Energy return on investment of Austrian sugar beet: A small-scale comparison between organic and conventional production

Atlason, Reynir Smári; Sandén, Taru; Davíðsdóttir, Brynhildur; Gísladóttir, Guðrún; Brocza, Flora Maria; Unnþórsson, Rúnar; Ragnarsdóttir, Kristín Vala

doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2015.02.032

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…When comparing the energy efficiency in animal food production, be it for fish, beef or other types to vegetable production, it is evident that meat production is more energy intensive, regardless how it is viewed. This difference has been demonstrated through numerous studies (Liu and Gu 2016;Atlason et al 2015b;Markussen and Østergård 2013;Pimentel and Pimentel 2007). One way to explain this difference in EROI between meat and vegetable production is by comparing the production processes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Return on Investment for Aquaponics: Case Studies from Iceland and Spain

Atlason

Danner

Unnþórsson

et al. 2017

Biophys Econ Resour Qual

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system as fertilizer for plants. In this paper, we analyse the operational performance of three aquaponic systems. Two systems were located in Iceland, and one in northern Spain. We also analyse the energy output with respect to edible protein contents. After 10 years of partially simulated operation, the EROI of the Hondarribia, Sudarvogur and Akur systems was 0.055:1, 0.016:1 and 0.106:1, respectively. Our results indicate that aquaponic operations benefit from operating within a greenhouse and that direct electricity consumption is the largest energy input in the aquaponics systems. The aquaponics systems studied returned one half to one tenth the EROI as compared to conventional fisheries or aquaculture.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Return on Investment for Aquaponics: Case Studies from Iceland and Spain

Atlason

Danner

Unnþórsson

et al. 2017

Biophys Econ Resour Qual

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“…Ethanol obtained from sugar beet probably has a lower EROI of around 3, but this is still higher than most estimates for corn ethanol and around the minimal level arguably considered necessary to be useful to society 23,24 . There may also be potential for reasonable EROIs to be achieved with organic farming, which would further decrease our reliance on fossil fuels 25 .…”

Section: The Sustainability Challenges Of Biofuelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sugar taxation for climate and sustainability goals

King

Bergh

2022

Nat Sustain

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Meeting environmental sustainability goals while simultaneously recovering from the health and economic crises arising from the coronavirus pandemic requires creative policy solutions. Sugar taxation presents one such policy as sugar crops are arguably the least efficient to consume from a health perspective but the most efficient for biofuel production. Here we analyse the sustainability co-benefits of reducing sugar consumption through redirecting existing sugar cropland to alternative uses. Emissions could fall 20.9-54.3 Mt CO 2 e yr −1 if the EU were to reduce its sugar consumption in line with health guidelines and the excess Brazilian sugar cane redirected to ethanol. These savings would be around four times higher than an alternative strategy of afforesting existing EU sugar beet cropland and double those from producing sugar beet ethanol in the European Union. Achieving this through policies aimed at behavioural change, with a serious role for sugar taxation, would not only reduce the environmental impacts of biofuels but also provide health and economic benefits.

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