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The water footprint (the "water cost") of the goods: the case of olive oil

V. Amicarelli *, T. Gallucci *, G. Lagioia * and V. Dimitrova **

*** University of Bari

** University of Economics Varna, Bulgaria

The ability to direct economic development in a sustainable manner depends on knowledge of the interactions existing between anthropic and natural. In particular, the knowledge of the relations between the territory, understood as the set of natural resources such as air, water, soil, fauna, flora, climate and human activities, you can highlight the pressures environmental exercised by them. The information obtained will form the basis for the protection and management of natural resources of an area without compromising the chances of developing

This approach has characterized a large part of national and international scientific production. In particular, the research activities of prof. Fog and the entire Department of Geographical and Commodity University of Bari, since the '60s, focused on the description and the evaluation of interactions between the availability of natural resources and the production system.

More recently, the international scientific debate has suggested the use tread water or "water footprint (WF) defined as the amount of water used and / or polluted water during all stages of production of goods and services consumed by an individual, a group of individuals or a nation. The water footprint can then be calculated for one person, a well-defined group of people (a family, a city, a nation) for economic activity and also for a single commodity or service. In each case the indicator is proposed as a tool for managing less unsustainable water resources. In particular, it is useful for the analysis of the pressure of these resources and to restore equilibrium (sustainable) which can be maintained for a long time or, in freshwater availability, consumption patterns, business and political government.

The concept of "water footprint" was introduced in 2002 by Professor Arjen Hoekstra, has now received international attention for being a multidimensional indicator. In fact, it does not only determine the total cost of water in a commodity or service (the concept of virtual water) but specifies the source (rainwater, surface or groundwater) and the place where the taking occurred. In addition, this indicator includes specific and pollution of the water resource because it considers necessary to restore the initial qualitative and quantitative characteristics.

The indicator is composed of three components: green water, blue water and gray water. The first relates to precipitation (eg used for the production of biomass), the second considers surface water and groundwater needed for production and consumption of goods and services and, finally, the third component refers to the pollution by calculating the volume of dilution water necessary to restore di specifici standard di qualità.

Obiettivo di questo lavoro è stato l’applicazione di questo indicatore ad un caso concreto per valutarne la funzionalità ed utilità. Con tale scopo si è quindi analizzato il settore dell’olio extravergine di oliva, molto rilevante per il nostro paese. L’Italia, infatti, è il secondo produttore mondiale, uno dei maggiori consumatori e contemporaneamente un grande esportatore (soprattutto di oli pregiati) ed importatore (dalla Spagna e dalla Grecia). L’analisi effettuata ha riguardato un arco temporale di quattro anni ed ha interessato non solo il nostro paese ma anche la Spagna e la Grecia quali maggiori mercati di riferimento per le importazioni ed esportazioni Italian.

The water footprint estimate for the production of extra virgin olive oil in Italy amounted to 2500-5500 m3 of water per tonne of oil produced (m3 / t). In particular, the impact of the three components is as follows: green water

165-2200 m3 / t
blue water ; 925-935 m3 / t
gray water 1.450-2.350 m3/t

Sulla base dei risultati ottenuti, è stato possibile illustrare gli impatti associati al settore oleario italiano sulle risorse idriche nazionali:m quanta acqua è necessaria per la produzione complessiva di olio d'oliva nell’arco temporale osservato (1.700-3.700 Mm3), quanta acqua lascia virtualmente il nostro paese attraverso l'esportazione di questo prodotto (508-1.095 Mm3) e quanta ne arriva con le importazioni (2.400-4.100 Mm3) e quali sono le criticità del sistema produttivo oleario nazionale sono alcuni degli interrogativi cui è possibile rispondere utilizzando questo indicatore.

I risultati ottenuti sono utili sia per le aziende, perché evidenziando i punti critici del ciclo it can improve production efficiency, is pledging to policy makers in the planning of new policies of economic development and conservation of natural resources.

The full article will be published in the journal (IJSE) International Journal of Sustainable Economy, vol. 3, No 4 (2011).