Progress In Water Footprint Assessment

Water Footprint Assessment is a young research field that considers how freshwater use, scarcity, and pollution relate to consumption, production, and trade patterns. This book presents a wide range of studies within this new field. It is argued that collective and coordinated action—at different scale levels and along all stages of commodity supply chains—is necessary to bring about more sustainable, efficient, and equitable water use. The presented studies range from farm to catchment and country level, and show how different actors along the supply chain of final commodities can contribute to more sustainable water use in the chain.

Water Footprint Assessment is a young research field that considers how freshwater use, scarcity, and pollution relate to consumption, production, and trade patterns. This book presents a wide range of studies within this new field. It is argued that collective and coordinated action - at different scale levels and along all stages of commodity supply chains - is necessary to bring about more sustainable, efficient, and equitable water use. The presented studies range from farm to catchment and country level, and show how different actors along the supply chain of final commodities can contribute to more sustainable water use in the chain.

First Published in 2011. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Freshwater is a vital resource for humans and ecosystems but is scarce in many regions around the world. Organizations measure and manage direct water use at their premises but usually neglect the indirect water use associated with global supply chains – even though the latter can be higher by several orders of magnitude. As of 2015, there was no standardized life-cycle-based approach for analysing the water consumption of an organization. Against this background, the BMBF funded research project “Water Footprint for Organizations – Local Measures in Global Supply Chains (WELLE)” has been launched by TU Berlin, Evonik, German Copper Institute, Neoperl, thinkstep and Volkswagen. The project aims to support organizations in determining their complete Organizational Water Footprint, identifying local hotspots in global supply chains and taking action to reduce their water use and mitigate water stress at critical basins. Within the WELLE project a method for analysing an Organizational Water Footprint has been developed, which analyses an organization’s water use and resulting local impacts throughout its entire value chain. In other words, the Organizational Water Footprint considers not only the direct water use at production facilities, but also the water used indirectly for energy generation and raw material production (upstream in the supply chain) as well as water use during the use and end-of-life phases of products (downstream). The Organizational Water Footprint method builds on two environmental assessment frameworks which have been identified as suitable for the purpose of this project: Water Footprint (ISO 14046, 2014 and Organizational Life Cycle Assessment (UNEP 2015). To support stakeholders in conducting Organizational Water Footprint studies, this guidance document was developed, which presents the method in a clear and concise way by illustrating each step with a practical example. By analysing their Water Footprints, organizations can determine water use and resulting local impacts at premises and “beyond the fence” along global supply chains. In this way they can reduce water risks and contribute to a more sustainable use of the world’s limited freshwater resources. Süßwasser ist eine lebenswichtige Ressource für Menschen und Ökosysteme, ist aber in vielen Regionen der Welt knapp. Organisationen messen und managen den direkten Wasserverbrauch an ihrem Standort, vernachlässigen aber in der Regel den indirekten Wasserverbrauch, der mit globalen Lieferketten verbunden ist - obwohl Letzterer um mehrere Größenordnungen höher sein kann. Bis 2015 gab es keinen standardisierten lebenszyklusbasierten Ansatz, um den Wasserverbrauch einer Organisation zu analysieren. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurde das vom BMBF geförderte Forschungsprojekt "Water Footprint for Organizations - Local Measures in Global Supply Chains (WELLE)" von der TU Berlin, Evonik, dem Deutschen Kupferinstitut, Neoperl, thinkstep und Volkswagen gestartet. Das Projekt zielt darauf ab, Unternehmen dabei zu unterstützen, ihren kompletten organisatorischen Wasserfußabdruck zu bestimmen, lokale Hotspots in globalen Lieferketten zu identifizieren und Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, um ihren Wasserverbrauch zu reduzieren und den Wasserstress in wasserknappen Einzugsgebieten zu mindern. Im Rahmen des WELLE-Projekts wurde eine Methode zur Analyse eines Organisationsbezogenen Wasser Fußabdrucks entwickelt, die den Wasserverbrauch einer Organisation und die daraus resultierenden lokalen Auswirkungen entlang der gesamten Wertschöpfungskette analysiert. Das heißt, der organisationsbezogene Wasser Fußabdruck berücksichtigt nicht nur den direkten Wasserverbrauch in den Produktionsstätten, sondern auch den indirekten Wasserverbrauch für die Energieerzeugung und die Rohstoffproduktion (vorgelagert in der Lieferkette) sowie den Wasserverbrauch während der Nutzungs- und End-of-Life-Phase der Produktion (nachgelagert). Die Methode des organisationsbezogenen Wasser Fußabdrucks baut auf zwei Umweltbewertungsrichtlinien auf, die für den Zweck dieses Projekts als geeignet identifiziert wurden: Wasser Fußabdruck (ISO 14046, 2014) und organisationsbezogene Ökobilanzierung (UNEP 2015). Um Akteure bei der Durchführung von organisationsbezogenen Wasser Fußabdruck Studien zu unterstützen, wurde dieser Leitfaden entwickelt, der die Methode klar und übersichtlich darstellt und indem jeder Schritt mit einem praktischen Beispiel illustriert wird. Durch die Analyse ihres Wasser-Fußabdrucks können Organisationen den Wasserverbrauch und die daraus resultierenden lokalen Auswirkungen am Standort und entlang globaler Lieferketten ermitteln. Auf diese Weise können sie Wasserrisiken reduzieren und zu einem nachhaltigeren Umgang mit den begrenzten Süßwasserressourcen der Welt beitragen.

Assessing Progress toward Sustainability: Frameworks, Tools, and Case Studies provides practical frameworks for measuring progress toward sustainability in various areas of production, consumption, services and urban development as they relate to environmental impact. A variety of policies/strategies or frameworks are available at national and international levels. This book presents an integrated approach to sustainability progress measurement by considering both the frameworks and methodological developments of various tools, as well as their implementation in assessing the sustainability of processes, products and services through a global perspective. Combining methods and their application, the book covers a variety of topics, including lifecycle assessment, risk assessment, nexus thinking, and connection to SDGs. Organized clearly into three main sections --Frameworks, Tools, and Case Studies--this book can serve as a practical resource for researchers and practitioners alike in environmental science, sustainability, environmental management and environmental engineering. Offers an integrated approach to sustainability assessment using the most up-to-date frameworks and tools Includes extensive, diverse case studies to illustrate the methods and process for using the frameworks and tools outlined Provides practical insights related to challenges and opportunities to reduce environmental impacts and increase resources and energy efficiency

Using the water footprint concept, this impactful book aids our understanding of how we can reduce water consumption and pollution to sustainable levels. Since the publication of the first edition, the question of how to reduce our water footprint has become even more urgent. Freshwater scarcity is increasingly perceived as a global systemic risk and overconsumption of water is widespread. The water footprint, a concept founded by the author, is an indicator of direct and indirect freshwater use by a consumer or producer that can be used to analyze water usage along supply chains and assess the sustainability, efficiency and fairness of our water use. This new edition is fully revised and updated to reflect continued developments in this rapidly growing field of knowledge. New chapters are added covering the history of the water footprint concept; the environmental footprint of the human species versus planetary boundaries; and the human right to water as a foundation to equitable sharing. All other chapters are fully revised with new findings, applications and references, including major new research on energy, vegetarian diets and intelligent water allocation over competing demands. The Water Footprint of Modern Consumer Society is a key textbook for students of interdisciplinary water studies and those taking other related courses within the environmental sciences. It will also be of interest to those working in the governmental sector, environmental and consumer organizations, the business sector and UN institutions, where there is growing interest in the water footprint concept.

This book covers the latest developments in life cycle assessment LCA both in terms of methodology and its application in various research areas. It includes methodological questions as well as case studies concerning energy and mobility, materials and engineering, sustainable construction and future technologies. With numerous research articles from leading German and Austrian research institutes, the book is a valuable source for professionals working in the field of sustainability assessment, researchers interested in the current state of LCA research, and advanced university students in various scientific and technical fields. Chapter “Life Cycle Assessment of a Hydrogen and Fuel Cell RoPax Ferry Prototype” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This book is a state of the art treatise on what has been done so far on measuring sustainability for decision making. Contributions will appeal to engineers and scientists engaged in technology development, assessment, and verification. Researchers working on engineering sustainability are likely to get ideas for further research in quantifying sustainability for industrial systems. Concepts described can be applied across all scales, from process technology to global sustainability; and challenges and limitations are also addressed. Readers will discover important insights about simulation-based approaches to process design and quantitative measurement techniques of sustainability for business and technology systems. Most of the examples and case studies are from chemical enterprises but the methodologies presented could be applicable to any system for which quantitative data for indicators are available, and the choice of the set of indicators of sustainability are comprehensive.