500
Sect. 1.3—for a variety of the following reasons. Market options may be limited,
such as in the case of a single regional water supplier drawing from a single source
like a reservoir. Firms may have few market options, such as in the case of a firm
supplying power to the electric grid using technology that requires a single primary
energy source. When bringing an alternative water or energy source on-line, the
timeframe is much longer, and the cost for implementation is much greater than for
implementing an alternative in the food chain.
A number of SCM practices evaluate energy and water use as metrics to assess
environmental impacts, but SCM practices relating to water supply or the water
industry itself are very few; two emerging examples are the purification of wastewater so that it can be recycled as drinking water, and the transmission of wastewater
so that it can be used for irrigation. More common is the investigation of waste
biomass-to-energy SCM, but the cost and operational complexity of logistics make
the successful, energetic utilization of waste biomass challenging. Nevertheless, the
SCM evaluation process can help justify the implementation of alternatives and the
establishment of incentives, as discussed in Sect. 5.2.
18.3.2 Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM)
of the FEW Nexus
Understanding supply chains has become critical for understanding food, energy,
and water sustainability because of the complexity of the interactions between these
resources that are essential for human existence and the various physical and socioeconomic factors discussed throughout this book. SSCM is a set of managerial practices that include the following:
1. Impact assessment within a framework of triple bottom line outcomes (i.e.,
social, environmental, and economic); and
2. Consideration of all stages across the entire value chain for each product and the
entire product life cycle.
Integrating life cycle assessment (LCA) and other metrics into SCM (see Chap. 13)
provides quantitative accounting for the environmental, economic and social effects
of products, processes, or services (i.e., the total footprint) by assessing the
following:
1. the energy and material inputs required;
2. the wastes released to the environment; and
3. the potential environmental, economic, and social impacts of the energy, materials, and wastes involved.
The use of LCA in supply chain network analysis has become an actively researched
area and is being increasingly applied in academic, industrial, and governmental
fields for evaluation of anticipated environmental, economic, and social impacts.
C. Harris et al.
Sect. 1.3—for a variety of the following reasons. Market options may be limited,
such as in the case of a single regional water supplier drawing from a single source
like a reservoir. Firms may have few market options, such as in the case of a firm
supplying power to the electric grid using technology that requires a single primary
energy source. When bringing an alternative water or energy source on-line, the
timeframe is much longer, and the cost for implementation is much greater than for
implementing an alternative in the food chain.
A number of SCM practices evaluate energy and water use as metrics to assess
environmental impacts, but SCM practices relating to water supply or the water
industry itself are very few; two emerging examples are the purification of wastewater so that it can be recycled as drinking water, and the transmission of wastewater
so that it can be used for irrigation. More common is the investigation of waste
biomass-to-energy SCM, but the cost and operational complexity of logistics make
the successful, energetic utilization of waste biomass challenging. Nevertheless, the
SCM evaluation process can help justify the implementation of alternatives and the
establishment of incentives, as discussed in Sect. 5.2.
18.3.2 Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM)
of the FEW Nexus
Understanding supply chains has become critical for understanding food, energy,
and water sustainability because of the complexity of the interactions between these
resources that are essential for human existence and the various physical and socioeconomic factors discussed throughout this book. SSCM is a set of managerial practices that include the following:
1. Impact assessment within a framework of triple bottom line outcomes (i.e.,
social, environmental, and economic); and
2. Consideration of all stages across the entire value chain for each product and the
entire product life cycle.
Integrating life cycle assessment (LCA) and other metrics into SCM (see Chap. 13)
provides quantitative accounting for the environmental, economic and social effects
of products, processes, or services (i.e., the total footprint) by assessing the
following:
1. the energy and material inputs required;
2. the wastes released to the environment; and
3. the potential environmental, economic, and social impacts of the energy, materials, and wastes involved.
The use of LCA in supply chain network analysis has become an actively researched
area and is being increasingly applied in academic, industrial, and governmental
fields for evaluation of anticipated environmental, economic, and social impacts.
C. Harris et al.