Circular Economy Approaches and Emerging Business Models Addressing the Food-Energy-Water Nexus
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2019) | Viewed by 3212
Special Issue Editors
Interests: agricultural and food policy; rural policy; food losses and waste; food chain sustainability; bioenergy economics and policy; behavioral economics; life cycle thinking
Interests: agriculture; food systems; life cycle assessment; nutrient cycling; sustainable engineering
Interests: local government finance; economic policy; rural and regional economic development
Interests: rural development and policy; environmental and resource management; agricultural management; bioeconomy and innovation
Interests: sustainability of bioenergy from agro-food byproducts and waste; environmental, economic, and social life cycle assessment (LCSA) of agro-food products and bioenergy; renewable energy and rural development: impacts and synergies
Interests: the agri-food system and its inefficiencies; management and sustainable valorization of food waste
Interests: agroecology; ecology of food systems; integrated and sustainable food production; environmental assessment; life cycle assessment (LCA); eco-design
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
An intertwined and complex web of relations, generally defined as a nexus, connects food, energy, and water (FEW), and the related production and management systems. The predicted growth of the global population will pose a critical challenge for the sustainable and equitable supply of these resources. From this perspective, efforts and policies aiming at increased sustainability might result in unintended consequences and tradeoffs. Therefore, the transition towards holistic research and business approaches is needed both to address the multiple interactions and dimensions of FEW and to evaluate potential sustainable solutions. In this framework, current linear economic approaches prove inappropriate to foster more sustainable food and energy production and resource and waste management. Thus, the circular economy is a welcomed paradigm shift from this conventional approach. As defined by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the circular economy is inherently restorative, relies on renewable sources of energy, minimizes the recourse to toxic chemicals, and aims at designing out waste. When focusing on the FEW, circularity will be mainly mean diversion of food waste and organics from landfills, the recovery of nutrients, materials and energy, and the treatment and recycling of wastewater. In addition to technological innovations, the transition towards circularity will require appropriate business models, able to create economic value and jobs and consideration of the other social and cultural factors that lead to food waste.
Therefore, this Special Issue seeks contributions on circular economy approaches and emerging biobased business models in the FEW nexus. In particular, we encourage submissions of research contributions, case studies, and review articles related but not limited to:
- System-level approaches to FEW nexus
- Sustainability assessment of FEW nexus systems
- Emerging biobased business models and market dynamics in the circular economy
- Policy analysis related to FEW and the circular economy
- Life-cycle assessments of FEW systems
- Comparative analyses of FEW systems
Prof. Dr. Matteo Vittuari
Dr. Christine Costello
Prof. Dr. Thomas Johnson
Dr. Karen Refsgaard
Dr. Fabio De Menna
Prof. Dr. Sirpa Kurppa
Dr. Luca Falasconi
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- food, energy and water nexus
- circular economy approaches
- biobased business models
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