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A novel food such as plant cell culture (PCC) is an important complementary asset for traditional agriculture to tackle global food insecurity. To evaluate environmental impacts of PCC, a life cycle assessment was applied to tobacco bright yellow-2 and cloudberry PCCs. Global warming potential (GWP), freshwater eutrophication potential (FEUP), marine eutrophication potential, terrestrial acidification potential (TAP), stratospheric ozone depletion, water consumption and land use were assessed. The results showed particularly high contributions (82–93%) of electricity consumption to GWP, FEUP and TAP. Sensitivity analysis indicated that using wind energy instead of the average Finnish electricity mix reduced the environmental impacts by 34–81%. Enhancement in the energy efficiency of bioreactor mixing processes and reduction in cultivation time also effectively improved the environmental performance (4–47% reduction of impacts). In comparison with other novel foods, the environmental impacts of the PCC products studied were mostly comparable to those of microalgae products but higher than those of microbial protein products produced by autotrophic hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria. Assayed fresh PCC products were similar or close to GWP of conventionally grown food products and, with technological advancements, can be highly competitive. Peer reviewed

This work assesses the capacity of a microalgae-based system to remove three highly to medium polar pesticides typically found in freshwater: acetamiprid, bentazone, and propanil. Degradation of the pesticides was firstly studied individually at batch lab-scale reactors and abiotic and heated-killed controls were employed to clarify their removal pathways. At lab-scale, propanil and acetamiprid were completely removed after 7 days whereas bentazone was not removed. Four and two transformation products (TPs) were generated in the biodegradation process for acetamiprid and propanil, respectively. Then, the simultaneous removal of the pesticides was assessed in an outdoor pilot photobioreactor, operated with a hydraulic residence time of 8 days. During the steady-state, high removal efficiencies were observed for propanil (99%) and acetamiprid (71%). The results from batch experiments suggest that removal is mainly caused by algal-mediated biodegradation. Acetamiprid TPs raised throughout the operational time in the photobioreactor, while no propanil TP was detected at the pilot-scale. This suggests complete mineralization of propanil or residual formation of its TPs at concentrations below the analytical method detection limit. Aiming at biomass valorization, diverse microalgae harvesting methods were investigated for biomass concentration, and the effect of residual pesticides on the biogas yield was determined by biochemical methane potential tests. Anaerobic digestion was not inhibited by the pesticides as verified by the digestion performance. The results highlight the potential of microalgae-based systems to couple nutrient removal, biomass production, micropollutant biodegradation, and biofuel production. This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness State Research Agency (CTM2016-75587-C2-1-R and CTM2016-75587-C2-2-R) and co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Horizon 2020 research and innovation WATERPROTECT project (727450). This work was also partly supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Consolidate Research Groups 2017-SGR-01404 and 2017-SGR-014) and the Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project CEX2018-000794-S). Peer reviewed

Abstract Communicating the finiteness of the Earth system at sub-global scales is necessary to guide human activities within a safe operating space. Despite the numerous efforts committed to downscaling planetary boundaries (PBs) at multiple scales, neither top-down nor bottom-up approaches adequately account for the spatial heterogeneity and integrity of local and global natural systems. To overcome these shortcomings, we developed a hybrid approach that combines bottom-up aggregation and top-down adjustment for downscaling five crucial PBs (i.e., climate change, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, freshwater use, and land use change) to Chinese provinces and industries. In addition to the widely applied equity principle, we further incorporated the eco-efficiency principle into the downscaling of PBs under the proposition that safeguarding finite PBs should be reconciled with the pursuit of maximizing human welfare. Environmental sustainability at multiple scales was subsequently assessed with the complementary use of environmental footprints and downscaled PBs. The results demonstrate that 1) China suffers from severe unsustainability because of the transgression of PBs for phosphorus and nitrogen cycles, carbon emissions, and cropland use; 2) provinces in West and North China perform worse than other provinces in terms of the eco-efficiency in manufacturing industries, including Electronic equipment, Textiles, and Wood processing and furnishing, rendering these industries that are more unsustainable; and 3) industries with varying eco-efficiencies account differently for the provincial PBs. Construction dominates the provincial shares of carbon PBs, whereas Agriculture and Food processing and tobacco contribute most to the other four PBs. Our findings suggest that improving eco-efficiency in most manufacturing industries is the key to saving resources, reducing emissions, and safeguarding local boundaries.

peer-reviewed Feed management decisions are an important element of managing greenhouse gas (GHG) and nitrogen (N) emissions in livestock farming systems. This review aims to a) discuss the impact of feed management practices on emissions in beef and dairy production systems and b) assess different modelling approaches used for quantifying the impact of these abatement measures at different stages of the feed and manure management chain. Statistical and empirical models are well-suited for practical applications when evaluating mitigation strategies, such as GHG calculator tools for farmers and for inventory purposes. Process-based simulation models are more likely to provide insights into the impact of biotic and abiotic drivers on GHG and N emissions. These models are based on equations which mathematically describe processes such as fermentation, aerobic and anaerobic respiration, denitrification, etc. and require a greater number of input parameters. Ultimately, the modelling approach used will be determined by a) the activity input data available, b) the temporal and spatial resolution required and c) the suite of emissions being studied. Simulation models are likely candidates to be able to better explain variation in on-farm GHG and N emissions, and predict with a higher accuracy for a specific mitigation measure under defined farming conditions, due to the fact that they better represent the underlying mechanisms causal for emissions. Integrated farm system models often make use of rather generic values or empirical models to quantify individual emissions sources, whereas combining a whole set of process-based models (or their results) that simulates the variation in GHG and N emissions and the associated whole farm budget has not been used. The latter represents a valuable approach to delineate underlying processes and their drivers within the system and to evaluate the integral effect on GHG emissions with different mitigation options.

COVID-19 pandemic is on a trajectory to cause catastrophic global upheaval with the potential to alter geopolitical and socio-economic norms. Many countries are frantically responding with staggering financial stimulus recovery initiatives. This opinion-paper reviews challenges, opportunities, and potential solutions for the post-COVID-19 era that focuses on intensive sustaining of agri-food supply chain in tandem with meeting the high demand for new green deal innovation. For example, the development of wet peatland innovation, known as Paludiculture, can intensively sustain and blend agri-food and green innovations that will help support COVID-19 pandemic transitioning. The future looks bright for the creation of new sustainability multi-actor innovation hubs that will support, connect, and enable businesses to recover and pivot beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The nexus between first ‘Green Deal’ initiative supporting 64 selected European Startups and SMEs (European Innovation Council) and 43 Irish Disruptive Technology projects are addressed in the context of cross-cutting developments and relevance to COVID-19. Candidate areas for future consideration will focus on climate action, digitization, manufacturing, and sustainable food production, security, and waste mitigation. Recommendations are also provided to facilitate community transitioning, training, enterprise, and employment to low carbon economy. yes

Waste produced in various fields and activities in society has been increasing, thereby causing immediate environmental harm and a serious-global problem. Recently, the attitude towards waste has changed along with innovations making waste as a new resource. Agricultural and forestry wastes (AFWs) are globally produced in huge amounts and thought to be an important resource to be used for decreasing the dependence on fossil fuels. The central issue is to take use of AFW for different types of products making it a source of energy and at the same time refining it for the production of valuable chemicals. In this review, we present an overview of the composition and pretreatment of AFWs, thermochemical liquefaction including direct liquefaction and indirect liquefaction (liquid products from syngas by gasification) for producing biofuels and/or chemicals. The following two key points were discussed in-depth: the solvent or medium of thermochemical conversion and circular economy of liquid products. The concept of bio-economy entails economic use of waste streams, leading to the widened assessment of biomass use for energy where sustainability is a key issue coined in the circular economy. The smart use of AFWs requires a combination of available waste streams and local technical solutions to meet sustainability criteria. This work was supported by National Key Technology R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFD0500206), Scientific Research Foundation of Zhejiang A&F University (2034020081 and 2034020096), Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LY15D010005), the Public Welfare Technology and Social Development Research Project of Zhejiang Province (LGF18D010003) and supported by 111 Project (D18008). We thank reviewers for their positive and constructive comments. Peer reviewed

Global food systems contribute to climate change, the transgression of planetary boundaries and deforestation. An improved understanding of the environmental impacts of different food system futures is crucial for forging strategies to sustainably nourish a growing world population. We here quantify the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of global food system scenarios within a biophysically feasible “option space” in 2050 comprising all scenarios in which biomass supply – calculated as function of agricultural area and yields – is sufficient to cover biomass demand – derived from human diets and the feed demand of livestock. We assessed the biophysical feasibility of 520 scenarios in a hypothetical no-deforestation world. For all feasible scenarios, we calculate (in) direct GHG emissions related to agriculture. We also include (possibly negative) GHG emissions from land-use change, including changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) and carbon sinks from vegetation regrowth on land spared from food production. We identify 313 of 520 scenarios as feasible. Agricultural GHG emissions (excluding land use change) of feasible scenarios range from 1.7 to 12.5 Gt CO2e yr−1. When including changes in SOC and vegetation regrowth on spare land, the range is between −10.7 and 12.5 Gt CO2e yr−1. Our results show that diets are the main determinant of GHG emissions, with highest GHG emissions found for scenarios including high meat demand, especially if focused on ruminant meat and milk, and lowest emissions for scenarios with vegan diets. Contrary to frequent claims, our results indicate that diets and the composition and quantity of livestock feed, not crop yields, are the strongest determinants of GHG emissions from food-systems when existing forests are to be protected.

peer-reviewed Agriculture faces considerable challenges of achieving more sustainable production that minimises nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) losses and meets international obligations for water quality and greenhouse gas emissions. This must involve reducing nutrient balance (NB) surpluses and increasing nutrient use efficiencies (NUEs), which could also improve farm profitability (a win-win). To set targets and motivate improvements in Ireland, nationally representative benchmarks were established for different farm categories (sector, soil group and production intensity). Annual farm-gate NBs (kg ha−1) and NUEs (%) for N and P were calculated for 1446 nationally representative farms from 2008 to 2015 using import and export data collected by the Teagasc National Farm Survey (part of the EU Farm Accountancy Data Network). Benchmarks for each category were established using quantile regression analysis and percentile rankings to identify farms with the lowest NB surplus per production intensity and highest gross margins (€ ha−1). Within all categories, large ranges in NBs and NUEs between benchmark farms and poorer performers show considerable room for nutrient management improvements. Results show that as agriculture intensifies, nutrient surpluses, use efficiencies and gross margins increase, but benchmark farms minimise surpluses to relatively low levels (i.e. are more sustainable). This is due to, per ha, lower fertiliser and feed imports, greater exports of agricultural products, and for dairy, sheep and suckler cattle, relatively high stocking rates. For the ambitious scenario of all non-benchmark farms reaching the optimal benchmark zone, moderate reductions in farm nutrient surpluses were found with great improvements in profitability, leading to a 31% and 9% decrease in N and P surplus nationally, predominantly from dairy and non-suckler cattle. The study also identifies excessive surpluses for each level of production intensity, which could be used by policy in setting upper limits to improve sustainability. Environmental Protection Agency