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E-book Life Cycle Assessment of Indoor Vertical Farms

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Penilaian

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It is becoming increasingly important to find solutions for more resilient food production methods closer to urban environments with less vulnerability to supply-chain shocks (Benke and Tomkins, 2017; O’Sullivan et al., 2020; Pulighe and Lupia, 2020). Indoor vertical farming (IVF1) systems have emerged worldwide as a result of the need for more resilient food provisioning. IVF has been promoted for its potential to extend seasonal availability, produce more sustainable food, secure food supplies, and reduce pressure on agricultural land (Graamans et al., 2018; Martin and Molin, 2019; Thomaier et al., 2014; van Delden et al., 2021). Furthermore, IVF has seen a dramatic increase in recent years, attracting considerable interest and funding (Agritecture, 2022; Orsini et al., 2020; Weidner et al., 2019).IVFs are relatively new in the context of food supply chains, and thus it is an expanding subject of inquiry. A large share of the scientific and grey literature promotes vertical farming as a sustainable solution for food provisioning (Al-Chalabi, 2015; Benke and Tomkins, 2017; Despommier, 2011). However, assessments of the environmental implications of IVFs remain limited in scientific literature, with few cases applying systematic environmental assessments (Dorr et al., 2021; Martin and Molin, 2019; Martin et al., 2022; Romeo et al., 2018). A number of theoretical studies have assessed IVFs to compare their performance against competing systems such as open-field production and greenhouses, see e.g. Graamans et al. (2018) and Weidner et al. (2021, 2022). Nonetheless, empirical evidence from real case studies is lacking in the literature, which may be due in part to their novelty and evolving nature. As such, there are few studies that validate claims made by vertical farming of their resource efficiency and reduced environmental impacts, which are often focused primarily on the farm-level metrics.Consumers, businesses, and decision-makers are becoming increasingly attentive to the use of feedback and information through credible systems to communicate and evaluate the environmental impacts of goods and services. In particular, the food sector has been increasingly employing life cycle assessment (LCA) for highlighting the ‘footprint’ of their products (Freidberg, 2014). Employing LCAs may be an important methodology for IVFs to meet the criticism of many of the claims in the industry and provide knowledge for working with sustainability more strategically, providing transparent and scientifically based metrics.This chapter aims to provide insights on conducting an environmental sustainability assessment of an IVF employing LCA methodology and outline important considerations during the process. The chapter is designed to provide an overview of the method, and thereafter describes the different phases of conducting a LCA, providing guidance specifically for IVFs. It also outlined the limitations of employing LCA and provides knowledge on challenges, important aspects, and possibilities to improve the environmental performance of IVFs based on previous research. The methodology and insights are applicable to different forms of IVF. This includes assessments of, for example, the production of edible crops, mushrooms, and production of crops for other purposes (e.g. pharmaceutical applications).

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Ketersediaan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

635 MAR l

Penerbit

London : Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing., 2023

Deskripsi Fisik

23 hlm

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

9781801465519

Klasifikasi

635

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

computer

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

-

Subjek

Garden Crops, Horticulture, Vegetables

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

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Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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