'Small-scale' tourism versus traditional tourism: Which will be the new key to achieve the desired sustainable tourism?

The tourism sector after COVID-19 has raised different concerns that have lead to a development towards a more sustainable model of tourism. After the health crisis, the increase in environmental awareness of tourists has become evident. In this context, the great paradigm of 'small-scale' tourism has been developed as opposed to traditional tourism. The present work seeks to contribute to sustainable development in the Spanish tourism sector, comparing a hostel in Cantabria (considered as 'small scale' /religious tourism) and a hotel in Lloret de Mar (considered as a traditional tourism) one using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to verify advantages and disadvantages of both types of tourism. The functional unit (FU) used was 'per guest night with breakfast included'. The results have revealed similar results for both establishments in all impact categories, as can be seen in its contribution to Climate Change (4.41 kg CO2 eq./FU caused by the hotel and 4.78 kg CO2 eq./FU by the hostel). The electricity consumption and the impact of the breakfast in the hostel were identified as main contributors to environmental burdens (with 76.72 % of the hotel's impact to climate change and 77.36 % for the hostel); hence, improvement opportunities envisaged were focused on these critical points. On the one hand, a biomass boiler, a solar water-heating system and a hybrid solar/biomass heating are considered a more sustainable alternatives related to electricity. Natural gas and diesel Consumption, respectively. On the other hand, oatmeal, Greek yoghurt and berries are good options for a breakfast with a reduced environmental impact. It is also important to implement responsible and green practices in order to achieve more environmentally sustainable alternative and traditional accommodations. Therefore, it can be concluded by stating that LCA is a tool capable of identifying and studying the processes with the highest environmental impact in order to find out the most sustainable form of tourism.

Life cycle assessment to address the environmental impacts of tourism in a Spanish tourist destination: The case of Rias Baixas (Galicia) holidays.

Tourism has grown steadily in recent decades, becoming a strategic sector for the economy in many countries. However, the environmental impacts associated with tourism have also experienced an upward trend. In this sense, innovation is needed in the tourism sector, to move towards new models and strategies that integrate environmental sustainability with the social aspects of the sector. In this study, a holistic assessment of the environmental impact of tourism has been carried out using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, considering all stages of tourism activity: transportation from the place of origin to destination and back, accommodation, catering, and activities conducted. For this purpose, a case study has been carried out based on a typical trip made from Madrid to Rías Baixas (Galicia), considering a four-night stay and the performance of two activities (music festival and cultural museum) at the destination. Two alternative transportation scenarios (train or plane) have been defined to analyze the influence of the type of transportation on the overall impact. Other touristic activities such as visiting gardens or thermal baths instead of visiting a cultural museum or attending a music festival have been analyzed and it has been found that the thermal baths and the museum have the greatest environmental impacts. Transportation was the biggest contributor to most of the environmental impacts in the selected categories. On the other hand, the stay at the destination has stood out due to the impact of the consumption of food and energy used at the accommodation facility. The impact of the activities conducted at the destination is also worth highlighting. Finally, alternative scenarios for transportation have shown that the mode of transportation selected is key for lowering the overall environmental impact of the stay at the destination, highlighting the public transportation alternative, such as the train, as the most environmentally friendly option.

Environmental performance of Cantabrian (Northern Spain) pelagic fisheries: Assessment of purse seine and minor art fleets under a life cycle approach.

The perpetuation of fishing activity from an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable approach is essential to guarantee not only the future of coastal populations, but also the supply of high-value seafood for society and the safeguarding of cultural heritage. This article aims to assess the environmental performance associated with fishing fleet operations in Cantabria (northern Spain) under a life cycle thinking from a holistic approach. Thus, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was applied under a 'cradle-to-port' approach, setting the functional unit as 1 kg of fresh fish landed. Inventory data on the main inputs and outputs were collected from a sample of 57 vessels covering for the first time the main techniques, purse seine and minor art fisheries. The results identified that the vessel use stage was the responsible of most of the impacts. In line with the literature, diesel consumption stood as the chief hotspot in six of the seven impact categories analysed. Purse seiners got a value of 0.25 kg of fuel per kg of fish landed, while the performance of the minor art fleet showed significantly lower consumption (0.07). Regarding impacts on climate change, this study found a quantity of 1.00 and 0.34 kg CO2 eq. per FU, for purse seine and minor arts, respectively. These figures were consistent with the expected results for pelagic fisheries. For the remaining indicators, purse seiners generally performed worse. The LCA methodology provided outcomes that allow the proposal of potential improvements and measures to foster the transition towards a more sustainable smart-fishing sector. Further research efforts should focus on the development and implementation of renewable energy and low-carbon vessel propulsion technologies.

Water-Energy-Food Nexus and Life Cycle Thinking: A New Approach to Environmental and Nutritional Assessment of Potato Chips.

The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus has become a key concept to promote the cross-sectoral coordination toward sustainable development. In particular, understanding the interdependences of these pillars, as well as addressing a life cycle perspective, is essential when evaluating food production systems. This study explores the environmental impacts and nutritional quality of potato chips, addressing life cycle thinking and a WEF nexus approach. For this purpose, the combined application of life cycle assessment (LCA) and the Nutrient-Rich Food 9.3 (NRF9.3) index was considered to identify the main environmental hotspots and advanced opportunities. The results indicated a major contribution of the cultivation stage on water use, whereas the processing accounted for most of the impacts in energy-related indicators and eutrophication potentials. Improvement opportunities reside in the joint application of drip irrigation, allowing to achieve important water savings, as well as the use of natural gas or pellets instead of diesel, which constitute cleaner energy sources. On the other hand, a poor nutritional density of potato chips became evident from the quantification of the NRF9.3, which can be significantly improved if potatoes undergo a roasted process instead of frying.

Environmental sustainability of alternative marine propulsion technologies powered by hydrogen - a life cycle assessment approach.

Shipping is a very important source of pollution worldwide. In recent years, numerous actions and measures have been developed trying to reduce the levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) from the marine exhaust emissions in the fight against climate change, boosting the Sustainable Development Goal 13. Following this target, the action of hydrogen as energy vector makes it a suitable alternative to be used as fuel, constituting a very promising energy carrier for energy transition and decarbonization in maritime transport. The objective of this study is to develop an ex-ante environmental evaluation of two promising technologies for vessels propulsion, a H2 Polymeric Electrolytic Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC), and a H2 Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), in order to determine their viability and eligibility compared to the traditional one, a diesel ICE. The applied methodology follows the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) guidelines, considering a functional unit of 1 kWh of energy produced. LCA results reveal that both alternatives have great potential to promote the energy transition, particularly the H2 ICE. However, as technologies readiness level is quite low, it was concluded that the assessment has been conducted at a very early stage, so their sustainability and environmental performance may change as they become more widely developed and deployed, which can be only achieved with political and stakeholder's involvement and collaboration.

Life cycle assessment of fish and seafood processed products - A review of methodologies and new challenges.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been widely applied in many different sectors, but the marine products and seafood segment have received relatively little attention in the past. In recent decades, global fish production experienced sustained growth and peaked at about 179 million tonnes in 2018. Consequently, increased interest in the environmental implications of fishery products along the supply chain, namely from capture to end of life, was recently experienced by society, industry and policy-makers. This timely review aims to describe the current framework of LCA and its application to the seafood sector that mainly focused on fish extraction and processing, but it also encompassed the remaining stages. An excess of 60 studies conducted over the last decade, along with some additional publications, were comprehensively reviewed; these focused on the main LCA methodological choices, including but not limited to, functional unit, system boundaries allocation methods and environmental indicators. The review identifies key recommendations on the progression of LCA for this increasingly important sustaining seafood sector. Specifically, these recommendations include (i) the need for specific indicators for fish-related activities, (ii) the target species and their geographical origin, (iii) knowledge and technology transfer and, (iv) the application and implementation of key recommendations from LCA research that will improve the accuracy of LCA models in this sector. Furthermore, the review comprises a section addressing previous and current challenges of the seafood sector. Wastewater treatment, ghost fishing or climate change, are also the objects of discussion together with advocating support for the water-energy-food nexus as a valuable tool to minimize environmental negativities and to frame successful synergies.

Multi-Objective Optimization of Nutritional, Environmental and Economic Aspects of Diets Applied to the Spanish Context.

Current food consumption patterns must be revised in order to improve their sustainability. The nutritional, environmental, and economic consequences of these dietary patterns must be taken into consideration when diet guidelines are proposed. This study applied a systematic optimization methodology to define sustainable dietary patterns complying with nutritional, environmental, and economic issues. The methodology was based on a multi-objective optimization model that considered a distance-to-target approach. Although the three simultaneous objectives (maximal nutritional contribution, minimal greenhouse gas emissions, and minimal costs) could be divergent, the proposed model identified the optimal intake of each food product to achieve the maximal level of nutritional, environmental, and economic diets. This model was applied to six different eating patterns within the Spanish context: one based on current food consumption and five alternative diets. The results revealed that dietary patterns with improved nutritional profiles and reduced environmental impacts could be defined without additional costs just by increasing the consumption of vegetables, fruits, and legumes, while reducing the intake of meat and fish.

Introducing the Green Protein Footprint method as an understandable measure of the environmental cost of anchovy consumption.

In a global framework of growing concern for food security and environmental protection, the selection of food products with higher protein content and lower environmental impact is a challenge. To assess the reliability of different strategies along the food supply chain, a measure of food cost through the environmental impact-protein content binomial is necessary. This study proposes a standardized method to calculate the Green Protein Footprint (GPF) index, a method that assesses both the environmental impact of a food product and its protein content provided to consumers. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was used to calculate the environmental impact of the selected food products, and a Life Cycle Protein Assessment (LCPA) was performed by accounting for the protein content along the supply chain. Although the GPF can be applied to all food chain products, this paper is focused on European anchovy-based products for indirect human consumption (fishmeal) and for direct human consumption (fresh, salted and canned anchovies). Moreover, the circular economy concept was applied considering the valorization of the anchovy residues generated during the canning process. These residues were used to produce fishmeal, which was employed in bass aquaculture. Hence, humans are finally consuming fish protein from the residues, closing the loop of the original product life cycle. More elaborated, multi-ingredient food products (salted and canned anchovy products), presented higher GPF values due to higher environmental impacts. Furthermore, the increase of food loss throughout their life cycle caused a decrease in the protein content. Regarding salted and canned products, the packaging was the main hotspot. The influence of the packaging was evaluated using the GPF, reaffirming that plastic was the best alternative. These results highlighted the importance of improving packaging materials in food products.

LCA of greywater management within a water circular economy restorative thinking framework.

Greywater reuse is an attractive option for the sustainable management of water under water scarcity circumstances, within a water circular economy restorative thinking framework. Its successful deployment relies on the availability of low cost and environmentally friendly technologies. The life cycle assessment (LCA) approach provides the appropriate methodological tool for the evaluation of alternative treatments based on environmental decision criteria and, therefore, it is highly useful during the process conceptual design. This methodology should be employed in the early design phase to select those technologies with lower environmental impact. This work reports the comparative LCA of three scenarios for greywater reuse: photocatalysis, photovoltaic solar-driven photocatalysis and membrane biological reactor, in order to help the selection of the most environmentally friendly technology. The study has been focused on the removal of the surfactant sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, which is used in the formulation of detergents and personal care products and, thus, widely present in greywater. LCA was applied using the Environmental Sustainability Assessment methodology to obtain two main environmental indicators in order to simplify the decision making process: natural resources and environmental burdens. Energy consumption is the main contributor to both indicators owing to the high energy consumption of the light source for the photocatalytic greywater treatment. In order to reduce its environmental burdens, the most desirable scenario would be the use of solar light for the photocatalytic transformation. However, while the technological challenge of direct use of solar light is approached, the environmental suitability of the photovoltaic solar energy driven photocatalysis technology to greywater reuse has been demonstrated, as it involves the smallest environmental impact among the three studied alternatives.

Aiding eco-labelling process and its implementation: Environmental Impact Assessment Methodology to define Product Category Rules for canned anchovies.

To be able to fulfil high market expectations for a number of practical applications, Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) have to meet and comply with specific and strict methodological prerequisites. These expectations include the possibility to add up Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based information in the supply chain and to compare different EPDs. To achieve this goal, common and harmonized calculation rules have to be established, the so-called Product Category Rules (PCRs), which set the overall LCA calculation rules to create EPDs. This document provides PCRs for the assessment of the environmental performance of canned anchovies in Cantabria Region based on an Environmental Sustainability Assessment (ESA) method. This method uses two main variables: the natural resources sustainability (NRS) and the environmental burdens sustainability (EBS). To reduce the complexity of ESA and facilitate the decision-making process, all variables are normalized and weighted to obtain two global dimensionless indexes: resource consumption (X1) and environmental burdens (X2). •This paper sets the PCRs adapted to the Cantabrian canned anchovies.•ESA method facilitates the product comparison and the decision-making process.•This paper stablishes all the steps that an EPD should include within the PCRs of Cantabrian canned anchovies.

When product diversification influences life cycle impact assessment: A case study of canned anchovy.

The anchovy canning industry is one of the most important economic resources of the Cantabria region in Spain. However, environmental, economic and social problems over the past years have forced companies to apply marketing strategies, develop product diversification, create new products and introduce them in new "green markets". Launching Cantabrian canned anchovies into more sustainable markets requires measuring the environmental performance using Product Category Rules (PCRs) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). EPDs and PCRS include the environmental profile of a range of similar products, such as all of the available canned anchovy products. The great variety of anchovy canned products depends on three process variables: the origin of the anchovy (Cantabria, Argentina and Chile or Peru), the type of oil (refined olive oil, extra virgin olive oil and sunflower oil) and the packaging (aluminum, tinplate, glass and plastic). This work aims to assess the environmental impact from cradle to grave of canned anchovies in oil using the life cycle assessment methodology (LCA). Moreover, the paper evaluates the influence of the above-mentioned three product variables in the LCA results. The results show that out of all of the alternatives, Chilean and Peruvian anchovies have the highest environmental burdens due to the transportation by ship. The production of anchovies in sunflower oil is a less environmentally friendly oil process due to the low yield per hectare of sunflower cultivation. Finally, the use of aluminum as the packaging material has the largest environmental impact out of almost all of the impact categories. Moreover, because the LCA results can be significantly affected by the allocation procedure, a sensitivity analysis comparing system expansion, mass and economic allocation is performed. In this case, the system expansion approach presents the highest environmental impacts followed by the mass allocation.