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This article presents the abstract of the paper Economic and Environmental Analysis of the Wine Bottle Production in Spain by Means of Life Cycle Assessment, which appeared in the 2005 issue of the International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology. The paper's objective is to analyse the improvements obtained by the implementation of eco-efficiency in wine production. The principal aim is to achieve the rational energy and materials consumption in the whole wine production process implementing the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodology. The production processes and the products are analysed taking into account their LCA from the raw materials and the intermediate process products, to the final product, the waste and the emissions generated. Their possible re-utilisation and the process integration are also analysed in order to minimise the load pollutant. Through LCA, energy, material requirements and waste are identified and described quantitatively for each process. Moreover the associated impacts are evaluated and explained identifying the processes with higher improvement potential. Finally the innovative solutions implemented for eco-efficient wine production are described and analysed.

This article presents the abstract of the paper LCA of Integrated Orange Production in the Comunidad Valenciana (Spain), which appeared in the 2005 issue of the International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology. In order to perform a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of integrated orange production in the Comunidad Valenciana, two representative areas were studied. The functional unit was 1 kilogram oranges at the farm gate. Eight scenarios were considered according to type of irrigation, the origin of water and the tillage practice. The production of agrochemicals, the production and use of energy in agriculture and the agricultural practices were included in the study. Hot spots were detected. Although differences were found between scenarios, it was difficult to establish which one is the best because some practices, such as tillage, are more advisable when considering herbicide production, but the herbicides used are more toxic. The lack of environmental information for agricultural LCA in Spain and the need to adapt some aspects of impact methodology to the Spanish soil and climate characteristics have also been pointed out.

This article presents the abstract of the paper Life Cycle Analysis of Wheat and Barley Crops for Bioethanol Production in Spain, which appeared in the 2005 issue of the International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the agricultural production of wheat and barley grain to be used as a raw material for bioethanol production in Spain is performed. The objective of the work presented is to compare the environmental impact of the production of these two alternative raw materials for the production of bioethanol. This study is carried out in the frame of a higher scope study, an LCA of alternative fuels for transport launched by the Spanish Ministry of Environment. Results show that wheat cultivation has a smaller impact in every impact category with the exception of the global warming category. Considering only the agricultural production stage, it seems that wheat is more recommendable than barley for bioethanol production, but given that the main objective in the biofuels introduction is the fulfillment of the greenhouse gases reduction commitments, barley is a better option than wheat.