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Prof. Dr. Mario Giampietro
ICREA Researcher at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain

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Research Keywords & Expertise

0 Energy Policy
0 Urban Metabolism
0 Bioeconomics
0 Water–energy–food nexus in relation to sustainable development goals
0 Multi-criteria analysis of sustainability

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Multi-scale integrated analysis of social-ecological systems
Energy Policy
Urban Metabolism
Bioeconomics
Water–energy–food nexus in relation to sustainable development goals
Multi-criteria analysis of sustainability

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Journal article
Published: 14 August 2021 in Resources, Conservation and Recycling
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The “circular bioeconomy” is extensively discussed in science and policy, and its implementation in practice is considered to be a panacea for fixing many current sustainability problems. The circular bioeconomy crucially depends on biological and technical processes capable of recycling nutrients in the right mix, at the right pace, and using only renewable energy. The current lack of circularity of nutrient flows is a critical factor that hampers sustainable food and bioeconomy systems. If we are serious about the sustainability of food and bioeconomy systems, we have to develop more robust tools to study (diagnose) and explore (simulate) the factors determining the circularity of nutrient flows. This paper applies a novel analytical framework to assess the circularity of nutrient flows in modern food systems. This framework can help understand the potentialities of proposed changes in relation to reducing nutrient losses and the dependence on nutrients mined from finite deposits. More specifically, in this paper, we illustrate a quantitative assessment of the flows of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium in a case study – the food system of the Okanagan bioregion in BC Canada. Our study suggests that the proposed approach is effective to inform nutrient management policies in bioregional food systems. In particular, an assessment of the openness of nutrient flows flags the importance of managing organic residuals for comprehensive nutrient recovery and reuse – an activity that is still often systematically neglected due to large feed and food imports and the availability of cheap synthetic fertilizers. This type of analysis is essential if we want to develop effective policies for more sustainable management of nutrients in food and bioeconomy systems.

ACS Style

Robin Harder; Mario Giampietro; Kent Mullinix; Sean Smukler. Assessing the circularity of nutrient flows related to the food system in the Okanagan bioregion, BC Canada. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2021, 174, 105842 .

AMA Style

Robin Harder, Mario Giampietro, Kent Mullinix, Sean Smukler. Assessing the circularity of nutrient flows related to the food system in the Okanagan bioregion, BC Canada. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 2021; 174 ():105842.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Robin Harder; Mario Giampietro; Kent Mullinix; Sean Smukler. 2021. "Assessing the circularity of nutrient flows related to the food system in the Okanagan bioregion, BC Canada." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 174, no. : 105842.

Conference paper
Published: 15 June 2021 in Designing Networks for Innovation and Improvisation
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In Part 1 of this paper, the metabolic nature of social-economic systems is explored. A general understanding relating the various constituent components of social-economic systems in a relational network is presented and used to posit that social-economic systems are metabolic-repair (M, R) systems of the type explored in relational biology. It is argued that, through modernization and globalization, social-economic systems are losing certain functional entailment relations and their ability to control replication. It is further argued that modern social-economic systems are losing control over their identity. In Part 2, the implications of those realizations are explored in terms of effective accounting methodology and a practical set of methods capable of harnessing the deep complexity of social-economic systems. In terms of methods, a practical set of metrics defined through the lenses of a macroscope, a mesoscope, and a microscope is presented. Intended to be used simultaneously, the various descriptive domains suggested by our three scopes may be useful for decision-makers who wish to make responsible decisions concerning the control of system identity change or to combat processes of societal cyborgization.

ACS Style

Ansel Renner; A. H. Louie; Mario Giampietro. Cyborgization of Modern Social-Economic Systems. Designing Networks for Innovation and Improvisation 2021, 149 -164.

AMA Style

Ansel Renner, A. H. Louie, Mario Giampietro. Cyborgization of Modern Social-Economic Systems. Designing Networks for Innovation and Improvisation. 2021; ():149-164.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ansel Renner; A. H. Louie; Mario Giampietro. 2021. "Cyborgization of Modern Social-Economic Systems." Designing Networks for Innovation and Improvisation , no. : 149-164.

Conference paper
Published: 15 June 2021 in Designing Networks for Innovation and Improvisation
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This paper combines an interdisciplinary set of concepts and ideas to explore the interface between complexity science and biosemiotics and to describe the processes of generation of meaning and preservation of identity in complex adaptive systems. The concepts and ideas used include: (i) holons (from hierarchy theory); (ii) the state-pressure relation (from non-equilibrium thermodynamics); (iii) the four Aristotelean causes (as used in relational biology); and (iv) upward and downward causation. Further insights from other disciplines, including biosemiotics, cybernetics, codepoiesis, theoretical ecology, energetics, and bioeconomics, are also borrowed to explore the mechanisms underlying the organizational unity of the various processes leading to a resonance between the tangible and notional definitions of identity. An original set of criteria, to be used for the characterization of this organizational unity, is then put forward: Learning Instances Producing Holarchic Essences: Expected, Established, and Experienced (LIPHE4). The LIPHE4 criteria help explain how complex adaptive systems can remain the same (preserve their identity) while becoming something else (evolve) and succeed even while implementing imperfect models to guide action.

ACS Style

Mario Giampietro; Ansel Renner. The Generation of Meaning and Preservation of Identity in Complex Adaptive Systems the LIPHE4 Criteria. Designing Networks for Innovation and Improvisation 2021, 29 -46.

AMA Style

Mario Giampietro, Ansel Renner. The Generation of Meaning and Preservation of Identity in Complex Adaptive Systems the LIPHE4 Criteria. Designing Networks for Innovation and Improvisation. 2021; ():29-46.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mario Giampietro; Ansel Renner. 2021. "The Generation of Meaning and Preservation of Identity in Complex Adaptive Systems the LIPHE4 Criteria." Designing Networks for Innovation and Improvisation , no. : 29-46.

Journal article
Published: 01 June 2021 in Resources, Conservation and Recycling
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Recent years have seen a steep rise in the interest in nutrient circularity. In the context of food systems and waste management, nutrient circularity seems to generally encompass the reduction of nutrient losses and increased recovery of nutrients from various organic residual streams for reuse in agricultural production. Many studies that aim to contribute to improving nutrient circularity in food systems have limited the analysis to a given geographical area. But nutrient circularity likely looks different when the analysis includes what happens outside the borders of the considered area. This paper presents and discusses an analytical framework that allows for the analysis of nutrient circularity not only inside a given geographical area being considered, but also in those parts of the global food system with which the local food system interacts in terms of feed and food trade. This framework explicitly characterizes the impact of system openness associated with feed and food trade. This enables: (i) a separate discussion of four possible interpretations of nutrient circularity – internal and external input and output circularity; and (ii) an analysis of how these four circularity indicators relate to one another depending on system openness. The proposed analysis can thus reveal the extent to which a high level of nutrient circularity in the considered area comes at the cost of a decreased level of nutrient circularity in the places with which feed and food are traded, or vice versa.

ACS Style

Robin Harder; Mario Giampietro; Sean Smukler. Towards a circular nutrient economy. A novel way to analyze the circularity of nutrient flows in food systems. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2021, 172, 105693 .

AMA Style

Robin Harder, Mario Giampietro, Sean Smukler. Towards a circular nutrient economy. A novel way to analyze the circularity of nutrient flows in food systems. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 2021; 172 ():105693.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Robin Harder; Mario Giampietro; Sean Smukler. 2021. "Towards a circular nutrient economy. A novel way to analyze the circularity of nutrient flows in food systems." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 172, no. : 105693.

Journal article
Published: 08 May 2021 in Environmental Science & Policy
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Electric vehicles are a dominant policy solution in the EU. In policy documents, a transition to electric vehicles is justified through promises of a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and oil imports, as well as positive impacts on citizens (through reduced pollution) and the economy (through a boost in manufacturing and the generation of jobs). The evidence supporting such claims remains uncertain. Taking a stance that is grounded in complexity science, we introduce a hierarchical mapping of policy mechanisms, concerns and solutions – the elements making up policy narratives. Building on this mapping, we focus on questioning the solution-justification relationship for electric vehicles, by critically inspecting the material coherence between these justifications and the existing existing evidence. A targeted review shows how, for example, positive economic impacts largely depend on the location of battery and car manufacturing; or GHG emission reductions depend on promises of decarbonisation of the electricity sector, as well as on driving behaviours. Innovations are not just material objects, and such evidence does not necessarily weaken the dominant policy solution, nor the socio-technical imaginary it is grounded in. By questioning the material coherence of EV justification narratives in the EU, this case study points to a discussion about the effects of dominant policy narratives on the generation of science, warning against policy-based evidence in the co-creation of socio-technical imaginaries.

ACS Style

Louisa Jane Di Felice; Ansel Renner; Mario Giampietro. Why should the EU implement electric vehicles? Viewing the relationship between evidence and dominant policy solutions through the lens of complexity. Environmental Science & Policy 2021, 123, 1 -10.

AMA Style

Louisa Jane Di Felice, Ansel Renner, Mario Giampietro. Why should the EU implement electric vehicles? Viewing the relationship between evidence and dominant policy solutions through the lens of complexity. Environmental Science & Policy. 2021; 123 ():1-10.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Louisa Jane Di Felice; Ansel Renner; Mario Giampietro. 2021. "Why should the EU implement electric vehicles? Viewing the relationship between evidence and dominant policy solutions through the lens of complexity." Environmental Science & Policy 123, no. : 1-10.

Journal article
Published: 07 April 2021 in Waste Management
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The absence of sound sampling procedures and statistical analyses to estimate solid waste generation in many developing countries has resulted in incomplete historical records of waste quantity and composition. Data is often arbitrarily aggregated or disaggregated as a function of waste generators to obtain results at the desired spatial level of analysis. Inference fallacies arising from the generalization or individualization of results are almost never considered. In this paper, Panama, one of the fastest-growing developing countries, was used as a case-study to review the main methodological approaches to estimate solid waste generation per capita per day, and at different hierarchical levels (from households to the country). The solid waste generation intensity indicator is used by the Panamanian waste management authority to run the waste management system. It was also the main parameter employed by local and foreign companies to estimate solid waste generation in Panama between 2001 and 2008. The methodological approaches used by these companies were mathematically formalized and classified as per the expressions suggested by Subramanian et al. (2009). Seven inference fallacies (ecological, individualistic, stage, floating population, linear forecasting, average population and mixed spatial levels) were identified and allocated to the studies. Foreign companies committed three of the seven inference fallacies, while one was committed by the local entity. Endogenous knowledge played an important role in these studies to avoid spatial levels mismatch and multilevel measurements appear to produce more reliable information than studies obtained via other means.

ACS Style

Jorge M. Torrente-Velásquez; Maddalena Ripa; Rosaria Chifari; Mario Giampietro. Identification of inference fallacies in solid waste generation estimations of developing countries. A case-study in Panama. Waste Management 2021, 126, 454 -465.

AMA Style

Jorge M. Torrente-Velásquez, Maddalena Ripa, Rosaria Chifari, Mario Giampietro. Identification of inference fallacies in solid waste generation estimations of developing countries. A case-study in Panama. Waste Management. 2021; 126 ():454-465.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jorge M. Torrente-Velásquez; Maddalena Ripa; Rosaria Chifari; Mario Giampietro. 2021. "Identification of inference fallacies in solid waste generation estimations of developing countries. A case-study in Panama." Waste Management 126, no. : 454-465.

Journal article
Published: 21 November 2020 in Ecological Economics
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In sustainability analysis, human time is a crucial and overlooked societal limit. Some core countries overcome their time budgets and preserve their socio-economic structures by using energy and importing working time embodied in products and services. This paper analyses the roles of the United States, the European Union, and China in the international division of labor using the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) framework. We calculated working time in production, consumption, and trade both in absolute and per capita terms, for the different economic subsectors in 2011. Energy Metabolic Rates (energy use per hour) and Economic Job Productivity (value-added per hour) complemented the analysis. Whereas the greatest share of the workforce in China was still in agriculture, the US and EU had it in the tertiary sectors by outsourcing large shares of agriculture, mining, and industry: they import about half of the labor time in their consumption. At the global level, the trade of embodied labor is a zero-sum game. This fact questions the long-term viability of the current pattern of development enjoyed by the EU and the US, as well as the possibility for emerging economies to complete a similar transition to a post-industrial economy.

ACS Style

Laura Pérez-Sánchez; Raúl Velasco-Fernández; Mario Giampietro. The international division of labor and embodied working time in trade for the US, the EU and China. Ecological Economics 2020, 180, 106909 .

AMA Style

Laura Pérez-Sánchez, Raúl Velasco-Fernández, Mario Giampietro. The international division of labor and embodied working time in trade for the US, the EU and China. Ecological Economics. 2020; 180 ():106909.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Laura Pérez-Sánchez; Raúl Velasco-Fernández; Mario Giampietro. 2020. "The international division of labor and embodied working time in trade for the US, the EU and China." Ecological Economics 180, no. : 106909.

Journal article
Published: 19 November 2020 in Energy Research & Social Science
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This paper seeks to clarify the confusion created by the simultaneous use of non-equivalent policy discourses about biofuels within the EU and addresses the inconsistency between long-term goals and short-term targets. To this purpose, a novel approach, quantitative storytelling, is employed to examine the plausibility of current policy narratives. It confronts quantitative data on the production and use of biofuels at member-state (the Netherlands) and EU level against the official storytelling. Our analysis shows that in the Netherlands the actual production and use of biofuels are motivated by economic incentives and trade opportunities rather than the original policy justifications and hitting biofuel targets has become a justification in itself (the phenomenon of displacement). At EU level, the vast majority of the current (inadequate) supply of liquid biofuels still consists in first-generation biofuels, which are to be phased out. Advanced and food-waste-based biofuels are unlikely to fill the void any time soon. The analysis shows incoherence among the narratives underlying the justification of policies and those used for their implementation. It is concluded that the quality of the biofuels policy debate could be improved by acknowledging the existence and influence of untold stories and hidden justification narratives.

ACS Style

Juan J. Cadillo-Benalcazar; Sandra G.F. Bukkens; Maddalena Ripa; Mario Giampietro. Why does the European Union produce biofuels? Examining consistency and plausibility in prevailing narratives with quantitative storytelling. Energy Research & Social Science 2020, 71, 101810 .

AMA Style

Juan J. Cadillo-Benalcazar, Sandra G.F. Bukkens, Maddalena Ripa, Mario Giampietro. Why does the European Union produce biofuels? Examining consistency and plausibility in prevailing narratives with quantitative storytelling. Energy Research & Social Science. 2020; 71 ():101810.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Juan J. Cadillo-Benalcazar; Sandra G.F. Bukkens; Maddalena Ripa; Mario Giampietro. 2020. "Why does the European Union produce biofuels? Examining consistency and plausibility in prevailing narratives with quantitative storytelling." Energy Research & Social Science 71, no. : 101810.

Journal article
Published: 12 October 2020 in Ecosystem Services
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In the European Union, national-scope efforts to protect local ecosystem services are greatly helped by the externalization of agricultural production. Domestic environmental pressures such as pesticide residue, fertilizer leakage and waterbody overdraft would all significantly increase if European agricultural production were to be re-localized. Those increases would add additional stress on local habitats, soils and freshwater reserves. This work addresses such concerns by anticipating pressure increases associated with a near-complete re-internalization of agricultural production in the European Union. Our results could prove relevant in the event of an end of the era of cheap food imports, or when considering the plausibility of economic circularization efforts (such as suggested by the European Green Deal). Rather than produce quantitative results determined by a given set of supposedly uncontested pre-analytical assumptions, this work presents an innovative approach to scientific representation capable of accommodating several possible results driven by contradictory yet equally legitimate insights. According to our characterization of the option space, which builds on current trade profiles and assumes business as usual change in technical coefficients, a near-complete re-internalization of agricultural production by European Union member states is not environmentally feasible. In relation to social viability, the required changes in social practices would include a significant increase in the share of agricultural workers in the economy and important dietary adjustments.

ACS Style

Ansel Renner; Juan José Cadillo-Benalcazar; Lorenzo Benini; Mario Giampietro. Environmental pressure of the European agricultural system: Anticipating the biophysical consequences of internalization. Ecosystem Services 2020, 46, 101195 .

AMA Style

Ansel Renner, Juan José Cadillo-Benalcazar, Lorenzo Benini, Mario Giampietro. Environmental pressure of the European agricultural system: Anticipating the biophysical consequences of internalization. Ecosystem Services. 2020; 46 ():101195.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ansel Renner; Juan José Cadillo-Benalcazar; Lorenzo Benini; Mario Giampietro. 2020. "Environmental pressure of the European agricultural system: Anticipating the biophysical consequences of internalization." Ecosystem Services 46, no. : 101195.

Journal article
Published: 06 October 2020 in Energy
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With the expansion of the acceleration of the urbanization process, China experienced a corresponding high demand for energy, which led to significant changes in energy metabolic patterns. The application of the MultiScale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach facilitates the study of the factors that determined the impressive transformation of China's residential energy metabolism since 2000. The findings revealed that the year 2009 was a turning point, when the household hours of urban areas exceeded those of rural regions. Before 2009, the residential energy metabolic rate remained relatively stable, the domination of biofuels delayed the increase in the energy metabolic rate (EMR). With the rise in the rapid growth of non-basic living energy demand, the EMR of households has rapidly increased after 2009. A complete decomposition analysis of the EMRs showed that the increase in residential metabolism was dragged down by the urbanization effect from rural households. Moreover, in respect to the energy carriers, the urbanization effect accounted for less than 10% of the total changes in the fuel and electricity EMR, which indicates that energy performance, in regard to the lifestyles in both urban and rural households, will bring about new challenges to China’s energy-saving policies.

ACS Style

Lei Chen; Linyu Xu; Raúl Velasco-Fernández; Mario Giampietro; Zhifeng Yang. Residential energy metabolic patterns in China: A study of the urbanization process. Energy 2020, 215, 119021 .

AMA Style

Lei Chen, Linyu Xu, Raúl Velasco-Fernández, Mario Giampietro, Zhifeng Yang. Residential energy metabolic patterns in China: A study of the urbanization process. Energy. 2020; 215 ():119021.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Lei Chen; Linyu Xu; Raúl Velasco-Fernández; Mario Giampietro; Zhifeng Yang. 2020. "Residential energy metabolic patterns in China: A study of the urbanization process." Energy 215, no. : 119021.

Journal article
Published: 25 September 2020 in Energy Strategy Reviews
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This paper presents a multiscale integrated analysis comparing changes in the energy metabolic pattern of China and the European Union between 2000 and 2016. The MuSIASEM method is used to explore and illustrate the entanglement over different factors, across dimensions and levels of analysis. Demographic factors observed at the level of the whole are linked to changes in the economic structure, the pattern of energy uses and the level of outsourcing (imports). When analyzing these issues for the selected case studies we found that: (i) due to their lower dependency ratio and higher workloads China presents now about 1260 h in paid work per capita, while the EU presents just 720; (ii) economic structure in China evolved rapidly moving almost 300 h per capita per year from agriculture to service, construction and industrial sectors, while it remained quite stable in the EU; (iii) the metabolic pattern of China changed dramatically by expanding its capital goods in all sectors (almost 4 times in agriculture and more than doubling in industry and services) while the EU just increased them around 10%. The quick industrialization of China (going from 20 to 60 MJ/h in paid work sector) required an extraordinary investment in the construction sector, which arrived to allocate almost 3 times more workforce and 5 times more cement per capita than the EU (already industrialized). The simultaneous reading of all these changes confirms known trends and identifies a few challenges. The apparent decoupling of economic growth from resource consumption in the EU economy is due to the outsourcing of industrial production (identified and quantified at the level of subsectors). The trajectory of economic development of China, still in the phase of industrialization, spells troubles in terms of future consumption of natural resources and pollution. The metabolic perspective used in the comparison enables to identify policy-relevant factors determining both temporary comparative advantages and dangerous locks-in. On the methodological side, the paper illustrates a few innovative features introduced in the MuSIASEM accounting framework improving the characterization of demographic and other societal aspects affecting the overall energy metabolic patterns of societies.

ACS Style

Raúl Velasco-Fernández; Laura Pérez-Sánchez; Lei Chen; Mario Giampietro. A becoming China and the assisted maturity of the EU: Assessing the factors determining their energy metabolic patterns. Energy Strategy Reviews 2020, 32, 100562 .

AMA Style

Raúl Velasco-Fernández, Laura Pérez-Sánchez, Lei Chen, Mario Giampietro. A becoming China and the assisted maturity of the EU: Assessing the factors determining their energy metabolic patterns. Energy Strategy Reviews. 2020; 32 ():100562.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Raúl Velasco-Fernández; Laura Pérez-Sánchez; Lei Chen; Mario Giampietro. 2020. "A becoming China and the assisted maturity of the EU: Assessing the factors determining their energy metabolic patterns." Energy Strategy Reviews 32, no. : 100562.

Journal article
Published: 16 September 2020 in Science of The Total Environment
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A novel method based on relational analysis is presented for assessing the performance of conventional oil exploitation and its environmental implications, with a focus on the energy-water nexus. It considers the energy system as a metabolic network and integrates various factors relevant for technical, economic and environmental processes, thus avoiding some of the simplifications inherent in conventional approaches to the assessment of primary resource quality, such as economic cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and the energy return on investment (EROI). Relational analysis distinguishes between functional (notional) and structural (tangible) elements in the metabolic network, which allows a simultaneous characterization and geo-localization of the exploitation process across different scales and dimensions of analysis. Key aspects of the approach are illustrated with data from the Ecuadorian oil sector spanning the period 1972–2018. It is shown that by establishing a relation among the characteristics of the exploited oil fields (oil typology, age of field) and those of the exploitation process (requirement of energy carriers, labor, freshwater and power capacity and generation of greenhouse gases and oil-produced water), changes in the performance and environmental implications of the oil extraction system can be characterized at different points in space and time.

ACS Style

Rony Parra; Sandra G.F. Bukkens; Mario Giampietro. Exploration of the environmental implications of ageing conventional oil reserves with relational analysis. Science of The Total Environment 2020, 749, 142371 .

AMA Style

Rony Parra, Sandra G.F. Bukkens, Mario Giampietro. Exploration of the environmental implications of ageing conventional oil reserves with relational analysis. Science of The Total Environment. 2020; 749 ():142371.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rony Parra; Sandra G.F. Bukkens; Mario Giampietro. 2020. "Exploration of the environmental implications of ageing conventional oil reserves with relational analysis." Science of The Total Environment 749, no. : 142371.

Research article
Published: 03 July 2020 in Journal of Environmental Management
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Considering the existing world population, set of environmental impacts, and predicted changes in dietary trends, one can expect that, in the coming decades, food security will remain high on the list of sustainability concerns. In relation to this challenge, Europe's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) must address a diverse set of goals: (i) guarantee a stable and affordable food supply; (ii) preserve the socioeconomic stability of farmers by guaranteeing their economic viability; (iii) protect the environment by reducing pressures on agroecosystems; and (iv) improve food security by reducing import dependence. Policies related to these diverse goals are likely to generate adverse side-effects. A particularly uncomfortable concern is Europe's massive reliance on imported feed commodities. The European Union (EU) is unlikely to be capable of domestically producing currently imported agricultural commodities and a significant move to internalize imports would dramatically increase pressures on local ecosystems. Faced with that potential predicament, it is essential to have a robust information system capable of simultaneously addressing a variety of policy concerns. In response, this paper presents a novel accounting framework—Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM)—capable of generating an integrated set of indicators entangled across different scales and dimensions of analysis. Our versatile approach establishes a set of quantitative relations between: (i) the dietary intake of the society (desirability of the food supply); (ii) processes under human control (viability of the food system); (iii) processes outside of human control and associated with external biophysical limits determined by embedding ecosystems (feasibility of the food system); and (iv) the dependence on imported products (food security). The analysis of such relations can be tailored to the legitimate perceptions of different social actors affected by policies, anticipating potential conflicts and providing useful information for deliberation and negotiation. Our approach is illustrated with an analysis of the European agricultural system, covering the EU-27 plus the UK and Norway.

ACS Style

Juan José Cadillo-Benalcazar; Ansel Renner; Mario Giampietro. A multiscale integrated analysis of the factors characterizing the sustainability of food systems in Europe. Journal of Environmental Management 2020, 271, 110944 .

AMA Style

Juan José Cadillo-Benalcazar, Ansel Renner, Mario Giampietro. A multiscale integrated analysis of the factors characterizing the sustainability of food systems in Europe. Journal of Environmental Management. 2020; 271 ():110944.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Juan José Cadillo-Benalcazar; Ansel Renner; Mario Giampietro. 2020. "A multiscale integrated analysis of the factors characterizing the sustainability of food systems in Europe." Journal of Environmental Management 271, no. : 110944.

Journal article
Published: 18 May 2020 in Science of The Total Environment
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Small islands are vulnerable to climate change, and at the same time contribute to local and global environmental problems with the intensification of tourist activities. Whereas there are many studies on the resource requirements or environmental impacts of small islands, there are few efforts to integrate information that is often analysed separately. Metabolic analysis, beyond quantifying biophysical flows, studies how society transforms these flows to reproduce the identity of the whole. This study applies the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach, to analyse the environmental and economic performance of different economic activities in the Mediterranean island of Menorca (Spain). The openness of the metabolic system (observed in the dependence on imports) and externalization of environmental impact are illustrated using the examples of the cheese and tourist industry. The results show that a higher economic performance in terms of value added is associated with activities in industry and services with a larger dependence on imports of “external resources” – fuel for transportation, milk for cheese, seasonal workers and “paying capacity” of tourists. This dependence reduces local environmental pressures and also adaptation capacity, since decisions made in Menorca may have limited impact elsewhere. Local agriculture depends less on external resources but it is limited by the low economic productivity of land and labour. An integrated analysis of the relations between metabolic rates and densities of flows in the different compartments of the society provides a holistic picture of sustainability issues and can contribute to decision-making by avoiding partial information.

ACS Style

Alejandro Marcos-Valls; Zora Kovacic; Mario Giampietro; Giorgos Kallis; Joan Rieradevall. Isolated yet open: A metabolic analysis of Menorca. Science of The Total Environment 2020, 738, 139221 .

AMA Style

Alejandro Marcos-Valls, Zora Kovacic, Mario Giampietro, Giorgos Kallis, Joan Rieradevall. Isolated yet open: A metabolic analysis of Menorca. Science of The Total Environment. 2020; 738 ():139221.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alejandro Marcos-Valls; Zora Kovacic; Mario Giampietro; Giorgos Kallis; Joan Rieradevall. 2020. "Isolated yet open: A metabolic analysis of Menorca." Science of The Total Environment 738, no. : 139221.

Journal article
Published: 06 May 2020 in Environmental Science & Policy
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This paper explores the implications of the widespread success of the term circular economy in the institutional and public debate. The concept of circular economy in itself implies a logical contradiction: on the one hand, the concept acknowledges the dependence of the economy on biophysical flows; on the other hand, the proposed solution—a business model guaranteeing a full decoupling of the economy from natural resources—seemingly ignores that biophysical processes are subject to thermodynamic constraints. A biophysical view of the sustainability predicament—the flows exchanged between the technosphere and the biosphere — is depicted to show that the idea of a full decoupling is simply due to ignorance of the knowledge generated in (inter)disciplinary scientific fields other than the dominant economic one. The success of economics as an ‘elite folk science’ is explained by the need of the establishment to ignore uncomfortable knowledge that would destabilize existing institutions. The success of the term circular economy can be seen as an example of socially constructed ignorance in which folk tales are used to depoliticize the sustainability debate and to colonize the future through the endorsement of implausible socio-technical imaginaries. A strategy that can lead to an irresponsible management of expectation: implausible master narratives are impossible to govern. Rather than continuing to impose technocratic plans, as if we knew the optimal thing to do, Post-Normal Science suggests that it is much more effective and responsible to adopt a flexible management approach, exploring the ability of self-organization of social-ecological systems.

ACS Style

Mario Giampietro; Silvio O. Funtowicz. From elite folk science to the policy legend of the circular economy. Environmental Science & Policy 2020, 109, 64 -72.

AMA Style

Mario Giampietro, Silvio O. Funtowicz. From elite folk science to the policy legend of the circular economy. Environmental Science & Policy. 2020; 109 ():64-72.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mario Giampietro; Silvio O. Funtowicz. 2020. "From elite folk science to the policy legend of the circular economy." Environmental Science & Policy 109, no. : 64-72.

Journal article
Published: 04 May 2020 in Inference: International Review of Science
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In the modern world, we never eat alone. Each bite we take is accompanied by another form of consumption: the energy and materials devoured by the machines and technology that sustain our economy.

ACS Style

Mario Giampietro. The Hidden Costs of Good Eats. Inference: International Review of Science 2020, 5, 1 .

AMA Style

Mario Giampietro. The Hidden Costs of Good Eats. Inference: International Review of Science. 2020; 5 (2):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mario Giampietro. 2020. "The Hidden Costs of Good Eats." Inference: International Review of Science 5, no. 2: 1.

Journal article
Published: 01 April 2020 in Environmental Science & Policy
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ACS Style

Andrea Saltelli; Lorenzo Benini; Silvio Funtowicz; Mario Giampietro; Matthias Kaiser; Erik Reinert; Jeroen P. van der Sluijs. The technique is never neutral. How methodological choices condition the generation of narratives for sustainability. Environmental Science & Policy 2020, 106, 87 -98.

AMA Style

Andrea Saltelli, Lorenzo Benini, Silvio Funtowicz, Mario Giampietro, Matthias Kaiser, Erik Reinert, Jeroen P. van der Sluijs. The technique is never neutral. How methodological choices condition the generation of narratives for sustainability. Environmental Science & Policy. 2020; 106 ():87-98.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Andrea Saltelli; Lorenzo Benini; Silvio Funtowicz; Mario Giampietro; Matthias Kaiser; Erik Reinert; Jeroen P. van der Sluijs. 2020. "The technique is never neutral. How methodological choices condition the generation of narratives for sustainability." Environmental Science & Policy 106, no. : 87-98.

Journal article
Published: 21 January 2020 in Resources, Conservation and Recycling
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Developing economies largely rely on imported consumer goods from the manufacturing industries of industrialized economies through free-trade agreements. After consumption, goods end-up in local waste streams and landfilled because of poorly developed waste management systems. This paper proposes a methodology to extend responsibility to exporting country manufacturers for indirect waste disposal in developing countries through imported goods. It establishes a functional relationship between the weight and volume of the imported goods and the local municipal solid waste stream derived from their consumption, by adapting the recycling concepts of by-product and co-product to the municipal solid waste stream derived from the household sector. A lexicon is formalized to conceptualize an extended-producer-responsibility information system operating at the global level between exporting and importing countries. This EPR system i) determines the recyclability, reusability and treatability attributes of imported goods based on their constitutive parts (primary package or product), as well as the material value as per the net value in the global waste market and final destination once consumed, ii) defines specific conditions regarding the goods´ materials value and structural configuration of their constitutive parts for inclusion in Free-Trade Agreement clauses, and iii) checks for the fulfilment of these proposed conditions. The proposed methodology was validated with a case study on Panama. It was found that 24%(w/w)-34.5%(v/v) of valued materials derived from goods imported in Panama through FTAs could be exported back to the country of origin, 18%(w/w)-2.8%(v/v) could be locally reused, and 58%(w/w)-62.5%(v/v) locally valorized. Only 16% (w/w)-16%(v/v) would have to be landfilled.

ACS Style

Jorge M. Torrente-Velásquez; Maddalena Ripa; Rosaria Chifari; Sandra Bukkens; Mario Giampietro. A waste lexicon to negotiate extended producer responsibility in free trade agreements. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2020, 156, 104711 .

AMA Style

Jorge M. Torrente-Velásquez, Maddalena Ripa, Rosaria Chifari, Sandra Bukkens, Mario Giampietro. A waste lexicon to negotiate extended producer responsibility in free trade agreements. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 2020; 156 ():104711.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jorge M. Torrente-Velásquez; Maddalena Ripa; Rosaria Chifari; Sandra Bukkens; Mario Giampietro. 2020. "A waste lexicon to negotiate extended producer responsibility in free trade agreements." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 156, no. : 104711.

Journal article
Published: 27 December 2019 in Waste Management
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Existing studies have studied influencing factors of MSW generation behaviour at different spatial levels of organization, but always one at a time and not simultaneously. Income is a strong influencing factor, affecting MSW generation from the individual to the country level, capable of hiding the effects of the others. This study shows that when MSW generation behaviour is holistically analysed across multiple levels of organization (individuals, households, and communities) hierarchically organized as functional units of MSW generation within a specific study area, it is possible to identify influencing factors in addition to income (education, demographic, health, ethnic, economic activity and financial types) as explanatory variables. Increasing the number of influencing factors of MSW generation makes it possible to create a robust knowledge base for MSW management policies in fast-growing urban areas of developing countries, improving the information used to select proper policies and plans within their MSW management systems and avoiding overlapping policies causing legal gaps. Betania, an urban area of the Panama City district, has been chosen as a case study area. The results show that the household income explains 86% of its memberś MSW generation and the community indigenous population explains 21% of householdś MSW generation. It is concluded that MSW generation is not linear across levels, it has as many degrees of freedom as influencing factors shaping the levels of organization where functional units generating waste exist. Influencing factors appearing at each spatial level affects MSW generation in an interdependent manner in variable degrees of magnitude.

ACS Style

Jorge M. Torrente-Velásquez; Rosaria Chifari; Maddalena Ripa; Mario Giampietro. Robust information for effective municipal solid waste policies: Identifying behaviour of waste generation across spatial levels of organization. Waste Management 2019, 103, 208 -217.

AMA Style

Jorge M. Torrente-Velásquez, Rosaria Chifari, Maddalena Ripa, Mario Giampietro. Robust information for effective municipal solid waste policies: Identifying behaviour of waste generation across spatial levels of organization. Waste Management. 2019; 103 ():208-217.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jorge M. Torrente-Velásquez; Rosaria Chifari; Maddalena Ripa; Mario Giampietro. 2019. "Robust information for effective municipal solid waste policies: Identifying behaviour of waste generation across spatial levels of organization." Waste Management 103, no. : 208-217.

Journal article
Published: 07 December 2019 in Science of The Total Environment
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This paper studies landfill emissions and the related environmental and health risks in Panama City, with the aim to sensitize the population about the harmful effects of irresponsible resource consumption and non-deliberate solid waste generation that it is disposed of in an uncontrolled manner in landfills. Empirical data on Cerro Patacón, Panama City's landfill was obtained to describe the status of municipal waste disposal. Ten known methane generation models were used to estimate the yearly emission rate of methane from the landfill for a 100-year period starting from its inception in 1986. From the models used, the GasSIM model was chosen to estimate emission rates of six long-term hazardous air pollutants. The AERMOD source dispersion model was used to simulate their atmospheric downwind dispersion by levels of concentration over nearby affected communities; results were mapped in Google Earth. The relative contributions by population of the 32 towns making up Panama City to the forecasted waste generation in 2022 and related hazardous air pollutants emission rates from the landfill were assessed. It was found that Cerro Patacón will generate 45% of the countrywide methane generation by 2022; an average of 47 Gg. The solid waste generated by the 1.5 million inhabitants of Panama City impacts the health of ~73,600 inhabitants in nearby communities through the dispersion of hazardous atmospheric pollutants derived from the landfill. The highest emission rates were from hydrogen sulfide and dichloromethane, which can be largely attributed to the waste generated by the communities of Juan Diaz and Tocúmen. The concentration of hydrogen sulfide and benzene was over the reference concentration (uncertainty factor spanning three orders of magnitude) for all communities and years simulated. The concentration of vinyl chloride was over the RfC for all communities and years simulated, except in 2018 for 12 communities.

ACS Style

Jorge M. Torrente-Velásquez; Mario Giampietro; Maddalena Ripa; Rosaria Chifari. Landfill reactions to society actions: The case of local and global air pollutants of Cerro Patacón in Panama. Science of The Total Environment 2019, 706, 135988 .

AMA Style

Jorge M. Torrente-Velásquez, Mario Giampietro, Maddalena Ripa, Rosaria Chifari. Landfill reactions to society actions: The case of local and global air pollutants of Cerro Patacón in Panama. Science of The Total Environment. 2019; 706 ():135988.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jorge M. Torrente-Velásquez; Mario Giampietro; Maddalena Ripa; Rosaria Chifari. 2019. "Landfill reactions to society actions: The case of local and global air pollutants of Cerro Patacón in Panama." Science of The Total Environment 706, no. : 135988.