The economic growth of the last decades has induced a great withdrawal of raw materials from nature, favouring, at the same time, the release of a great amount of harmful substances. An important consequence has been the alteration in the equilibrium of ecosystems as well as harm to living creatures. These problems have generated an increasing attention to the mass of materials that flows in the whole national economy, in single industries and in the life cycles of commodities. The collection of these kinds of data should be useful to define the environmental burden of a commodity and to prevent the detrimental consequences of human activities on the natural ecosystems. This paper analyses the material and energy flows of sugar beets cultivation. It completes the analysis of the beet sugar industry; a material flow analysis of the sugar production chain has been presented in a previous paper. Environmental aspects will be also studied. Photosynthesis in sugar beets will be considered; CO2 consumption, sun energy utilization, biomass and oxygen production will be analyzed as inputs and outputs of this process.
Material flow analysis of sugar beet cultivation
AMICARELLI, Vera;LAGIOIA, Giovanni;
2007-01-01
Abstract
The economic growth of the last decades has induced a great withdrawal of raw materials from nature, favouring, at the same time, the release of a great amount of harmful substances. An important consequence has been the alteration in the equilibrium of ecosystems as well as harm to living creatures. These problems have generated an increasing attention to the mass of materials that flows in the whole national economy, in single industries and in the life cycles of commodities. The collection of these kinds of data should be useful to define the environmental burden of a commodity and to prevent the detrimental consequences of human activities on the natural ecosystems. This paper analyses the material and energy flows of sugar beets cultivation. It completes the analysis of the beet sugar industry; a material flow analysis of the sugar production chain has been presented in a previous paper. Environmental aspects will be also studied. Photosynthesis in sugar beets will be considered; CO2 consumption, sun energy utilization, biomass and oxygen production will be analyzed as inputs and outputs of this process.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
