Ecological, Carbon and Water Footprint

Transcription

1 Ecological, Carbon and Water Footprint

2 Part I: Ecological Footprint

3 Ecological Footprint - Definition The Ecological Footprint, (EF) is a composite index that represents the amount of land and sea needed to support the needs of a reference population. It includes: - The area needed to regenerate the resources consumed; - The area needed for disposal of the waste produced by the population itself; - The occupation of the territory for the allocation of infrastructure, facilities, housing etc.

4 Ecological Footprint - Definition Ecological Footprint Biocapacity Biocapacity is the set of ecological services provided by local ecosystems, estimated by quantifying the area of ecologically productive land within the analysed region. Biocapacity is a parameter that does not depend only natural conditions. Biocapacity deals with the potential capacity of (local)ecosystems to deliver natural services.

5 Ecological Footprint - Definition Ecological Footprint estimates the ecological services required by the local population. Compared with the biological capacity (availability of production area) is able to provide indications on the sustainability of consumption levels of the study population. Through Biocapacity (BC) and Ecological Footprint (EF) is possible to identify the ecological balance of an area revealing any deficit or surplus, the difference between the two quantities: DEFICIT / SURPLUS ECOLOGICAL = BC - EF

6 Ecological Footprint Road Map Since introduced the concept of ecological footprint Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth WWF periodically updates the calculation of the ecological footprint in its Living Planet Report. Global Footprint Network was established. It aims to accelerate the use of the Ecological Footprint and to improve this accounting tool.

7 Ecological Footprint How to measure? Sorce: Liiving Planet WWF

8 Ecological Footprint How to measure? The ecological footprint is calculated with the following formula: where Ei (ha) is the carbon footprint resulting from the consumption Ci (kg) of the product i-th and qi (ha / kg) is the inverse of the average productivity of the product i-th Dividing the EF as calculated for the population settled in the analysed region, the result is the ecological footprint per capita. EF is a synthetic indicator approximate to determine the sustainability of the development of the population considered.

9 Ecological Footprint - Trends Source: Living Planet Report WWF

10 Ecological Footprint - Trends Source: Living Planet Report 2014 Dott. - WWF Ilaria Massa

11 Ecological Footprint -Trends Source: Living Planet Report WWF

12 Ecological Footprint -Trends Source: Living Planet Report 2014 Dott. - WWF Ilaria Massa

13 Ecological Footprint Vs. Biocapacity Source: Living the Planet WWF

14 Ecological Footprint Vs. Biocapacity From the analysis of the previous graphs it is evident that the global EF exceeds the planet's biocapacity. I.e. in 2008, Global biocapacity was 1.8 gha per capita instead the EF was 2.7 gha per capita. Although there would be a balance it does not necessarily mean that the development has reached a condition of sustainability, as this method does not take into account the loss of productivity caused by pollution.

15 Ecological Footprint EF calculation procedure contains several uncertainties (even if calculated at the local level and in disaggregated form) which reduce the scientific rigour. However these approximations mean that this index is easily understood by all and it can represent the degree of sustainability of the needs of the target population (with a margin of error).

16 Part II: Carbon Footprint

17 Carbon Footprint - Definition The Carbon Footprint (CF) expresses the total amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by business or a product (good or a service) life cycle. It is an indicator that measures the environmental impact of human activities on the global climate.

18 Carbon Footprint - Definition In CF calculation here are considered all GHG regulated by the Kyoto Protocol (CO2, CH4, N2O, SF6, HFCs,...), through the GWP (Global Warming Potential, GWP). GWP= ratio between the warming caused by the specific GHG in a specific time interval and the warming caused in the same period by the same amount of CO2.

19 Carbon Footprint Normative Framework UNI ISO Monitoring, reporting and projects to reduce GHG emissions at organization level" It consists in 3 parts that can be used separately or as a set of integrated tools: 1) It details the principles and requirements for designing, developing, managing and reporting of GHG inventories at the level of an organization; 2) Covers the projects targeted to reduce emissions or increase the removal of GHGs; 3) Describes the actual process of validation or verification of GHG assertions.

20 Carbon Footprint Normative Framework UNI ISO Part 1 ranks GHG emissions in two categories: a) Direct emissions: GHG emissions from sources owned or controlled by the organization (concept of financial and operational control); b) Indirect emissions: i) From energy consumption: GHG emissions from the production of electricity, heat or steam imported and consumed by the organization; ii) Other emissions: emissions that are a consequence of oganization activities, but which arise from sources of GHG owned or controlled by another organization.

21 Carbon Footprint - How to measure? Data relating to a specific task : fuel consumption electricity consumption transport Global Warming Potential for a given Time Horizon

22 Carbon Footprint - Implementation ISO TS (May 2013) defines: principles, requirements and guidelines for the quantification and communication of Product Carbon Footprint (CFP) method of quantification (based on international standards for LCA: ISO and ISO 14044) criteria for communication (based on ISO and from 14,020 to 14,024, related to environmental labels and declarations) N.B. The standard does not deal with Offsetting (compensation)

23 Carbon Footprint - Implementation ISO TS distinguishes between: Internal Goals: Identification of critical issues and opportunities to reduce emissions along the life cycle of the product; Rating risks associated with GHG regulations; the process stops at the stage of quantification. External goals: Disclose its commitment on the subject of climate change and information on the environmental performance of the product; Provide information to companies involved in the supply chain; Provide information to consumers to influence the purchasing decisions; Independent third party verifies according to specific criteria complying with the communication forms previously approved.

24 Part III: Water Footprint

25 Water Footprint - Definition Water footprint (WF) is an indicator used to calculate water consumption, taking into account both direct and indirect uses. WF of a community or of a company is therefore defined as the total volume of freshwater used to produce the goods and services, consumed by that community or enterprise. WF of a product is defined as the total volume of fresh water used in direct and indirect ways to achieve the same product and it is assessed by considering the use of water at all stages of the production chain.

26 Water Footprint - Definition Green Water: Volume of rainwater used during the production process, which does not flow and not reintegrates the surface resources and / or groundwater Blue Water: Volume of surface water or ground water used in the production process that is not fed back into the water system from which it comes from. Grey Water: Volume of water required to dilute pollutants released during the production process and bring back their concentration to the natural value of the receiving water body

27 Water Footprint - Definition

28 Water Footprint How to measure? BlueWF_process: BW_Evaporation + BW_Incorporation + Lost Return Flow (volume/time) GreenWF_process: GW_Evaporation + GW_Incoporation (volume/time)

29 Water Footprint How to measure? GreyWF_process: Abbrevation Effl C(effl) Abstr C(act) C(max) C (nat) Definition effluent discharge (volume/time) pollutant concentration in the effluent (mass/volume) water abstraction/withdrawl (volume/time) actual concentration of the pollutant on the intake water (mass/volume) concentration of the pollutant in the receiving water body (mass/volume) natural concentration background of the receiving water body

30 Water Footprint How to measure? GreyWF_process: Abbrevation T(act) T(effl) T(max) T(nat) Definition actual temperature of the intake water (C ) temperature of the effluent water (C ) temperature allowed by the ambient wtaer quality standard (C ) average natural background temperature of the receiving water body (C )

31 Water Footprint How to measure? Abbrevation Effl C(effl) Abstr C(act) C(max) T(effl) T(act) T(max) T(nat) Definition effluent discharge (volume/time) pollutant concentration in the effluent (mass/volume) water abstraction/withdrawl (volume/time) actual concentration of the pollutant on the intake water (mass/volume) concentration of the pollutant in the receiving water body (mass/volume) temperature of the effluent water (C ) actual temperature of the intake water (C ) temperature allowed by the ambient wtaer quality standard (C ) average natural background temperature of the receiving water body (C )

32 Part IV: Let s try!

33 Process: Cooling system schematic diagram and water data TDS: Standard: 500 mg/l Background concentration: 200 mg/l Temperature: Standard: 10 C Background: 8 C Evaporation loss: 5 m 3 /s Annual production: 10 million ton water intake: 10 m 3 /s TDS: 200mg/l Temperature: 10 C Effluent: 5 m 3 /s TDS: 800 mg/l Temperature: 35 C 33

34 Supplementary Information TDS: Standard: 500 mg/l Background concentration: 200 mg/l Temperature: Standard: 10 C Background: 8 C Annual production: 10 million ton Task Calculate the water footprints of this cooling process (complete the following tables. Water Consumption Water Pollution Blue water footprint (m3/yr) Green water footprint (m3/yr) Grey water water footprint - TDS (m3/yr) Grey water water footprint - thermal (m3/yr) Water Consumption Water Pollution Blue water footprint (m3/ton) Green water footprint (m3/ton) Grey water water footprint - TDS (m3/ton) Grey water water footprint - thermal (m3/ton) 34