Publications
91 results found
Baudry G, Mwabonje O, Strapasson A, et al., 2020, Mitigating GHG Emissions through Agriculture and Sustainable Land Use: An Overview on the EUCalc Food & Land Module, www.european-calculator.eu, Publisher: European Commission, 5
HEADLINES:• Several options are available for evaluating potential agriculture and land use interventions by 2050, including: climate smart production systems for crops, livestock and forestry products, land management, alternative protein sources for livestock, bioenergy, and the management of organic wastes and residues.• Agriculture and land use can either help mitigate GHG emissions through enhancing the net land carbon sink or exacerbate emissions by emitting more GHGs than are taken up overtime.• With combined action at the highest levels of mitigation ambition in the food (supply and demand) and agricultural sectors, we estimate that over 1 000 Million tonnes of CO2 removals per year could be generated by 2050. This would require systemic, sustained and transformative change in the levels of technological and behavioural innovation applied in all EU Member States. • Changes in diet are a significant driver that enable and/or disable the range and extent of the sustainable mitigation options for the agricultural production system. Agroecology is a suitable option for the European agriculture production system, only when a dietary shift occurs that reduces demand for high emission agricultural products. • Agricultural intensification can ‘free up’ the land needed, expanding forests and grasslands, but there are inherent limits for achieving sustainable intensification without causing major impacts on animal welfare, biodiversity and natural resources such as water and plant nutrients.• The EU international food trade balance (imports vs. exports) has and will continue to have a significant impact on land use dynamics inside and outside Europe. • Climate change mitigation efforts on Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) and sustainable biomass provision are fundamental components in achieving a net zero-emission pathway, when carefully implemented along with ambitious levels of mitigation in the transport
Bessah E, Raji A, Taiwo O, et al., 2020, Hydrological responses to climate and land use changes: The paradox of regional and local climate effect in the Pra River Basin of Ghana, Journal of Hydrology Regional Studies, Vol: 27, ISSN: 2214-5818
Study Region: Pra River Basin, Ghana.Study Focus: The study modelled the changes in water yield using regional, sub-regional and local climate conditions from modelling outputs at spatial resolutions of 44 km, 12 km and 0.002 km respectively to drive the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs model at three time periods of land use land cover (LULC). Changes in historical water yield (simulated for 1986, 2002 & 2018 LULC using the mean climatic parameters from 1981-2010) and future scenario (simulated for 2018 LULC using the mean climatic parameters from 2020-2049) for annual, seasonal and monthly periods were assessed.New Hydrological Insights for the Region: The results show that future annual water yield could change by -46%, -48%, +44% and -35% under the regional, sub-regional, local and ensemble mean of the climate scenarios respectively. Seasonal water yield from the ensemble mean of thefuture climate scenario was projected to decrease between 2-16 mm, with a mean decrease of 33.39% during the December–February season. There was no directional effect of spatial resolution on water yield. The future period could be impacted by both drought and flood. Werecommend that re/afforestation should be encouraged to improve infiltration and reduce deforestation which was 2.27% per annum in the assessed period to prevent flood causing runoffs, while irrigation technology will help to improve resilience to drought.
Falcão J, Strapasson A, Medeiros H, et al., 2019, Energia & Gênero: Avaliação sobre Igualdade de Gênero no Setor de Energia do Brasil, 10º Congresso Brasileiro de P&D em Petróleo e Gás, Publisher: Associação Brasileira de P&D em Petróleo e Gás (ABPG)
This paper focuses on gender equality in the Brazilian energy sector, including both public and private sectors. It provides an assessment on how gender inequality impacts on women, and how their presence in decision-making roles can lead to more diverse and better practices that can positively influence a sustainable transition towards social inclusion and a successful clean energy paradigm. It also considers the development of a gender-responsive approach to designing opportunities for women in energy technology and innovation. The methodology was based on literature review, surveys and interviews through online questionnaires and in-person meetings with several representatives from the energy sector in Brazil, as well as international comparative analysis, including country-level case studies. Our results indicate two shortcomings at the government level that hinders the design and monitoring of policies for gender equality: lack of data disaggregated by gender, and absence of gender policies. The assessment demonstrates that overcoming barriers for gender issues in the energy sector requires not only a recognition of the baseline or the current situation in the country, but also a good monitoring of indicators, in order to identify the problem and support public policies, companies and NGOs’ project management. The full report related to this conference paper was commissioned by the British Embassy Brasilia through the UK Government's Prosperity Fund and is available at: https://doi.org/10.13140/rg.2.2.19253.52964The conference paper is available only in Portuguese version at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337844531_Energia_Genero_Avaliacao_sobre_Igualdade_de_Genero_no_Setor_de_Energia_do_Brasil
Ferreira D, Strapasson A, Andrade P, et al., 2019, Programa de Produção Sustentável da Palma de Óleo no Brasil - Avanços e Desafios, 7° Congresso da Rede Brasileira de Tecnologia e Inovação de Biodiesel, Publisher: Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC)
Strapasson A, Ferreira D, Costa HC, et al., 2019, Avaliação de Centros de Energia no Brasil: Estudo Prospectivo para Criação de um Centro de Energia Brasil-Reino Unido, 71st Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science (SBPC), Publisher: SBPC, Pages: 1-4, ISSN: 2176-1221
O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o interesse e a viabilidade decriação de um centro integrado de energia no Brasil, que atuaria em articulação com os centros existentes no país e em parcerias internacionais, com vistas a facilitar investimentos em pesquisa, desenvolvimento e inovação tecnológica, bem como em assuntosregulatórios. O trabalho foi contratado pela Embaixada Britânica no Brasil, com apoio do UK Prosperity Fund. Foi realizado um amplo mapeamento dos centros existentes, entrevistas com lideranças do setor energético nacional, e uma simulação de custos indicativos para construção e operação desse centro. Entre os principais resultados, recomenda-se pela criação de um Centro de Energia Brasil-Reino Unido, com legitimidade, independência e sustentabilidade financeira, envolvendo representantes do setor de energia e academia.
Strapasson A, Falcão J, Rossberg T, et al., 2019, Land use change and the European biofuels policy: The expansion of oilseed feedstocks on lands with high carbon stocks, OCL - Oilseeds and fats, crops and lipids, Vol: 26, Pages: 1-12, ISSN: 2272-6977
The focus of this article is on the potential land use change impacts associated with the oilseed-based biodiesel consumption. The three main crops used for biodiesel production to date are oilseed rape (OSR), soybeans and oil palm. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to provide a technical assessment of potential land use change arising from the growth of these three major crops at global level, obtained through a broad country-level analysis for their respective major producing countries. The article presents an historical data analysis, evaluating the interaction between the expansion and contraction of these three crops over the last three decades (with a closer look from 2008) together with the carbon stock changes to the land. We categorise the land use by its carbon stock and resulting carbon stock changes from land use change. Crops aimed at the production of ethanol, such as maize (corn), sugarcane, wheat, cassava and sugar beet, although extremely relevant for biofuel policies, are not the subject of this present study. While we did not know at the time of writing this report how the term “significant” would be defined in the EU delegated act we concluded from the analysis of the historical data and using the high ILUC-risk definition as it stands, that the emissions associated with palm and soy are significant. For oil palm, we take Indonesia and Malaysia as proxy for the global position. We calculate an average expansion of 29% on high carbon stock land. For soy, we calculate a global average of 19% expansion. We calculate the global average greenhouse gas emissions intensities based on the ILUC-risks as 56 gCO2eq/MJ for soy oil and 108 gCO2eq/MJ for palm oil. Future projections (OECD-FAO, 2017) suggest these numbers could drop significantly. We do not find evidence for high ILUC-risk expansion of oilseed rape.
Soares MP, Ferreira M, Strapasson A, et al., 2019, Mediating the learning of electrical circuits in physics: teaching unit proposal using the flipped classroom model, Physicae Organum, Vol: 5, Pages: 1-13, ISSN: 2446-564X
Mediating the learning of electrical circuits in the field of Physics teaching is challenging, requiring high abstraction skills from the student and innovative didactics from the teacher. The objective of this paper is to propose a reflexive teaching unit on electrical circuits for high school students, adequate to Brazil’s current national curriculum standards. The proposal is based on the use of the flipped classroom model in the light of Lev Vygotsky’s cognitive development theory, both in the social perspective of students in classroom and in their activities outside the school premises. Different methodological teaching strategies were used in order to foster situations in which students are the protagonists of their own learning, while consciously and consistently exploring their potential. As a result, at the end of the proposed teaching unit, the students are expected to be able to recognize and associate the concepts studied with practical situations of their daily lives. In addition, it is expected that the students would have acquired autonomy in their learning processes and developed social and cognitive skills, as well as would be able to create graphic and mental models on the operation and application of electrical circuits.
Strapasson A, 2019, Das relações entre o humano e a natureza num país em transe, Revista Política Democrática, Pages: 10-13, ISSN: 1518-7446
Falcão J, Strapasson A, Costa H, et al., 2019, Energy & Gender: An assessment on gender equality in the energy sector in Brazil, Brasilia, Brazil, Publisher: British Embassy Brasilia
Strapasson A, Ferreira D, Costa HKDM, et al., 2019, Assessment of Energy Centres in Brazil: A prospective study for the creation of an integrated energy centre in Brazil, Brasilia, Brazil, Publisher: British Embassy in Brazil
HEADLINES:• The authors advise the British Embassy to create a Brazil-UK Energy Centre, with legitimacy, independence, and financial sustainability, involving leading stakeholders from the energy sector and academia.• This project identified 419 relevant stakeholders for the purpose of creating an integrated energy centre in Brazil, being 175 energy companies, 86 associations, 117 research and development institutions, and 41 governmental bodies. • 80 representative stakeholders were contacted and interviewed for this project through in-person meetings or online questionnaires. Most of the participants considered the initiative as very positive, but its success would depend on its governance model, funding source and operational system. It is fundamental to have a centre with credibility and influence. • The energy centre could act as a centre of intelligence for energy strategies, contributing for a constructive dialogue with the energy sector and international partners, avoiding overlaps and competition with existing initiatives. Key areas of interest include project management, new technologies, bioenergy, smart-grids, distributed generation, regulation, international cooperation, renewable energies, and the transition to a low carbon economy.• The capital costs for installing this centre are estimated at R$ 153K in total (£ 31K), excluding property purchase. The estimated operational costs would vary from R$ 295K (£ 59K) to R$ 398K (£ 80K) a month, depending on location, staff and salaries involved. These estimates include property rentals, but buying a property is also an option. A high standard executive office with approximately 200 m2 is estimated from R$ 2,210K (£ 442K) to R$ 2,502K (£ 500K). The cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília were assessed in this study.
Strapasson A, Falcão J, Rossberg T, et al., 2019, Land Use Change and the European Biofuels Policy: The expansion of oilseed feedstocks on lands with high carbon stocks, Bedford, United Kingdom, Publisher: LCAworks
Sandstrom S, Strapasson A, 2017, Socio-Environmental Assessment of Gender Equality, Pastoralism, Agriculture and Climate Information in Rural Communities of Northern Tanzania, Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security, Vol: 2, Pages: 66-83, ISSN: 2413-922X
Investment in climate services in support of climate change adaptation has increased, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. As this is a relatively new field of practice, little research is available to inform the design of these interventions. The aim of this research is to contribute to building knowledge around this theme. Given the gender dynamics inherent in decision making on livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa, we focus on differences in the use of climate services between men and women. We use quantitative and qualitative methods to critically discuss and review the barriers that exist for the use of climate information in making livelihoods related decisions. The results indicate that a link exists between households accessing productive assets and taking action on the basis of climate information, and revealed a large gender inequality across all the assessed variables. What emerged clearly is the need for interventions to be based on needs assessments to ensure that services provided are usable.
Elizondo A, Pérez-Cicera V, Strapasson A, et al., 2017, Mexico’s Low Carbon Futures: An integrated assessment for energy planning and climate change mitigation by 2050, Futures, Vol: 93, Pages: 14-26, ISSN: 0016-3287
This paper shows an integrated assessment for energy planning and climate change mitigation in Mexico, as an international case study. The Mexico 2050 Calculator was used to run a number of low carbon future scenarios by 2050. The calculator consists of a whole-systems model, which combines the main sectors of the Mexican economy into a single visual tool. By integrating energy and carbon dynamics across all sectors and carrying out a sensitivity analysis of the entire model, we compare four low carbon energy scenarios to assess current energy policy strategies in the country. The methodology proposed in this paper can also be applied to any other nation, particularly to those with similar models already available. Our findings show the relative impact of each sector and their various interactions for achieving Mexico’s ratified climate commitments. The paper also includes policy recommendations and highlights the need for scaling-up energy efficiency policy efforts in industry and transport, for having a higher focus on agricultural and land use policies, and for promoting integrated renewable energy policies.
Strapasson A, Woods J, Chum H, et al., 2017, On the global limits of bioenergy and land use for climate change mitigation, Global Change Biology Bioenergy, Vol: 9, Pages: 1721-1735, ISSN: 1757-1693
Across energy, agricultural and forestry landscapes, the production of biomass for energy has emerged as a controversial driver of land-use change. We present a novel, simple methodology, to probe the potential global sustainability limits of bioenergy over time for energy provision and climate change mitigation using a complex-systems approach for assessing land-use dynamics. Primary biomass that could provide between 70 EJ year−1 and 360 EJ year−1, globally, by 2050 was simulated in the context of different land-use futures, food diet patterns and climate change mitigation efforts. Our simulations also show ranges of potential greenhouse gas emissions for agriculture, forestry and other land uses by 2050, including not only above-ground biomass-related emissions, but also from changes in soil carbon, from as high as 24 GtCO2eq year−1 to as low as minus 21 GtCO2eq year−1, which would represent a significant source of negative emissions. Based on the modelling simulations, the discussions offer novel insights about bioenergy as part of a broader integrated system. Whilst there are sustainability limits to the scale of bioenergy provision, they are dynamic over time, being responsive to land management options deployed worldwide.
Woods J, Chaturvedi R, Strapasson A, et al., 2016, Assessing the climate impacts of Chinese dietary choices using a telecoupled global food trade and local land use framework, Beijing, Global Land Project 3rd Open Science Meeting, Publisher: Global Land Programme, Pages: 109-109
Global emissions trajectories developed to meet the 2⁰C temperature target are likely to rely on the widespread deployment of negative emissions technologies and/or the implementation of substantial terrestrial carbon sinks. Such technologies include afforestation, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), but mitigation options for agriculture appear limited. For example, using the Global Calculator tool (http://www.globalcalculator.org/), under a 2⁰C pathway, the ‘forests and other land use’ sector is projected to become a major carbon sink, reaching -15 GtCO2e yr-1 by 2050, compared to fossil emissions of 21 GtCO2e yr-1. At the same time, rates of agricultural emissions remain static at about 6 GtCO2e yr-1, despite increasing demands for crop and livestock production to meet the forecast dietary demands of the growing and increasingly wealthy global population. Emissions in the Global Calculator are sensitive to the assumed global diet, and particularly to the level and type of meat consumption, which in turn drive global land use patterns and agricultural emissions. Here we assess the potential to use a modified down-scaled Global Calculator methodology embedded within the telecoupled global food trade framework, to estimate the agricultural emissions and terrestrial carbon stock impacts in China and Brazil, arising from a plausible range of dietary choices in China. These dietary choices are linked via telecoupling mechanisms to Brazilian crop production (e.g. Brazilian soy for Chinese animal feed provision) and drive land and global market dynamics. ‘Spill-over’ impacts will also be assessed using the EU and Malawi as case studies.
Strapasson A, 2016, Modelling the Limits of Bioenergy, Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Pages: 686-690, ISSN: 1099-1743
Vineis P, Scheelbeek P, Strapasson A, 2016, Co-benefits of food policies: climate and health, 28th Annual Conference International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE): Old and new risks: challenges for environmental epidemiology, Publisher: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), ISSN: 1552-9924
Strapasson A, Woods J, Mbuk K, 2016, Land Use Futures in Europe: How changes in diet, agricultural practices and forestlands could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Vienna, 23rd European Meetings on Cybernetics and Systems Research (EMCSR), Publisher: Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (BCSSS), Pages: 106-109
Manikowski S, Strapasson A, 2016, Sustainability Assessment of Large Irrigation Dams in Senegal: A Cost-Benefit Analysis for the Senegal River Valley, Frontiers in Environmental Science, Vol: 4, ISSN: 2296-665X
Starting in the 1970s, the Senegalese Government invested in the development ofirrigated schemes in the Senegalese part of the Senegal River Valley (S-SRV). From thattime to 2012, the irrigated schemes increased from 10,000 to more than 110,000 ha. Inthe meantime, the economic viability of these schemes started to be questioned. It alsoappeared that the environmental health and social costs might outweigh the benefitsof irrigation. Using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach and project cost-benefitsmodeling, this study (i) quantified the costs and benefits of the S-SRV irrigated riceproduction, (ii) evaluated the costs and benefits of its externalities, and (iii) discussedthe irrigated rice support policy. The net financial revenues from the irrigated schemeswere positive, but not their economic equivalences. The economic return rate (EER)was below the expected 12% and the net present value (NPV) over 20 years of theproject represented a loss of about US$-19.6 million. However, if we also include theproject’s negative externalities, such as the reduced productivity of the valley ecosystems,protection cost of human health, environmental degradation, and social impacts, thenthe NPV would be much worse, approximately US$-572.1 million. Therefore, the resultsshow that to stop the economic loss and alleviate the human suffering, the S-SRVdevelopment policy should be revised using an integrated approach and the exploitationtechnology should aim at environmental sustainability. This paper may offer useful insightsfor reviewing the current Senegalese policies for the valley, as well as for assessing othersimilar cases or future projects worldwide, particularly in critical zones of developingcountries.
Strapasson A, Woods J, Mbuk K, 2016, Land use futures in Europe: how changes in diet, agricultural practices and forestlands could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Publisher: Imperial College London
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNCTAD, 2016, Second Generation Biofuel Markets: State of Play, Trade and Developing Country Perspectives, Publisher: UNCTAD, UNCTAD/DITC/TED/2015/8
Strapasson A, 2015, The Limits of Bioenergy: A Complex Systems Approach to Land Use Dynamics and Constraints, 59th Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences, Publisher: ISSS, ISSN: 1999-6918
This paper summarises a PhD thesis recently defended by the author at ImperialCollege London. The aim is to present a novel methodology to obtain anunderstanding of the potential limits of bioenergy by using a complex systemsapproach for assessing land use dynamics and constraints. Although bioenergy isclassified as a renewable energy source, land is a finite resource and its expansionlimited. The anthropogenic demands on land result from a combination of multipleprovisioning services. These include global food consumption, dietary preference,crop and livestock yields, land use integration, wastes and residues, and bioenergyyields and forms, as well as the allocation of surplus land for forestry and energycrops, and the potential role of negative emission technologies. Thus, bioenergy is justone part of a complex land-use system. The general hypothesis is that there arefundamental limits to the overall scale and rate of the sustainable expansion ofbioenergy, which can be assessed by means of combinations of empirical data,mapping tools and complex systems models. To this end, a novel methodologicalapproach is proposed, which is based on two original integrated models. The first oneis termed the Global Calculator Land Use Change Model (GCLUC), developed aspart of the Global Calculator project, in which land is freely allocated worldwide andfood security is assumed a priority. The second considers land for dedicated energycrops as a delimited reserve, by integrating Hubbert’s curve principles (originallyproposed for peak oil assessments) in agro-ecological zoning schemes (as recentlydone for sugarcane ethanol in Brazil), resulting in a new model here termed greenHubbert.The results show ranges of bioenergy potentials and expansion rates in thecontext of different land use futures. The potential public policies necessary to supportsustainable bioenergy are also discussed. Finally, the conclusions show that, indeed,there are fundamental limits to bioenergy, and th
Strapasson A, Wang L, Kalas N, 2015, Land Use Assessment for Sustainable Biomass, The Biomass Assessment Handbook Energy for a Sustainable Environment, Editors: Rosillo-Calle, De Groot, Hemstock, Woods, Publisher: Routledge, Pages: 210-227, ISBN: 9781138019645
Bierbaum R, Cowie A, Gorsevski V, et al., 2015, Optimizing the Global Environmental Benefits of Transport Biofuels: A STAP Advisory Document, Publisher: Global Environment Facility (GEF), GEF/STAP
An Advisory Document prepared by the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
Strapasson A, Ferreira D, Duraes FOM, et al., 2014, Matérias-primas para Biocombustíveis, Biocombustíveis no Brasil: Fundamentos, Aplicações e Perspectivas, Editors: Perlingeiro, Publisher: Synergia Editora, Pages: 49-81, ISBN: 9788561325992
Coelho ST, Strapasson A, Grisoli R, et al., 2014, Sustentabilidade Ambiental dos Biocombustíveis, Biocombustíveis no Brasil: Fundamentos, Aplicações e Perspectivas, Editors: Perlingeiro, Publisher: Synergia Editora, Pages: 288-317, ISBN: 9788561325992
Gorren R, Coelho ST, Grisoli R, et al., 2014, Sustentabilidade Social dos Biocombustíveis, Biocombustíveis no Brasil: Fundamentos, Aplicações e Perspectivas, Editors: Perlingeiro, Publisher: Synergia Editora, Pages: 319-332, ISBN: 9788561325992
Strapasson A, 2014, The Limits of Bioenergy: A Complex Systems Approach to Land Use Dynamics and Constraints
Strapasson A, Kalas N, Woods J, 2014, Briefing Paper on Land, Food and Bioenergy of the Global Calculator Project, Publisher: Imperial College London
Strapasson A, Ramalho-Filho A, Ferreira D, et al., 2013, Agro-ecological Zoning and Biofuels: the Brazilian experience and the potential application in Africa, Bioenergy for Sustainable Development and International Competitiveness The Role of Sugar Cane in Africa, Editors: Johnson, Seebaluck, Publisher: Routledge, Pages: 48-65, ISBN: 9781136529559
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