Sergio Ulgiati

Parthenope University of Naples | Università Parthenope · Department of Science and Technology

Mariculture has been gradually regarded as an important solution to the global food production crisis. Increasing scientific evidence reveals that mariculture can provide a large number of ecologic benefits, in accordance with several United Nations sustainable development goals. However, previous studies mostly focused on the negative impacts of m...

The model of Circular Economy (CE) encourages the adoption of a broad vision of production and entrepreneurial activities that integrate in their decisions the impacts on the natural environment and on all the stakeholders. The increasing adoption of environmental certifications of process (e.g., the ISO 14001 or the EMAS III), environmental produc...

The circular economy (CE) aims to deeply transform the current linear model of economy and society into a business model capable to extend the lifetime of resources and decrease environmental impacts. For this to happen, changes in societal systems and production sectors, from micro to macro, are required. The present research, based on a multiple...

In this work, we address the transition to the circular economy in the European Union (EU) and in Italy by focusing on the case of some value chains of products identified by the EU Circular Economy Action Plan for their significant environmental impacts. After a brief theoretical and political background on circular economy, the present study summ...

This study assesses the environmental performance of all tannery process phases of an Italian artisan tannery, based on primary data, from hides to leather production, and discusses circular pattern options. The study focuses on the potential environmental impact of a traditional artisan company, identifying and evaluating chrome and vegetable tann...

The pursuit of sustainability in the construction and demolition (C&D) sector calls for effective decision-making strategies, both in terms of technical and environmental sustainability, capable of mitigating its huge demand for resources and emissions to the environment. The recycling of C&D waste is one of the potential solutions that could reduc...

As all production processes, the agrifood system is driven by energy and materials. The origin and relative contribution of these resources to the system’s functioning determines its sustainability. Here we analyse the evolution of the sustainability of mountain grazing agroecosystems, which are often perceived as a better alternative for animal fo...

The current Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management system of the European Union to be applied in all member states was introduced in 2002 by the first WEEE directive (2002/96/EC). Since the beginning, the system was intended to improve the management of WEEE and promote circular economy principles in the sector. This study aims...

This study evaluates the current collection and recycling of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in Italy by means of the analysis of national and regional data from EUROSTAT and the Italian WEEE Coordination Centre database, as well as through qualitative interviews with key stakeholders of the WEEE management system of the Campania r...

This study aimed to quantify and evaluate the main environmental impacts generated in each phase of tofu production as well as its main co-products (soy milk, food integrators, etc.) and by-products (straw, hulls, etc.) from organic and conventional soybean cropping and to compare them with the impacts of conventional protein sources (e.g., livesto...

The growing environmental concerns require the characterization of decision support methods that can guide analysts towards more sustainable investment choices. Therefore, in the ex-ante economic evaluations of investments with environmental repercussions, it is of rising interest to give the “right” value to the non-monetary effects in the long te...

Abstract: This study proposes a framework of environmental and energy performance indicators identified and critically evaluated within the scientific literature and the Agricultural European Database for the monitoring and evaluation of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union. The identified set of performance indicators encompasses t...

The current European context, affected by the dramatic conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the related energy and food shortages, is putting a strain on the natural gas availability of the European member states. The latter are forced to new negotiations with other potential energy suppliers, to urgent internal measures to reduce energy demand...

This study starts by evaluating the evolution and current state of the concept of circular city. The latter can be included within a wider window of urban brandings which share in common the visions and applications in cities of more sustainable patterns. We adopted a multiple case study approach to evaluate the adoption of the concept of circular...

Green infrastructures deliver countless functions for counteracting climate change, air pollution, floods, and heat islands, contributing at the same time to water and carbon recycling as well as to renewable energies and feedstock provisioning. Properly addressing such environmental problems would require huge investments that could be decreased t...

The urban green infrastructure (UGI), with special focus on street trees, is a very complex engineered ecosystem which plays an important role in generating ecosystem services and, if improperly managed, a number of dis-services to be prevented. This study applies the Emergy Accounting method to the cost and benefit evaluation, in order to establis...

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a central policy within China's regional development and foreign trade strategy. Traditional trade has typically depended on economic valuation of resources, while the embedded environmental value is rarely considered. This situation exists in most BRI trade evaluations. To address BRI environmental sustainabil...

The world in general, and Cameroon in particular, are facing three major problems which are population increase , natural resource decrease and climate change. This work focuses on assessing the environmental impact of the production of second-generation liquid and gaseous biofuels by means of the life cycle assessment method, in order to contribut...

Sustainable fish food production is crucial for aquaculture. Microalgae, such as spirulina (Arthrospira platensis), can supplement diet antioxidants or replace expensive fishmeal with high-quality proteins. In this study, we tested fish growth and wellbeing by feeding fish on a diet in which 5% of fishmeal was replaced by spirulina (SP5 diet). The...

Substantial evidence indicates that China’s afforestation statistically contributed to the ecosystem services (ES) improvement. However, we found the potential challenges behind this improvement, especially in water-limited areas. We propose an attribution analysis method, which can assess the specific contribution of natural, human and cognition d...

The water-energy crisis seriously affects the sustainable development of China's steel industry chain. To achieve a coordinated development new path from the perspective of circular economy, it is necessary to analyze “water-energy-economy” dependency relationship of the steel products. This study analyzes a variety of steel products from the persp...

The current socio-economic model based on a linear approach is being challenged by resource scarcity, negative environmental impacts and socio-economic constraints. Consequently, cycling approaches or circular economy (CE) paradigm is gaining attention. Business as usual is no longer possible and the model and criteria proposed by circular economy...

A circular bioeconomy has the potential to minimize the environmental impacts of biowaste while simultaneously generating value-added bioproducts and bioenergy. Currently, most countries of the African Union lack well-defined policies, requisite infrastructure, and expertise for biowaste valorisation, thus limiting the potential development of the...

“If we talk of promoting development, what have we in mind: goods or people [...]

Assessment of anthropocentric watersheds’ sustainability and its driving forces is important for regional natural resources management and sustainable development. However, the impact of natural resources use on watersheds’ sustainability needs deeper exploration. This study employs emergy accounting and decomposition analysis methods to evaluate t...

This deliverable of the ReTraCE project further elaborates the results and conceptual frameworks presented in previous reports, dealing with impacts and performance assessment of circular economy policies and processes. This report presents a “conceptual and practical model” that aims at identifying the key stakeholders involved in the transition t...

The present study explores the environmental quality (natural and recycled content, recyclability, life cycle method) of a sample of certified construction products available in different database in Italy (Remade in Italy, Atlante dell’Economia Circolare, Observatory Recycle-Legambiente Report, Accredia). The results evidence the identification of...

The appreciation of ecosystem service value has achieved remarkable results in recent years, but the existing economic methods are not comprehensive enough to account for the complexity of regulating services so that environmental accounting methods are needed to integrate monetary evaluations. Here, we propose a method combining the advantages of...

Purpose The olive oil sector in Italy has a significant socio-economic, environmental, and cultural relevance. However, the environmental impacts of production and consumption models are considerable, mainly due to the demand for large quantities of resources (fuels, chemicals) and to the environmental impacts of residues’ disposal. Due to the scar...

In the last few decades, the rapid urbanisation process has led to an exponential growth of resource use, making increasingly difficult to ensure the principles of sustainability within urban systems. Similar to living organisms, cities have always required resources and energy to survive. However, technological development and population growth ha...

The environmental impact of livestock activities as Earth global warming is already well known. Therefore, the reuse of resources and products is addressed to reduce the damage caused by intensive livestock farming within a fossil fuel-based economy. Most studies related to sustainability correctly evaluate the processes' energy efficiency under hu...

The themes of climate change, over-consumption of resources and social inequality are some of the most important current issues that the society has to promptly tackle. In this context, the circular economy paradigm is attracting a great interest of the policy-makers, organizations and scholars as it is expected to contribute to reduce the environm...

In this study, our aim was to explore the potential energy savings obtainable from the recycling of 1 tonne of Construction and Demolition Waste (C&DW) generated in the Metropolitan City of Naples. The main fraction composing the functional unit are mixed C&DW, soil and stones, concrete, iron, steel and aluminium. The results evidence that the recy...

Microalgae have received much attention in the last few years. Their use is being extended to different fields of application and technologies, such as food, animal feed, and production of valuable polymers. Additionally, there is interest in using microalgae for removal of nutrients from wastewater. Wastewater treatment with microalgae allows for...

Increasing pressure from population growth and climate change has placed various challenges to urban systems concerning the sustainable supply and use of food, energy and water. To achieve the synergistic and sustainable management of food, energy and water demand, the inter-linkages between the three subsystems should be explored. Taking Beijing a...

By 2050, global demand for water is expected to increase by some 55% due to population growth and urbanization. The utilization of large amounts of freshwater in the world, generate huge volumes of wastewater of which, globally, more than 80% is discharged without treatment, thus causing impacts on aquatic ecosystems, human health and economic prod...

Modern intensive agriculture worldwide is generating increasing environmental pressure, which prevents its sustainable development. A number of agricultural sustainability assessment approaches and methodological frameworks have been developed by research worldwide to assess the environmental costs and impacts of resources used in agricultural prod...

The use of fossil fuels in modern economies has been a success because of the low cost of fossil resources. However, the depletion of fossil reserves, the increase in waste production and global warming concerns have led to increased research on the production of biofuels from renewable resources. Waste production is steadily increasing in quantity...

Increasing urbanization day–by–day requires new housing and transportation infrastructures. As a consequence, demand for steel – a basic material for buildings construction as well as for vehicles and railroads – would also increases. This study applies Emergy Accounting (EMA) to assess the Chinás steel industry environmental performance and to ide...

Pakistan is a resource-constrained country, poor in municipal and healthcare facilities. Existing healthcare structures in the country are often overcrowded, and an effective monitoring and assessment of their sustainability is therefore crucial. In this study, a systemic approach is outlined to evaluate the environmental sustainability of the larg...

Increasing resource demand, predicted fossil resources shortage in the near future, and environmental concerns due to the production of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide have motivated the search for alternative ‘circular’ pathways. Among many options, microalgae have been recently ‘revised’ as one of the most promising due to their high growth rate (w...

Bio-circular strategies to improve production and consumption can be the answer to decrease the current environmental pressure of the dairy sector. Environmental impacts are related to the extensive fodder production with intense use of fertilizers, greenhouse gasses emission from cattle and fossil fuels. To understand and measure the burdens of a...

Thirty years ago, the systems ecologist Howard T. Odum introduced the concept of transformity, which is a thermodynamic measure of quality within the trial and error evolutionary dynamics of ecosystems, namely an indicator of rank in the hierarchical system structure of the biosphere. Based on a global database of individual processes and whole eco...

This deliverable will look into the methods and indicators used to identify material streams in the transition to the CE, as encountered in the research conducted by researchers that are involved with Work Package 2 of the ReTraCE Project. This report then combines these studies in a mixed methods evidence synthesis as a novel approach for material...

Abstract Seawater represents a potential resource to ensure sustainable availability of water for population and irrigation purpose, especially in some areas of the world. Desalination processes allow the production of fresh water, but they generate also brine as waste product. Sustainable brine man-agement should be identified to ensure proper dis...

The interest into Circular Economy (CE), mainly emerged recently in response to climate change, environmental damage, and the limits of a linear economy, requires a deeper investigation on how the concept and its transition process are perceived in the society. In the present explorative study (questionnaire survey), we evaluate the perception and...

The study briefly recalls the evolution and crisis of the theory and thought of John Maynard Keynes with the rise and progressive dominance of the new liberalism paradigm. The exercise has been made for evaluating the effects of such process for the sustainability of the global economy and society. Moreover, we explored how Keynes’ contribution cou...

The circular economy concept has recently gained prominence in political debate and corporate discourse around the world as a pathway towards sustainability. The academic debate is characterised by several and sometimes very contrasting definitions of the concept. We claim here that the issue is not finding silver-bullet solutions that will simulta...

This deliverable summarises the research - focused on assessing the potential, the viability, the advantages, and the challenges of a transition to the circular economy at the meso and macro levels - that has been conducted as part of Work Package 2 of the ReTraCE project. A similar overview of the studies performed at the micro-level can be found...

• This report provides an overview of several case studies in which circular economy pathways have been implemented at the micro level. Micro levels are to be considered the starting point to make CE closer to stakeholders’ understanding, in so contributing to larger scale policy–making, based on deeper knowledge of benefits achievable and challeng...

The expansion of cities and their impacts currently constitutes a challenge for the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs). In this respect, assessments of resource consumption and the delivery of appropriate policies to support resource conservation are of paramount importance. Previous works in the literature have focused on one spec...

In the challenge of transforming waste into useful products that can be re-used in a circular perspective, Italian wine industry can represent a suitable model for the application of the bioeconomy principles, including the valorisation of the agricultural and food waste. In the present 16 study, a comprehensive environmental assessment of the trad...

Controlled release nitrogen fertilizers (CRNF) possess good nutrient release performance and application prospects. Under the dual pressures of food security and environmental protection, whether substitution of urea using CRNF could improve environmental sustainability of rice production relative to the utilization of single urea, as well as ensur...

In the challenge of transforming waste into useful products that can be re-used in a circular perspective, Italian wine industry can represent a suitable model for the application of the bioeconomy principles, including the valorisation of the agricultural and food waste. In the present study, a comprehensive environmental assessment of the traditi...

Health services represent a cornerstone to ensure well-being and human rights, particularly in deprived areas. The resource cost and appropriate use for the implementation of a top-quality hospital in Sudan are here investigated. An emerging approach such as systems-based Emergy Accounting is applied to assess its sustainability and resilience, als...

This study deals with the perspective of circular economy (CE) transition in the Construction and Demolition Waste Management (C&DWM) system of the Metropolitan City of Naples (Italy). It assesses the current building materials stored in the existing buildings and C&DW generation, composition and management, by means of public databases, i-Tree Can...

Activated carbons currently represent a feasible adsorbent substrate for the removal of organic and inorganic compounds from solutions, due to their large specific surface area and high porosity. The chemical characterization of activated carbon and the environmental burden related to its production are a crucial point that challenges researchers a...

The transition to a Circular Economy in the agri-food supply chain will require appropriate support mechanisms. Globally, 1/3 of food is wasted, generating by-products which could be treated and processed. In a bioeconomy perspective, qualitatively and quantitatively assessing the availability of secondary raw materials and classifying the differen...

Reasonable and effective use of renewable resources can reduce dependence on traditional fossil-based energy sources and reduce carbon emissions. This study mapped the spatial potentials of renewable resources (i.e., solar radiation, precipitation, wind, and geothermal resources) in China. The results showed that China's most abundant renewable res...

Urbanization is the one of the most evident forms of anthropization. With most of the world population living in cities, the need of thinking about a more sustainable urban lifestyle has become an imperative. This is why present and future generations of scholars, urban managers and policy makers should be prepared to work together to support the r...

The life cycle assessment of the ABC (Pvt) Ltd brick manufacturing plant has considered land use, fossil resource scarcity, water consumption, global warming and fine particulate matter formation as the impact categories for assessment, with clay mining and coal as the input flows with the highest significant contributions to environmental load. Th...

The analysis of complex systems requires an integrated application of different assessment methods also taking into account different scales and points of view to gain a systemic understanding of the investigated case study. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Emergy Accounting (EMA) are both environmental assessment methods, showing many similarities...

Geothermal energy could play a crucial role in the European energy market and future scenarios focused on sustainable development. Thanks to its constant supply of concentrated energy, it can support the transition towards a low-carbon economy. In the energy sector, the decision-making process should always be supported by a holistic science-based...