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Water Resources and Industry

Open Access journal
ISSN (Print) 2212-3717
Published by Elsevier

[2556 journals]

Water footprint of a large-sized food company: The case of Barilla pasta production
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 1 May 2013
  Source:Water Resources and Industry
  Author(s): L. Ruini , M. Marino , S. Pignatelli , F. Laio , L. Ridolfi
  The water footprint is an indicator of freshwater use taking into account both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or a producer. The concept of water footprint can be applied to business companies to provide indications about the sustainability of their production process. We considered the case of pasta production from a large-sized company, Barilla. The water footprint of 1kg of Barilla pasta has been shown to range between 1.336 and 2.847l of water, depending on the production site, local environmental conditions and agricultural techniques used to cultivate durum wheat. Relevant virtual water fluxes, involved in pasta and durum wheat trade among different countries, were also quantified and analysed, demonstrating the need to consider water-related production processes on a global scale when examining the water footprint of an international food company.
  
  PubDate: 2013-05-01T21:33:18Z
An assessment of the virtual water balance for agricultural products in EU river basins
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 20 March 2013
  Source:Water Resources and Industry
  Author(s): D. Vanham
  In this paper the virtual water balance for agricultural products in river basins located in the EU28 (European Union and Croatia) is assessed. Only basins with a surface area larger than 1000km2 are analysed. More specifically the net virtual water import of agricultural products (nVW i, agr) in these basins is assessed. The latter is defined as the difference between the water footprint of consumption (WF cons, agr) and the water footprint of production (WF prod, agr) for agricultural products. Overall the EU28 is a net VW importer for agricultural products, i.e. it imports more VW than it exports. However, there are large differences between different EU regions. River basins which are identified with high positive nVW i, agr values (net VW importer basins) include the densely populated and industrialised regions of western Europe like the Rhine, Elbe, Po, Seine, Scheldt or Thames basins. On the other hand high negative nVW i, agr values (net VW exporter basins) are observed for rural and sparsely populated river basins on the Iberian Peninsula (Guadiana, Ebro, Duero), in western France (Loire, Garonne) and the eastern Baltic region (Nemunas).
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  PubDate: 2013-04-27T20:02:47Z
The Water Footprint Of Poultry, Pork And Beef: A Comparative Study In Different Countries And Production Systems
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 20 March 2013
  Source:Water Resources and Industry
  Author(s): P.W. Gerbens-Leenes , M.M. Mekonnen , A.Y. Hoekstra
  Agriculture accounts for 92 per cent of the freshwater footprint of humanity; almost one third relates to animal products. In a recent global study, Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2012) show that animal products have a large water footprint (WF) relative to crop products. We use the outcomes of that study to show general trends in the WFs of poultry, pork and beef. We observe three main factors driving the WF of meat: feed conversion efficiencies (feed amount per unit of meat obtained), feed composition and feed origin. Efficiency improves from grazing to mixed to industrial systems, because animals in industrial systems get more concentrated feed, move less, are bred to grow faster and slaughtered younger. This factor contributes to a general decrease in WFs from grazing to mixed to industrial systems. The second factor is feed composition, particularly the ratio of concentrates to roughages, which increases from grazing to mixed to industrial systems. Concentrates have larger WFs than roughages, so that this factor contributes to a WF increase, especially blue and grey WFs, from grazing and mixed to industrial systems. The third factor, the feed origin, is important because water use related to feed crop growing varies across and within regions. The overall resultant WF of meat depends on the relative importance of the three main determining factors. In general, beef has a larger total WF than pork, which in turn has a larger WF than poultry, but the average global blue and grey WFs are similar across the three meat products. When we consider grazing systems, the blue and grey water footprints of poultry and pork are greater than those for beef.
  
  PubDate: 2013-04-27T20:02:47Z
The Water Footprint of a river basin with a special focus on groundwater: the case of Guadalquivir basin (Spain)
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 18 April 2013
  Source:Water Resources and Industry
  Author(s): Aurélien Dumont , Gloria Salmoral , M. Ramón Llamas
  In addition to revealing the hidden link between products or consumption patterns of populations and their needs in terms of water resources, the water footprint (WF) indicator generates new debates and solutions on water management at basin scale. This paper analyses the green and blue WF of the Guadalquivir basin and its integration with environmental water consumption, with a special emphasis on the WF from groundwater and its consequences on current and future depletion of surface water. In a normal year, green WF (agriculture and pastures) amounts to 190mm on a total green water consumption of 410mm, while the blue WF (50mm) represents half of the total blue water flows. This constitutes a first overview and alternative interpretations of the WF as human water appropriation are introduced. The blue WF is almost entirely associated to agriculture (40mm). The presentation of its evolution over the period 1997–2008 reveals the rising WF from groundwater (13mm in 2008), 86% being current consumption of surface flows. This evolution is particularly ascribed to the recent development of irrigated olive groves from groundwater. To prevent a higher pressure on the environment, this new use, like every other (thermo-solar plants, tourism, etc.), could have been obtained from the reallocation of water from crops with low water productivity. It means that water is not lacking in the Guadalquivir basin if the governance setting integrates more flexibility and equity in the allocation of water to address climatic variability and the emergence of new demands.
  
  PubDate: 2013-04-27T20:02:47Z
Carbon and water footprint analysis of a soapbar produced in Brazil by Natura Cosmetics
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 6 April 2013
  Source:Water Resources and Industry
  Author(s): I.C.M. Francke , J.F.W. Castro
  Water shortage represents one of the main threats to life on our planet. Indeed, over the last five years, society and corporate businesses alike have expressed increasing concern about the long-term sustainability of water resources while climate change and freshwater scarcity became important issues for building a consistent sustainability strategy. Here we investigated the relationships between the carbon and water footprints (CF and WF, respectively) of one product from Natura Cosméticos, a leading cosmetic company in Latin America. Our main goal was to determine how to deal synergistically with these environmental pressure indicators in order to help building future strategies that are more sustainable. Our analysis reveals that the total for the CF of the Macadamia soap bar (450g) was 741g CO2e, while the WF was 1.581L, 1.587L, and 3.672L for the green, blue, and grey components, respectively. We found that at the formulation step, the soap has accumulated 84% of the total CF and 99% of the green component of WF while it accumulated only 6% of total green WF component and 10% of the grey WF component. Our results reveal that the major volumes accounting for blue and grey occur in the use and disposal phase of the product, when the soap is no longer under Natura's outreach. The use and disposal of this product represent 70% of the total WF and only 16% of the CF. WE also found that carbon and water footprints were significantly high in the farming stage, mainly because of the use of fertilizers for palm cultivation. This study reveals some relevant aspects of the carbon and water footprints and represents an important step for the integration of different environmental pressure indicators for developing novel sustainability strategies that can also be used to increase consumer perception of all environmental aspects of the company operations.
  
  PubDate: 2013-04-27T20:02:47Z