Exergy Life Cycle Assessment of soil erosion remediation technologies: An Italian case study

In this work, the primary resources assessment of four different soil erosion remediation technologies, Geo-nets, Bio-mats, Geo-cells and Deep Rooting Plants (DRP), is performed applying the approach of the Exergy Life Cycle Assessment (ELCA). The ELCA provides a comprehensive framework to assess the primary resources requirements of products by means of the conversion of primary flows of energy and raw materials absorbed by a production process into exergy. The soil erosion technologies described in the work are analysed according to two complementary indicators: the annual average soil loss and the life cycle primary exergy requirements. The primary exergy requirement of the different applications is measured by means of three ELCA indicators: the Cumulative Exergy Demand (CExD), the Thermo-Ecological Cost (TEC) and the Cumulative Exergy Extraction from Natural Environment (CEENE). The specific context of the application is a highway slope of the size of 1 hectare situated along the A1 highway, near the town of Fabro (TR), in Italy. The results indicate that DRPs are the most suitable solutions. However, TEC, CExD and CEENE indexes of these technologies suggest the existence of hidden impacts related to land use. The same result characterises also Bio-mats, the technology with the highest contribution of renewable material along the life cycle phases. In conclusion, this work shows that the use of exergy based impact indexes for the environmental impact assessment supplies a wider framework and deeper insights of the environmental performance of production processes and products.