Suchergebnisse

This paper shows the possible use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) methodologies in analyzing the eco-efficiency of agriculture. To use the descriptive and analytic method, the problem of product life-cycle costs identification and assessment was presented (assumptions for the methodology of costing in terms of carbon footprint of production processes). A detailed analysis was performed of eco-costs which are not addressed in traditional enterprise accounts. Determining the eco-efficiency of agricultural production systems is consistent with the sustainable agricultural development concept and is a crucial aspect of CSR compliance in the agricultural sector. This is a conceptual paper and a starting point for further discussion and empirical studies.

This paper evaluates the eco-efficiency performance of agriculture at the sector level using the joint application of life cycle assessment (LCA) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) techniques. The research has been performed for the agricultural production of the 28 member states of the European Union (the EU-28). The foundation for the calculation of the eco-efficiency performance was a statistically selected set of impact categories derived from the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) phase as input values and economic indicators, with the gross domestic product (GDP) of their agriculture as the output value. The results of the analysis showed that the agricultural sectors of 10 member states of the European Union (i.e., Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania, and Sweden) are relatively eco-efficient. The remaining 18 member states of the EU-28 have eco-inefficient agricultural sectors, though to a varying extent. This means that their agricultural sectors consume too many natural resources (in particular, energy), use too much fertilizer, and produce considerable amounts of airborne emissions in relation to the current level of GDP per hectare. These insights into the eco-efficiency performance of agriculture in the EU-28 may contribute to the adoption of better management techniques and more effective agricultural policies.

Goes beyond explaining the past and present of eco-efficiency to look forward to a future where the comprehensive take-up of the concept by business, government and consumers could lead to innovation on a grand scale and the possibility of a giant leap towards overall sustainability.

In the last few years, countries and commercial firms are increasingly interested in space activities for civil, military, and commercial purposes (Undseth et al., 2020). As it has been shown in NASA report (2019), investment in space program drives to significant economic benefits to the whole society. We propose the first methodological paper to empirically study the efficiency of satellite launches employing the Data Envelopment Analysis input-oriented technique. We show that overall average efficiency is quite low and that it can significantly be improved by studying subsamples of DMUs according to user, purpose, and class of orbit. The most relevant results can be achieved in the communications purpose cluster where the bias corrected efficiency scores tripled with respect to average efficiency level reached by overall estimates. Hence, the scope of satellites seems to affect the mission efficiency and, even more relevant, the future creation of debris.