Technische Universität Berlin, Chair of Sustainable Engineering, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
Technische Universität Berlin, Chair of Sustainable Engineering, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
Sci Total Environ. 2019 Apr 20;662:521-529. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.264. Epub 2019 Jan 27.
This study investigates the water scarcity footprint (WSF) trend of German agricultural imports over recent years, following the principles of the ISO 14046 standard on water footprinting. For this purpose, the import statistics of agricultural goods for the years 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015 was compiled and linked with the irrigation water consumption during their production as well as with the AWARE water scarcity factors of the country of production. Agricultural imports increased by 62% from 22 to 35 million tons during the analysed period. At the same time, the blue water consumption for agricultural production (i.e., irrigation water) decreased by 13% and the WSF declined by 20%, from 119 to 91 km. The decrease in WSF is caused by drop in the cotton imports, while the WSF associated with the imports of other crops increased by 45%. Product-wise, cotton, nuts, and rice contribute to more than half of the total WSF in all analysed years. Despite their high WSF, these products account for only 3% of the imports by mass confirming the relevance of impact based water footprint assessments. Country-wise, main contributors change along the analysed years. In the year 2000, one-quarter of the WSF occurs in Uzbekistan due to cotton imports. Afterwards, the highest WSF arises in Iran and Spain, while the imports from the US dominate the WSF in 2015. The changing trend follows the pattern of production of the hotspots identified on the product level, e.g. nuts, soybeans, and cotton. This study provides information on the water scarcity impacts that the German consumption creates in other countries and may be useful for decision-making processes aiming at optimising water scarcity footprints.
本研究根据 ISO 14046 标准关于水足迹的原则，调查了近年来德国农产品进口的水资源稀缺足迹（WSF）趋势。为此，编制了 2000 年、2005 年、2010 年和 2015 年农产品进口统计数据，并将其与生产过程中的灌溉用水量以及生产国的 AWARE 水资源稀缺因素联系起来。在分析期间，农产品进口量从 2200 万吨增加到 3500 万吨，增长了 62%。与此同时，农业生产（即灌溉用水）的蓝水消耗量减少了 13%，WSF 减少了 20%，从 119 减少到 91 公里。WSF 的减少是由于棉花进口量下降所致，而其他作物进口的 WSF 增加了 45%。就产品而言，棉花、坚果和大米在所有分析年份的总 WSF 中都占一半以上。尽管这些产品的 WSF 很高，但它们仅占进口量的 3%，这证实了基于影响的水足迹评估的相关性。就国家而言，主要贡献者随着分析年份的变化而变化。在 2000 年，由于棉花进口，乌兹别克斯坦的 WSF 占四分之一。之后，伊朗和西班牙的 WSF 最高，而美国的进口在 2015 年主导了 WSF。这种变化趋势遵循在产品层面确定的热点的生产模式，例如坚果、大豆和棉花。本研究提供了德国消费在其他国家造成的水资源稀缺影响的信息，这可能对旨在优化水资源稀缺足迹的决策过程有用。
