The joint use of LCA and emergy evaluation for the analysis of two Italian wine farms

The aim of this paper is to evaluate two agroindustrial productive processes in their entirety (one organic and one semi-industrial), focusing on the comparison of impacts derived from the inputs and outputs of the system (life cycle assessment, LCA), integrated with a physical evaluation of the resources and natural services, on a common basis (emergy). Methods based on the joint use of LCA and emergy evaluation are useful, as they measure the contribution of environmental services and products to the productive process thus focusing primarily on the environmental impact of emissions and non-renewable energy inputs. The complementarity of the methods used in this paper contributes important elements and information useful for the comprehension of the organization of agriculture within Siena's territory. The results show important elements and useful information: (1) for the comprehension of the two agroecosystems' organization; (2) for the use of the energy flows that determine their development. Moreover, the combined use of emergy and LCA gives a comparative thermodynamic performance evaluation between organic and semi-industrial farming.