This research quantifies the international electric payments embodied in goods and services, for the purpose of moving towards a clear and fair electric exchange within international footprint ...accounts. The electric consumption and related cost of 43 countries that represent 84% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been calculated, shifting from traditionally used Production-Based Accounting (PBA) to Consumption-Based Accounting (CBA). This research has identified not only the electric cost for what is produced in each country, but also the electric cost embodied in imported and exported goods and services. The difference between Production- and Consumption-Based Accounts has been defined as “Hidden Electric Cost” (HEC). Secondly, we have calculated the hypothetical national electric cost if countries were to produce within their own borders all the goods and services they consume. The difference between the current electric footprint cost and hypothetical self-sufficiency cost has been referred to as “Justice in Electricity Costs” (JIEC), an indicator which shows how much a country would have to spend to achieve electric sovereignty. This indicator reveals that there are countries (usually developed ones) that would face greater costs than what they currently pay by outsourcing the production of goods to other less developed countries. The study shows that, from the 43 countries analysed, and the Rest of the World (RoW) considered a 44th one, the ten most developed ones are spending on average 14.36% more on electricity than declared, and the ten least developed ones, 1.35% less than declared. At the same time, the 10 most developed countries would have to spend even 0.86% more to achieve electrical sovereignty, while for the ten least developed countries this would mean savings of 1.04%. In addition, a more specific analysis has been made for the textile and agriculture sectors, showing the ten countries with the highest Human Development Index (HDI) among those analysed would have to spend 438.75% more on average to pay for imported electricity at national price and achieve electric sovereignty for the textile sector, and 24.4% more for the agriculture sector. In the interests of achieving fair global electric payments, it would be appropriate for countries to take these variations in payments into account in international relations so as to move towards greater international justice.
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Identifying the energy needs of citizens and taking into account different lifestyles and patterns of consumption is a first step for a global transformation towards renewable, fair and democratic ...energy systems. Currently, Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) is the most widely used metric of energy consumption, which only includes the energy consumed within a country. This research addresses an alternative indicator, Total Primary Energy Footprint (TPEF), which also includes the energy embedded in imported goods and services. The research is innovative in its pioneering combination of a Global Multi-Regional Input-Output (GMRIO) methodology with household budget surveys (HBS) and consumption to production sectorial bridge matrices to calculate TPEF at a small community level. Errekaleor, the largest off-grid alternative intentional community located in Basque Country, Spain, was taken as a case study.
The results show, firstly, that alternative communal living can reduce energy consumption. In terms of the specific case study, even if direct residential energy consumption (4.46 MWh·cap−1·yr−1) was shown to be 32 % and 15 % higher in Errekaleor as compared with Basque and Spanish averages, a TPEF of 31.10 MWh·cap−1·yr−1 per capita was determined for the community, 24 % and 14 % below the regional and national averages. Secondly, the relevance of indirect energy embedded in acquired goods and services in determining consumption-based energy use was shown. This accounts for 80.7 % of total consumption in Spain, 74.9 % in the Basque Country, and 66.3 % in Errekaleor. Within Errekaleor, individual arrangements impacted significantly, as people living in families have 33.5 % smaller energy footprints (28.45 MWh·cap−1·yr−1) than individuals living alone (42.79 MWh·cap−1·yr−1), who have a TPEF above the Basque average. Thus, the combination of GMRIO and HBS in the analyzed bottom-up case study made an important contribution in terms of clarifying the existing debate about the relative energy efficiency of alternative communities.
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Aprotic lithium–oxygen (Li–O2) batteries are a prominent example of ultrahigh energy density batteries. Although Li–O2 batteries hold a great potential for large-scale electrochemical energy storage ...and electric vehicles, their implementation is lagging due to the complex reactions occurring at the cathode. Great effort has been applied to find practical cathodes through the incorporation of different materials acting as catalysts. Here we tap into the quantification of the environmental footprint of seven high-performance Li–O2 batteries. The batteries were standardized to feed a 60 kWh electric vehicle. Life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology is applied to determine and compare how different batteries and respective components contribute to environmental footprints, categorized in 18 groups. To get a bigger picture, results are compared with the environmental burdens of a reference lithium ion battery, reference sodium ion battery, and the average value of lithium–sulfur batteries. Overall, Li–O2 batteries present lower environmental burdens in 9 impact categories, with similar impacts in 5 categories in comparison with lithium–sulfur and lithium ion batteries. With an average value of 55.76 kg·CO2 equiv in Global Warming Potential for the whole Li–O2 battery, the cathode is the major contributor, with a relative weight of 44.5%. These results provide a road map to enable the practical design of sustainable aprotic Li–O2 batteries within a circular economy perspective.
There is a global need to create an environmentally low-impact and socially fair international food and agriculture system. Specifically, in the case of chocolate, since it is difficult to produce ...locally in consumer countries, the socio-economic impact and benefits of its production have long been unfairly distributed. This research analyses the differences between the global environmental impacts of Fairtrade-certified and organically produced cocoa (from Peru), sold in the form of a chocolate bar purchased in the Basque Country (Europe), and the respective average conventional product made with non-organic cocoa beans (from Ivory Coast). Life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was used to calculate five impact categories, while ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint Hierarchist was used to analyse the global warming potential (GWP), terrestrial ecotoxicity (TE), and environmental footprint (ENVF, for land use); AWARE was used to measure the water footprint (WF); and cumulative energy demand (CED) assessed energy footprint (EF). The selected functional unit (FU) is 1 kg of final chocolate bar (72% cocoa), extrapolating the characteristics of a 150 g bar. The system boundaries take into account a cradle-to-gate LCA covering the following phases: the production of ingredients, the processing of cocoa paste, transportation and packaging, the manufacture of the chocolate, and its final retail distribution. The results show that certified Organic Agriculture and Fairtrade (OA&FT) chocolate had an average global warming potential (GWP) of 3.37 kg CO2-eq per kilogram, 57.3% lower than Conventional Agriculture (CA)-based chocolate, with the greatest reduction associated with the production of ingredients, at −71.8%. The OA&FT chocolate studied had an 87.4% lower impact in the category of terrestrial ecotoxicity (TE) than that of the CA-based chocolate, yielding 13.7 and 108.6 kg 1,4-DCB per kilogram, respectively. The greatest reduction in the TE impact category also occurred for the OA&FT chocolate in the ingredient production phase, at 93%. Reductions in energy footprint (EF) and water footprint (WF) were also observed in the OA&FT product (21% and 5%). In contrast, although OA&FT processing drastically reduced the associated environmental loads, an increase in packaging and transport phase impacts was observed in the GWP and TE categories (95% and 107%, respectively). Similarly, an increase of 18.7% was observed in the land use footprint for the OA&FT chocolate. The greater need for cropland is compensated by the reduction of 449.02 kg 1,4-DCB·person−1 year−1 in the TE category. This research shows that replacing the current consumption of CA cocoa with OA&FT cocoa has the potential to reduce the GWP by 21.95 kg CO2-eq·person−1·year−1, reducing the current Basque average emission range of 8.4 tCO2-eq·year−1 by 0.26%. As a future subject to study, it was also found that the impact of long-distance maritime transportation and packaging could still have the potential to be reduced, it currently being the cause of up to 11% of the GWP from OA&FT cocoa.
Background:
Bipolar Disorder (BD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) have clinically been evolving as separate disorders, though there is still debate on the nosological valence of both ...conditions, their interaction in terms of co-morbidity or disorder spectrum and their distinct pathophysiology.
Objective:
The objective of this review is to summarize evidence regarding clinical features, neuropsychological performance and neuroimaging findings from cross-diagnostic studies comparing BD and BPD, to further caracterize their complex interplay.
Methods:
Using PubMed, PsycINFO and TripDataBase, we conducted a systematic literature search based on PRISMA guidelines of studies published from January 1980 to September 2019 which directly compared BD and BPD.
Results:
A total of 28 studies comparing BD and BPD were included: 19 compared clinical features, 6 neuropsychological performance and three neuroimaging abnormalities. Depressive symptoms have an earlier onset in BPD than BD. BD patients present more mixed or manic symptoms, with BD-I differing from BPD in manic phases. BPD patients show more negative attitudes toward others and self, more conflictive interpersonal relationships, and more maladaptive regulation strategies in affective instability with separate pathways. Impulsivity seems more a trait in BPD rather than a state as in BD. Otherwise, BD and BPD overlap in depressive and anxious symptoms, dysphoria, various abnormal temperamental traits, suicidal ideation, and childhood trauma. Both disorders differ and share deficits in neuropsychological and neuroimaging findings.
Conclusion:
Clinical data provide evidence of overlapping features in both disorders, with most of those shared symptoms being more persistent and intense in BPD. Thus, categorical classifications should be compared to dimensional approaches in transdiagnostic studies investigating BPD features in BD regarding their respective explanatory power for individual trajectories.
Systematic Review Registration:
The search strategy was pre-registered in PROSPERO: CRD42018100268.
Rewetting drained agricultural peatlands aids in restoring their original ecosystem functions, including carbon storage and sustaining unique biodiversity. 30–60 cm of topsoil removal (TSR) before ...rewetting for
Sphagnum
establishment is a common practice to reduce nutrient concentrations and greenhouse gas emissions, and increase water conductivity. However, the topsoil is carbon-dense and preservation in situ would be favorable from a climate-mitigation perspective. The effect of reduced TSR on
Sphagnum
establishment and nutrient dynamics on degraded and rewetted raised bogs remains to be elucidated. We conducted a two-year field experiment under
Sphagnum
paludiculture management with three TSR depths: no-removal (TSR0), 5–10 cm (TSR5), and 30 cm (TSR30) removal. We tested the effects of TSR on
Sphagnum
establishment and performance, nutrient dynamics, and hotspot methane emissions. After two years, TSR5 produced similar
Sphagnum
biomass as TSR30, while vascular plant biomass was highest in TSR0. All capitula nitrogen (N > 12 mg/g) indicated N-saturation. Phosphorus (P) was not limiting (N/P < 30), but a potential potassium (K) limitation was observed in year one (N/K > 3). In TSR0, ammonium concentrations were > 150 µmol/l in year one, but decreased by 80% in year two. P-concentrations remained high (
c.
100 µmol/l) at TSR0 and TSR5, and remained low at TSR30. TSR30 and TSR5 reduced hotspot methane emissions relative to TSR0. We conclude that all TSR practices have their own advantages and disadvantages with respect to
Sphagnum
growth, nutrient availability and vegetation development. While TSR5 may be the most suitable for paludiculture, its applicability for restoration purposes remains to be elucidated. Setting prioritized targets when selecting the optimal TSR with peatland rewetting is pivotal.
The global demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has witnessed an unprecedented increase during the last decade and is expected to do so in the future. Although the service life of batteries could ...be expanded using Circular Economy approaches such as repair or remanufacture, batteries will inevitably become a huge waste stream as electric vehicles gain popularity. Battery recycling reintroduces end-of-life materials back into the economic cycle and prevents landfill scenarios. The reclamation of materials from spent batteries in general, and cathodes in particular, reduces the pressure over finite critical raw materials such as cobalt, nickel, lithium, or manganese and avoids severe heavy metal contamination issues associated with battery disposal. To establish a sustainable battery-recycling industry, the environmental impact assessment of cathode-recycling approaches is urgently needed. Accordingly, a life-cycle assessment methodology is applied to quantify and compare the environmental impacts of nine hydrometallurgical laboratory-scale LIB cathode-recycling processes in 18 impact indicators such as global warming potential. The LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 cathode is selected given its predominant market share among electric vehicles. Hydrometallurgical recycling approaches based on inorganic acid-leaching (hydrochloric, sulfuric, and phosphoric acids), inorganic alkali-leaching (ammonia/sodium sulfite), organic leachates (citric, formic, or lactic acids), and bio-leaching processes are analyzed. Scaling up the recycling to 1 kg cathode, global warming values from 25.1 to 95.2 kg·CO2-equiv per 1 kg of recycled cathode are obtained. The processes based on HCl and H2SO4/H2O2 and the autotrophic bio-leaching process are preferred to lower greenhouse gas emissions and toxicity- and resource-related potential impacts. The choice of chemicals, the energy consumption, and more importantly, material efficiency emerge as the cornerstones to achieve environmentally sustainable processes. A sensitivity analysis demonstrates the potential to reduce the impacts by transitioning to a renewable energy mix, reaching a global warming value of 5.01 kg·CO2-equiv·kgcathode –1. These results provide guidance toward further process optimization through eco-design approaches, securing the long-term sustainability of LIBs.
This work has calculated the organisational environmental and social footprint of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) in 2016. First, input and output data flows of the UPV/EHU activity ...were collected. Next, the environmental and social impacts of the academic activity were modelled, using the Ecoinvent 3.3 database with the PSILCA-based Soca v1 module in openLCA software. In order to evaluate the environmental impacts, CML and ReCiPe LCIA methods were used. The Social Impact Weighting Method was adjusted for the assessment of specific social impacts.
The modelling has identified some hotspots in the organisation. The contribution of transport (8,900 km per user, annually) is close to 60% in most of the environmental impacts considered. The life cycle of computers stands out among the impacts derived from the consumption of material products. More than half of environmental impacts are located outside the Basque Country. This work has also made it possible to estimate some of the impacts of the organisational social footprint, such as accidents at work, only some of which occur at the UPV/EHU. Traces of child labour and illiteracy have also been detected in the social footprint that supports the activity of the UPV/EHU. Some of the social and environmental impacts analysed are not directly generated by the UPV/EHU, but they all demand attention and co-responsibility.
Based on the modelling performed, this work explores alternative scenarios and recommends some improvement actions which may reduce (in some cases over 30%) the environmental and social impacts of the UPV/EHU's activity. These scenarios and improvement actions will feed a process with stakeholders in the UPV/EHU based on the Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methodology.
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•The environmental and social footprint of the UPV/EHU was calculated.•Three campuses, with different transport needs, and around 47,000 users in the year 2016.•Impacts were modelled using Ecoinvent 3.3 and Soca (PSILCA) databases in openLCA software.•More than half of the environmental impacts derive from transport needs.•Most of the environmental impacts are located outside the Basque Country.
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