Assessing Energy and Environmental Efficiency of the Spanish Agri-Food System Using the LCA/DEA Methodology

Jara Laso, Daniel Hoehn, María Margallo, Isabel García-Herrero, Laura Batlle-Bayer, Alba Bala, Pere Fullana-i-Palmer, Ian Vázquez-Rowe, Angel Irabien and Rubén Aldaco
Additional contact information
Jara Laso: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Cantabria, Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain
Daniel Hoehn: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Cantabria, Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain
María Margallo: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Cantabria, Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain
Isabel García-Herrero: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Cantabria, Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain
Laura Batlle-Bayer: UNESCO Chair in Life Cycle and Climate Change ESCI-UPF, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Pg. Pujades 1, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Alba Bala: UNESCO Chair in Life Cycle and Climate Change ESCI-UPF, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Pg. Pujades 1, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Pere Fullana-i-Palmer: UNESCO Chair in Life Cycle and Climate Change ESCI-UPF, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Pg. Pujades 1, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Ian Vázquez-Rowe: Peruvian LCA Network, Department of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Av. Universitaria 1801, San Miguel, Lima 15088, Peru
Angel Irabien: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Cantabria, Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain
Rubén Aldaco: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Cantabria, Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-18

Abstract: Feeding the world’s population sustainably is a major challenge of our society, and was stated as one of the key priorities for development cooperation by the European Union (EU) policy framework on food security. However, with the current trend of natural resource exploitation, food systems consume around 30% of final energy use, generating up to 30% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Given the expected increase of global population (nine billion people by 2050) and the amount of food losses and waste generated (one-third of global food production), improving the efficiency of food systems along the supply chain is essential to ensure food security. This study combines life-cycle assessment (LCA) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) to assess the efficiency of Spanish agri-food system and to propose improvement actions in order to reduce energy usage and GHG emissions. An average energy saving of approximately 70% is estimated for the Spanish agri-food system in order to be efficient. This study highlights the importance of the DEA method as a tool for energy optimization, identifying efficient and inefficient food systems. This approach could be adopted by administrations, policy-makers, and producers as a helpful instrument to support decision-making and improve the sustainability of agri-food systems.

Keywords: data envelopment analysis; energy efficiency; food loss and waste; life-cycle assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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