[en] The allocation of emissions embodied in international trade is crucial to evaluate the real impact that each country has on climate change and its responsibility in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this paper, we develop a new theoretical framework recently proposed by Caro et al. (2014) that computes the carbon emissions embodied in international trade according to a consumption-based accounting. The method uses the value of the goods traded internationally and the respective carbon intensity as a coefficient of national efficiency. To provide an example of application of the proposed methodology and assess its difference with respect to the current producer-based GHG accounting, we analyze a trilateral trade system composed by three countries (Sweden, Italy, and Poland) with large differences in terms of carbon intensity (low, medium, and high carbon intensity, respectively). From the analysis of the data during the period 2000–2008, it emerges that the proposed consumption-based accounting would imply an increase of Italian and Swedish emission responsibility by 1.4 and 11.8%, respectively, with respect to the conventional GHG accounting, and a decrease of the Polish responsibility by 2.81%. To assess the possible consequences deriving from the application of this new methodology, we also consider the effects of a shift of the Italian imports from Poland to Sweden of Machinery and Transport Equipments, a crucial sector in the trade relations among the three countries, which accounts for about 45% of total exports from Poland and Sweden to Italy. Finally, we discuss some policy implications deriving from the application of the consumption-based accounting, devoting particular attention to the results emerging from its hypothetical adoption in the EU-27. The analysis performed in the paper suggests that the adoption of a consumption-based accounting could be an important tool in the climate change challenge to reduce global emissions.

[en] Although previous studies have quantified carbon dioxide emissions embodied in products traded internationally, there has been limited attention to other greenhouse gases such as methane (CH_4) and nitrous oxide (N_2O). Following IPCC guidelines, we estimate non-CO_2 emissions from beef, pork and chicken produced in 237 countries over the period 1990–2010, and assign these emissions to the country where the meat is ultimately consumed. We find that, between 1990 and 2010, an average of 32.8 Mt CO_2-eq emissions (using 100 year global warming potentials) are embodied in beef, pork and chicken traded internationally. Further, over the 20 year period, the quantity of CO_2-eq emissions embodied in traded meat increased by 19%. The largest trade flows of emissions embodied in meat were from Brazil and Argentina to Russia (2.8 and 1.4 Mt of CO_2-eq, respectively). Trade flows within the European region are also substantial: beef and pork exported from France embodied 3.3 Mt and 0.4 Mt of CO_2-eq, respectively. Emissions factor of meat production (i.e. CO_2-eq emissions per kg of meat) produced depend on ambient temperature, development level, livestock category (e.g. cattle, pork, and chicken) and livestock management practices. Thus, trade may result in an overall increase of GHG emissions when meat-consuming countries import meat from countries with a greater emissions intensity of meat production rather than producing the meat domestically. Comparing the emissions intensity of meat production of trading partners, we assess trade flows according to whether they tend to reduce or increase global emissions from meat production. (letter)

[en] Highlights: • Agro-livestock integrated system assessment through emergy evaluation • Emergy investment evaluation of the integration of geese in a vineyard • Input optimization demonstrated through the set theory applied to emergy evaluation • Emergy comparison of integrated co-production and isolated production systems • Emergy framework set-up for the evaluation of agro-livestock integrated productions This study aims to assess the sustainability of an agroforestry system: i.e. a system obtained by the union of two productions to get at least two by-products from the same productive space. In particular, this case study presents the integration of a goose raising system with an organic grape production, from an environmental point of view. This integration is mainly designed to have two simultaneous co-products (grape and goose meat) with: i) a less intensive use of machineries for weeding and ii) avoiding use of chemical fertilizers and weeding. The sustainability is assessed by means of emergy evaluation. Emergy is a thermodynamic based tool able to estimates the environmental cost of products and services in terms of the solar energy (directly and indirectly) required for its production. As Emergy is not a state function, its final value depends on the way the product is made. The set theory applied to the emergy evaluation enables the comparison between the integrated system and the originating isolated systems in a proper way. Results confirm that the integrated system enables a saving, in emergy terms, amounting to 33% compared to the two originating isolated production systems. Emergy evaluation is able to keep track of the lower amount of resources required from outside the agroforestry system due to the optimization of resources internally available.

[en] Complex periodic and aperiodic behaviors are reported in an unstirred Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction at different concentrations of added electrolytes. A route to chaos following a Ruelle-Takens-Newhouse (RTN) scenario is identified. A 3-fold torus was also found in phase space. In this paper, we prove that the concentration of inert added electrolytes is a bifurcation parameter for the sequence period-1 → period-2 → period-3 → chaos