Ecological network analysis of growing tomatoes in an urban rooftop greenhouse
Piezer, Kayla (University of Toledo. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (USA))
Petit Boix, Anna (University of Freiburg. Chair of Societal Transition and Circular Economy)
Sanjuan Delmas, David (Ghent University. Green Chemistry and Technology)
Briese, Emily (University of Toledo. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (USA))
Celik, Ilke (University of Wisconsin)
Rieradevall, Joan (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Gabarrell Durany, Xavier (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Josa Garcia-Tornel, Alejandro (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament d'Enginyeria Civil i Ambiental)
Apul, Defne (University of Toledo. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (USA))

Date:	2019
Abstract:	Urban agriculture has emerged as an alternative to conventional rural agriculture seeking to foster a sustainable circular economy in cities. When considering the feasibility of urban agriculture and planning for the future of food production and energy, it is important to understand the relationships between energy flows throughout the system, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and make suggestions to optimize the system. To address this need, we analyzed the energy flows for growing tomatoes at a rooftop greenhouse (RTG). We used life cycle assessment (LCA) to identify the flows within the supply chain. We further analyzed these flows using ecological network analysis (ENA), which allowed a comparison of the industrial system to natural systems. Going beyond LCA, ENA also allowed us to focus more on the relationships between components. Similar to existing ENA studies on urban metabolism, our results showed that the RTG does not mimic the perfect pyramidal structure found in natural ecosystems due to the system's dependency on fossil fuels throughout the supply chain and each industry's significant impact on wasted energy. However, it was discovered that the RTG has strong foundational relationships in its industries, demonstrating overall positive utility; this foundation can be improved by using more renewable energy and increasing the recycling rates throughout the supply chain, which will in turn improve the hierarchy of energy flows and overall energy consumption performance of the system.
Grants:	Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MDM-2015-0552 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CTM2016-75772-C3-1-R
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Life cycle assessment ; Food-energy nexus ; Urban agriculture ; Food security ; Circular economy
Published in:	Science of the total environment, Vol. 651, Part 1 (February 2019) , p. 1495-1504, ISSN 1879-1026

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.293
PMID: 30360279

Post-print 34 p, 737.3 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA) > Sustainability and Environmental Protection (Sostenipra)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles