348
A. Evangelista et al.
Keywords Greenhouses technology · Life-cycle assessment · Resource
sustainability · Environmental impacts
22.1 Introduction
Despite the human population growth, the agriculture sector is required to produce
food, fibre, and biomass energy products under limited resources while reducing
related environmental impacts. Caffrey and Veal (2013) cited the main influences
from the agricultural segment to the environmental impacts are the land-use change,
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, eutrophication, eco-toxicity, and human health
impacts.
Alternatively, to the open field cultivation, greenhouses appear like an indoor
environment suitable to produce a wide range of vegetables or flowers within a
controlled condition reducing the risks related to pests, diseases and severe weather.
Aiming to target food scarcity in disadvantaged regions, it arises as an important
alternative for more sustainable and efficient crop production (Ingram et al. 2017;
Jadhav and Rosentrater 2017). The sustainability theme and the social concern about
climate change have been increasing within a wide range of industry globally (Wang
et al. 2018; Golzar et al. 2018; Santonicola et al. 2018; Shamshiri et al. 2018). In
this direction, life cycle assessment (LCA) is an important methodology to quantify greenhouse gas emissions and to assess a wide range environmental impacts
of harvest production methods including greenhouse horticulture (Bos et al. 2008;
Bartzas et al. 2015, 2017; Goglio et al. 2018).
The DPI NSW (2018) presents some definitions, for example, the glasshouse is
the term used when the covering material is glass, and ‘greenhouse’ or ‘polyhouse’
denotes the use of plastic coats. Additionally, ‘shade house’ or ‘screen house when
the material is interlaced to permit sunlight, moisture and air to pass through the
structure and reach the crops. In Australia majority of the industry in currently relies
on low technology structures and the most usual are the Tunnel houses, or “igloos”
(less than 3-m height) without vertical walls and lack of ventilation. This type of
greenhouse is for seasonal and normally operates during the warmer months. Another
typology is the medium level greenhouse, characterised by vertical walls, roof and/or
sidewall ventilation and clad with either single or double coating plastic film or glass
(Department of Primary Industry 2018).
Considering the three typologies, the most innovative is the high technology greenhouse. Burchi et al. (2018) reported a clear definition: “high tech greenhouse is
designed to manage, in a controlled and efficient way, different types of crops with
different cultivation needs”. The high-tech term arises from the greenhouse automation including sensors, data acquisition and analysis via the computational system
to optimise crop management, resulting in more accurate information to control the
crop environment inputs and outputs, such as impacts to air, water and soil.
This study aims to review the life cycle assessment (LCA) applications within
greenhouse crop production in different countries highlighting that Australia is
A. Evangelista et al.
Keywords Greenhouses technology · Life-cycle assessment · Resource
sustainability · Environmental impacts
22.1 Introduction
Despite the human population growth, the agriculture sector is required to produce
food, fibre, and biomass energy products under limited resources while reducing
related environmental impacts. Caffrey and Veal (2013) cited the main influences
from the agricultural segment to the environmental impacts are the land-use change,
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, eutrophication, eco-toxicity, and human health
impacts.
Alternatively, to the open field cultivation, greenhouses appear like an indoor
environment suitable to produce a wide range of vegetables or flowers within a
controlled condition reducing the risks related to pests, diseases and severe weather.
Aiming to target food scarcity in disadvantaged regions, it arises as an important
alternative for more sustainable and efficient crop production (Ingram et al. 2017;
Jadhav and Rosentrater 2017). The sustainability theme and the social concern about
climate change have been increasing within a wide range of industry globally (Wang
et al. 2018; Golzar et al. 2018; Santonicola et al. 2018; Shamshiri et al. 2018). In
this direction, life cycle assessment (LCA) is an important methodology to quantify greenhouse gas emissions and to assess a wide range environmental impacts
of harvest production methods including greenhouse horticulture (Bos et al. 2008;
Bartzas et al. 2015, 2017; Goglio et al. 2018).
The DPI NSW (2018) presents some definitions, for example, the glasshouse is
the term used when the covering material is glass, and ‘greenhouse’ or ‘polyhouse’
denotes the use of plastic coats. Additionally, ‘shade house’ or ‘screen house when
the material is interlaced to permit sunlight, moisture and air to pass through the
structure and reach the crops. In Australia majority of the industry in currently relies
on low technology structures and the most usual are the Tunnel houses, or “igloos”
(less than 3-m height) without vertical walls and lack of ventilation. This type of
greenhouse is for seasonal and normally operates during the warmer months. Another
typology is the medium level greenhouse, characterised by vertical walls, roof and/or
sidewall ventilation and clad with either single or double coating plastic film or glass
(Department of Primary Industry 2018).
Considering the three typologies, the most innovative is the high technology greenhouse. Burchi et al. (2018) reported a clear definition: “high tech greenhouse is
designed to manage, in a controlled and efficient way, different types of crops with
different cultivation needs”. The high-tech term arises from the greenhouse automation including sensors, data acquisition and analysis via the computational system
to optimise crop management, resulting in more accurate information to control the
crop environment inputs and outputs, such as impacts to air, water and soil.
This study aims to review the life cycle assessment (LCA) applications within
greenhouse crop production in different countries highlighting that Australia is