Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Comprehensive sustainability assessment of a biogas-linked agro-ecosystem: a case study in China

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The biogas-linked agro-ecosystem plays a critical role in the sustainable development of rural China. In this study, emergy analysis was performed to assess the sustainability of a biogas-linked ecological orchard system in the Loess Plateau area. To analyze the system more comprehensively, the overall orchard system was divided into three subsystems, including the biogas subsystem, the greenhouse subsystem, and the orchard subsystem. Other than the conventional indicators, two novel indicators suitable for orchard ecosystems, the system production dominance and index of system stability, were developed to evaluate the overall performance of the system and subsystems. The results showed significant variations in multiple performances of the subsystems regarding resource utilization, renewability, and production capacity. The circulation of emergy flows among different subsystems revealed a promising renewable capacity and self-organizing ability for the overall system, which further suggests the advantage of this mode in terms of sustainability. As revealed by the emergy indicators, the biogas-linked ecological orchard as an ecological practice is feasible for modern agriculture involving intensive fruit production and breeding, as it can guarantee highly efficient resource recycling and energy conservation without destroying the local environment.

Graphical abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baral NR, Wituszynski DM, Martin JF, Shah A, Lund H, Kaiser MJ (2016) Sustainability assessment of cellulosic biorefinery stillage utilization methods using emergy analysis. Energy 109:13–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cabell JF, Oelofse M (2012) An indicator framework for assessing agroecosystem resilience. Ecol Soc 17:66–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell DE, Garmestani AS (2012) An energy systems view of sustainability: emergy evaluation of the San Luis Basin, Colorado. J Environ Manage 95:72–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavalett O, Queiroz JD, Ortega E (2006) Emergy assessment of integrated production systems of grains, pig and fish in small farms in the South Brazil. Ecol Model 193:205–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chasnyk O, Sołowski G, Shkarupa O (2015) Historical, technical and economic aspects of biogas development: case of Poland and Ukraine. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 52:227–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen S, Chen B (2012) Sustainability and future alternatives of biogas-linked agrosystem (BLAS) in China: an emergy synthesis. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 16:3948–3959

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen B, Chen SQ (2013) Life cycle assessment of coupling household biogas production to agricultural industry: a case study of biogas-linked persimmon cultivation and processing system. Energy Policy 62:707–716

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng H, Chen CD, Wu SJ, Mirza ZA, Liu ZM (2017) Emergy evaluation of cropping, poultry rearing, and fish raising systems in the drawdown zone of Three Gorges Reservoir of China. J Clean Prod 144:559–571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • China Statistical Yearbook (2014) Shaanxi development yearbook 2014. https://www.chinayearbooks.com/categories/local/shaanxi. Accessed 14 June 2015

  • Duan N, Lin C, Liu XD, Wang Y, Zhang XJ, Hou Y (2011) Study on the effect of biogas project on the development of lowcarbon circular economy—a case study of Beilangzhong eco-village. Procedia Environ Sci 5:160–166

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Duan N, Lin C, Liu XD, Wen S, Zhang X (2015) Energy analysis of biogas-linked eco-village circulating system. Trans Chin Soc Agric Eng 31(Suppl. 1):261–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Fang W, An HZ, Li HJ, Gao XY, Sun XQ, Zhong WQ (2017) Accessing on the sustainability of urban ecological-economic systems by means of a coupled emergy and system dynamics model: a case study of Beijing. Energy Policy 100:326–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao WS, Chen YQ, Liang L (2007) Basic principles and technology supporting for circular agriculture development. Reas Agric Mod 28:731–734

    Google Scholar 

  • Han Y, Long P, Chen YQ, Sui P, Gu SG (2013) Research progress of evaluation system for China circular agriculture development. Chin J Eco-Agric 21:1039–1048

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hijazi O, Munro S, Zerhusen B, Effenberger M (2016) Review of life cycle assessment for biogas production in Europe. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 54:1291–1300

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hussain M, Malik RN, Taylor A (2017) Carbon footprint as an environmental sustainability indicator for the particleboard produced in Pakistan. Environ Res 155:385–393

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang MM, Chen B, Zhou JB, Tao FR, Li Z, Yang ZF, Chen GQ (2007) Energy account for biomass resource exploitation by agriculture in China. Energy Policy 35:4704–4719

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lan SF, Qin P, Lu HF (2002) Emergy analysis of eco-economic system. Chemical Industry Press, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Li XP, Sun DL (2000) Systemical analysis on production dominance and stability of comprehensive planting pattern of winter wheat–spring corn–summer corn in Huabei Plain. Syst Sci Compr Stud Agric 4:256–259

    Google Scholar 

  • Li HK, Wan YZ, Wang M, Han MY, Huo XX (2015) History, status and prospects of the apple industry in China. J Am Pomol Soc 69:174–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Li CH, Liu Z, Wang H, Yu NW, Zhang XM, Sun QZ (2016) Status analysis and key technology of high efficiency of apple industry in China. North Hortic 3:174–177

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu JJ (2013) Research on indicator system and comprehensive evaluating method of eco-orchard benefit. Northwest A&F University, Yangling

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu JR, Berge HFMT, Zhang M, Wu J, Guo C, Liu WD (2002) Nitrogen cycling in an ecological farming system of milk vetch culture–pig-raising–biogas fermentation–rice culture. Plant Prod Sci 5:65–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu JJ, Qiu L, Yuan JW (2007) Benefit evaluation of economy on loess altiplano biogas eco-orchard model. J Agric Mech Res 4:49–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y, Kuang YQ, Huang NS, Wu ZF, Xu LZ (2008) Popularizing household-scale biogas digesters for rural sustainable energy development and greenhouse gas mitigation. Renew Energy 33:2027–2035

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu GY, Hao Y, Dong L, Yang ZF, Zhang Y, Ulgiati S (2017) An emergy–LCA analysis of municipal solid waste management. Resour Conserv Recycl 120:131–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Odum HT (1988) Self-organization, transformity, and information. Science 242:1132–1139

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Odum HT (1996) Environmental accounting—emergy and environmental decision making. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ohnishi S, Dong H, Geng Y, Fujii M, Fujita T (2017) A comprehensive evaluation on industrial & urban symbiosis by combining MFA, carbon footprint and emergy methods—case of Kawasaki, Japan. Ecol Indic 73:513–524

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peter W (2010) Biogas production: current state and perspectives. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 85:849–860

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Qi X, Zhang S, Wang Y, Wang R (2005) Advantages of the integrated Pig–Biogas–Vegetable greenhouse system in North China. Ecol Eng 24:175–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qi J, Chen B, Dai J, Zhang JR, Chen SQ, Yang J (2012) Exergy-based life cycle accounting of household biogas system: a case study of Gongcheng, Guangxi. Acta Ecol Sin 32:4246–4253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu L (2001) Optimum design for model of “5 complete sets” eco-orchard engineering. Renew Energy Resour 97:14–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Quezada CA, Fonseca MB, Romero H (2016) The circular agriculture applied in neighboring countries: the case of biogas on the border between Ecuador and Perú. New Biotechnol 33:S66–S67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez-Ortega T, Bernués A, Olaizola AM, Brown MT (2017) Does intensification result in higher efficiency and sustainability? An emergy analysis of Mediterranean sheep–crop farming systems. J Clean Prod 144:171–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saladini F, Vuai SA, Langat BK, Gustavsson M, Bayitse R, Gidamis AB (2015) Sustainability assessment of selected biowastes as feedstocks for biofuel and biomaterial production by emergy evaluation in five African countries. Biomass Bioenergy 85:100–108

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sun L, Tian GC, Wu FQ (2015) Emergy evaluation of a Pig-Methane-Grain circular agricultural mode in Guanzhong Plain. Agric Res Arid Areas 33:246–252

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsukamoto T, Jaber N, Wakabayashi S, Noguchi N (2012) Characteristics of exhaust gas emission during dual-fuel operation with biogas. J Jpn Soc Agric Mach 70:113–119

    Google Scholar 

  • Ulgiati S, Brown MT (1998) Monitoring patterns of sustainability in natural and man-made ecosystems. Ecol Model 108:23–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang HH, Wu FQ, Li RB (2008) Emergy analysis of peasant household crop-fruit ecosystem in middle and south Loess Plateau. Agric Res Arid Areas 26:197–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang SL, Yang JS, Wang RL, Li RQ, Wang ST, Liu KF (2014) Effects of biogas residue on soil improvement in peach orchard. Appl Mech Mater 675–677:738–741

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang XL, Dadouma A, Chen Y, Sui P, Gao WS, Jia L (2015) Sustainability evaluation of the large-scale pig farming system in north china: an emergy analysis based on life cycle assessment. J Clean Prod 102:144–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webler G, Roberti DR, Cuadra SV, Moreira VS, Costa MH (2012) Evaluation of a dynamic agroecosystem model (Agro-IBIS) for soybean in Southern Brazil. Earth Interact 16:1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei XM, Chen B, Qu YH, Lin C, Chen GQ (2009) Emergy analysis for ‘Four in One’ peach production system in Beijing. Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simul 14:946–958

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson TR, Tilley DR, Campbell E (2015) Emergy analysis to evaluate the sustainability of two oyster aquaculture systems in the Chesapeake Bay. Ecol Eng 85:103–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu XF, Wu XD, Li JS, Xia XH, Mi T, Yang Q, Chen GQ, Chen B, Hayat T, Alsaedi A (2014) Ecological accounting for an integrated “pig–biogas–fish” system based on emergetic indicators. Ecol Indic 47:189–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu XH, Wu FQ, Tong XG, Jia Wu, Sun L, Peng XY (2015) Emergy and greenhouse gas assessment of a sustainable, integrated agricultural model (SIAM) for plant, animal and biogas production: analysis of the ecological recycle of wastes. Resour Conserv Recycl 96:40–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang J, Chen B (2014) Emergy analysis of a biogas-linked agricultural system in rural China—a case study in Gongcheng Yao autonomous county. Appl Energy 118:173–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang ZF, Jiang MM, Chen B, Zhou BJ, Chen GQ, Li SC (2010) Solar emergy evaluation for Chinese economy. Energy Policy 38:875–886

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang J, Chen W, Chen B (2011) Impacts of biogas projects on agro-ecosystem in rural areas—a case study of Gongcheng. Front Earth Sci 5:317–322

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang YL, Zhang PD, Li GQ (2012) Regional differentiation of biogas industrial development in China. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 16:6686–6693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang BY, Chen B (2017) Sustainability accounting of a household biogas project based on emergy. Appl Energy 194:819–831

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou LL, Wang XW, Tian FF, Jiang RY, Chen LC (2013) Study on the ‘Pig–Biogas–Vegetable’ circulation agriculture model in Northern Jiangsu area. North Hortic 23:219–220

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51576167). The authors would gratefully thank Dr Kang Kang and Dr Guotao Sun for their help in drawing figures and conducting the data analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, China

    Congguang Zhang & Ling Qiu

  2. Western Scientific Observation and Experiment Station of Development and Utilization of Rural Renewable Energy of Ministry of Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China

    Congguang Zhang & Ling Qiu

Authors
  1. Congguang Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ling Qiu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

CGZ and LQ designed the study together; CGZ provided the figures and tables of the manuscript and wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ling Qiu.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, C., Qiu, L. Comprehensive sustainability assessment of a biogas-linked agro-ecosystem: a case study in China. Clean Techn Environ Policy 20, 1847–1860 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-018-1580-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-018-1580-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation