri nets and safety are analyzed through indicators of complexity. Petri nets are a graphic and mathematical representation that allow a faithful modeling of urban systems.

Method: The methodology has been designed for the transformation of a real system to small subgraphs that represent the maneuvers in roundabouts, approximated as roads and lanes of incorporation. Places within the roundabout have been located and defined as continuous places from their influence and visibility toward adjacent conditions. The transitions have been modeled by time and inhibitory arcs, which represent priorities and areas where drivers must pay attention. The created networks represent a faithful model of vehicle flow trajectories in the roundabouts.

Results: The methodology is applied to the same real road intersection. The case study is a recent transformation from roundabout to turbo roundabout. The roundabout network complexity is corroborated by a greater number of entries and exits that lead to each roundabout place (reflected in the maneuvers that can be performed) and a greater number of inhibiting arcs. In most of the turbo roundabout places, the driver’s only option is reduced to occupying next place. The possibility of choosing between several places supposes a greater trajectory intersection and an increased time for decision making. The only situation where the complexity is the same between both systems is when a vehicle accesses the inner lane of the roundabout from the left lane on a single-lane road. The main maneuvers causing accidents have been modeled and their solution in a turbo roundabout is presented.

Conclusions: The reduced complexity of the turbo roundabout is due to the strict limitations in lane changes, turning turbo roundabouts into a safer model: A lower number of possible movements that can be performed by drivers and a smaller number of trajectories with collision risk. Petri nets have proven to be perfectly applicable to the representation of traffic circular systems (such as roundabouts and turbo roundabouts) and to measure the complexity and security of the system.     

Numerical modelling of uncongested wood transport in the Rienz river

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - The Eulerian–Lagrangian model ORSA2D_WT is employed for the simulation of uncongested wood transport, with reference to a field experiment that studied the...     

Ethical considerations when conservation research involves people

Social science is becoming increasingly important in conservation, with more studies involving methodologies that collect data from and about people. Conservation science is a normative and applied discipline designed to support and inform management and practice. Poor research practice risks harming participants and, researchers, and can leave negative legacies. Often, those at the forefront of field-based research are early-career researchers, many of whom enter their first research experience ill-prepared for the ethical conundrums they may face. We draw on our own experiences as early-career researchers to illuminate how ethical challenges arise during conservation research that involves human participants. Specifically, we considered ethical review procedures, conflicts of values, and power relations, and devised broad recommendations on how to navigate ethical challenges when they arise during research. In particular, we recommend researchers apply reflexivity (i.e., thinking that allows researchers to recognize the effect researchers have on the research) to help navigate ethical challenges and encourage greater engagement with ethical review processes and the development of ethical guidelines for conservation research that involves human participants. Such guidelines must be accompanied by the integration of rigorous ethical training into conservation education. We believe our experiences are not uncommon and can be avoided and hope to spark discussion to contribute to a more socially just conservation.     

Atmospheric aerosol growth rates at different background station types

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Highly time-resolved particle number size distributions (PNSDs) were evaluated during 5 years (2013–2017) at four background stations in the...