Chapter 22
Adopting Life Cycle Assessment
for Various Greenhouse Typologies
in Multiple Cropping Environment
in Australia
Ana Evangelista, Yi-Chen Lan, Zhonghua Chen, Vivian W. Y. Tam,
and Rina Datt
Abstract Over the last decades, dramatic population growth worldwide has been
directly reflecting in food security. United Nations (UN) projects a world population will increase more than one billion people within the next years, reaching
8.5 billion in 2030. With this anticipated scenario, agricultural industry is experiencing monumental pressures and challenges in adopting and utilising cutting-edge
technologies for both open field and controlled agriculture aiming for a sustainable
and profitable food production per unit of area of plantation. This study focuses
on the controlled agriculture or commonly referring to “greenhouses”, which is
broadly categorised under three main typologies: (1) low, (2) medium, and (3) high
technologies. In general, adopting new materials lead to an increase for both durability and cost of greenhouse structures. Australian horticulture industry has set
ambitious and new export targets that would lift export earnings by hundreds of
millions of dollars annually. Australian conditions are very different to those that
prevail under the northern European climate of the Netherlands, where technologies,
associated management systems and accumulated experience were first developed.
The study aims to investigate the environmental impacts of a common high technology greenhouse configuration in Australia, which encompasses various infrastructural and production components such as greenhouse structures, soilless cultivation systems, irrigation/fertigation systems, heating/cooling systems, and relevant
production applications. The methodology is based on a critical literature review
identifying the knowledge gap in Australia, as many studies have been focusing on
individual crops in the northern hemisphere. Gaps in life cycle assessment applied to a
variety of crops and in high technology greenhouses incorporating green components
were identified.
A. Evangelista · V. W. Y. Tam
School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, Western
Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
Y.-C. Lan (B) · R. Datt
School of Business, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
e-mail: y.lan@westernsydney.edu.au
Z. Chen
School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
Y. Kishita et al. (eds.), EcoDesign and Sustainability II, Sustainable Production, Life
Cycle Engineering and Management, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6775-9_22
347
Adopting Life Cycle Assessment
for Various Greenhouse Typologies
in Multiple Cropping Environment
in Australia
Ana Evangelista, Yi-Chen Lan, Zhonghua Chen, Vivian W. Y. Tam,
and Rina Datt
Abstract Over the last decades, dramatic population growth worldwide has been
directly reflecting in food security. United Nations (UN) projects a world population will increase more than one billion people within the next years, reaching
8.5 billion in 2030. With this anticipated scenario, agricultural industry is experiencing monumental pressures and challenges in adopting and utilising cutting-edge
technologies for both open field and controlled agriculture aiming for a sustainable
and profitable food production per unit of area of plantation. This study focuses
on the controlled agriculture or commonly referring to “greenhouses”, which is
broadly categorised under three main typologies: (1) low, (2) medium, and (3) high
technologies. In general, adopting new materials lead to an increase for both durability and cost of greenhouse structures. Australian horticulture industry has set
ambitious and new export targets that would lift export earnings by hundreds of
millions of dollars annually. Australian conditions are very different to those that
prevail under the northern European climate of the Netherlands, where technologies,
associated management systems and accumulated experience were first developed.
The study aims to investigate the environmental impacts of a common high technology greenhouse configuration in Australia, which encompasses various infrastructural and production components such as greenhouse structures, soilless cultivation systems, irrigation/fertigation systems, heating/cooling systems, and relevant
production applications. The methodology is based on a critical literature review
identifying the knowledge gap in Australia, as many studies have been focusing on
individual crops in the northern hemisphere. Gaps in life cycle assessment applied to a
variety of crops and in high technology greenhouses incorporating green components
were identified.
A. Evangelista · V. W. Y. Tam
School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, Western
Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
Y.-C. Lan (B) · R. Datt
School of Business, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
e-mail: y.lan@westernsydney.edu.au
Z. Chen
School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
Y. Kishita et al. (eds.), EcoDesign and Sustainability II, Sustainable Production, Life
Cycle Engineering and Management, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6775-9_22
347