Fecha de publicación: 09/06/2024 Fuente: ISHS (International Society for Horticultural Science) Post date: Sunday 9 June 2024
Author:
ISHS Secretariat

Elisabet Freyja Henriksson is a PhD student at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, working on environmental sustainability and circularity in vertical farming. Her current research is focused on aquaponics and life cycle assessments (LCA). Aquaponics is generating interest in terms of its potential to produce both vegetables and high-value protein in the form of fish, in a manner that is often claimed to be more sustainable than traditional alternatives. However, few commercial-scale systems have been assessed for environmental performance using LCA. Dividing the impacts of the system over the two co-products, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were 3.4 kg CO2 equivalents per kg of fresh produce. The GHG impacts were dominated by the cost of electricity, consumables, and the infrastructure. Additionally, potential development scenarios for the system were assessed for their impact. Reusable packaging replacing single-use cardboard, a biodigester for the fish faeces and a reduced photoperiod were found to reduce environmental impacts by 3-6%. However, a novel feed based partially on insects was found to increase impacts by as much as 29%. When the feed was replaced with food waste, the total system impact increased by 6%. These results suggest that aquaponics has potential to be a sustainable food production system, but improvements are needed. Novel fish feeds with lower environmental impact than conventional feeds may reduce the impacts of aquaponics, as the feed was the major contributor to impact the “consumables” category. Improved energy use efficiency is however paramount to reduce the environmental impacts of aquaponics.
Elisabet Freyja Henriksson won the ISHS Young Minds Award for the best fast talk presentation at the III International Workshop on Vertical Farming (VertiFarm2024) in Italy in January 2024.
Elisabet Freyja Henriksson, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, e-mail: elisabet.henriksson@ivl.se
The article is available in Chronica HorticulturaeTags: aquaponicsCategories: Young Minds Award Winners