Strategies for reducing food waste and developing sustainable diets require information about the impacts of consumption behavior and waste generation on climatic, water, and land resources. We quantified the carbon, water, and ecological footprints of 17,110 family members of Chinese households, covering 1935 types of foods, by combining survey data with available life-cycle assessment data sets. We also summarized the patterns of both food consumption and waste generation and analyzed the factors influencing the observed trends. The average person wasted (consumed) 16 (415) kg of food at home annually, equivalent to 40 (1080) kg CO2e, 18 (673) m(3), and 173 (4956) gm(2) for the carbon, water and ecological footprints, respectively. The generation of food waste was highly correlated with consumption for various food groups. For example, vegetables, rice, and wheat were consumed the most and accounted for the most waste. In addition to the three plant-derived food groups, pork and aquatic products also contributed greatly to embedded footprints. The data obtained in this study could be used for assessing national food security or the carrying capacity of resources.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.05.068 | DOI Listing |
ISME J
January 2025
Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27607, United States.
Long-term climate history can influence rates of soil carbon cycling but the microbial traits underlying these legacy effects are not well understood. Legacies may result if historical climate differences alter the traits of soil microbial communities, particularly those associated with carbon cycling and stress tolerance. However, it is also possible that contemporary conditions can overcome the influence of historical climate, particularly under extreme conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Phys Chem Lett
January 2025
Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, China.
Due to the global demands on carbon neutralization, CO separation membranes, particularly those based on two-dimensional (2D) materials, have attracted increasing attention. However, recent works have focused on the chemical decoration of membranes to realize the selective transport, leading to the compromised stability in the presence of moisture. Herein, we develop a series of 2D capillaries based on layered double hydroxide (LDH), graphene oxide, and vermiculite to enhance the oversaturation of CO in the confined water for promoting the membrane permselectivity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLangmuir
January 2025
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Refrigeration Technology, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin 300134, China.
Self-cleaning applications based on bionic surface designs requires an in-depth understanding of unique and complex wetting and evaporation processes of sessile droplets on natural biosurfaces. To this end, hydrophobic bamboo and Kalanchoe blossfeldiana leaves are excellent candidates for self-cleaning applications, but various properties, such as the heat and mass transfer processes during evaporation, remain unknown. Here, the dynamics of contact angle, radius, and heat and mass transfer during evaporation of sessile droplets on bamboo and Kalanchoe blossfeldiana leaves with roughness in the range 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMater Horiz
January 2025
Natural Sciences and Science Education, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637616, Singapore.
Bionic evaporators inspired by natural plants like bamboo and mushrooms have emerged as efficient generators through water capillary evaporation. However, primitive natural evaporators cannot currently meet growing demand, and their performance limitations remain largely unexplored, presenting a substantial challenge. Through extensive experimentation and detailed simulation analysis, this study presents a precisely engineered H-type bamboo steam generator.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
Department of Materials Science and Technology, Nagaoka University of Technology, 1603-1 Kamitomioka, Nagaoka, Niigata 940-2188, Japan.
Apatite nanoparticles are biocompatible nanomaterials, so their film formation on biodevices is expected to provide effective bonding with living organisms. However, the biodevice-apatite interfaces have not yet been elucidated because there is little experimental evaluation and discussion on the nanoscale interactions, as well as the apatite surface reactivities. Our group has demonstrated the biomolecular adsorption properties on a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) sensor coated with apatite nanoparticles, demonstrating the applicability of apatite nanoparticle films on devices.
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