EMERGY ASSESSMENT METHOD FOR WHEAT CULTIVAR EFFICIENCY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY



Abstract

The method based on emergy was applied to quantify the fluxes of the energy, matter and monetary investment use (water, seeds, work, fertilizer and plant protecting agents, fuel, goods and services), productivity, environmental services and sustainability in typical wheat cultivar conducted in Wielkopolska. In order to convert all the flows mentioned into common base (seJ) a conversion factors (solar transformities) were used. In this way it was possible to consider also such flows that are free and generally neglected in the traditional balances. Generally only 52% emergy inflow is delivered by financial investment, while the remaining part, delivered in the form of the environmental services, is free. The Emergy Yield Ratio EYR = 1.14 indicate a low level of output per emergy investment unit. The values of Environmental Loading Ratio ELR = 11 and Emergy Sustainability Index ESI = 0.1 indicate an environmental stress and low level of cultivar sustainability, respectively. The final cultivar product (wheat) has the emergy density 4.35 E12 seJ/kg and transformity 26.3 E4 seJ/J.

Keywords

exergy; emergy; seJ; tranformity; emergy to money ratio; environmental index of sustainability


Published : 2009-12-31


Jankowiak, J., & Miedziejko, E. (2009). EMERGY ASSESSMENT METHOD FOR WHEAT CULTIVAR EFFICIENCY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY. Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development, 12(2), 75-84. Retrieved from http://www1.up.poznan.pl/jard/index.php/jard/article/view/794

Janusz Jankowiak  libcom@libcom.pl
Ewa Miedziejko 


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