Life Cycle Assessment as a tool to promote sustainable Thermowood boards: a Portuguese case study

The present work aims to develop the Life Cycle Assessment study of thermo-modified Atlanticwood® pine boards based on real data provided by Santos & Santos Madeiras company. Atlanticwood® pine boards are used mainly for exterior decking and cladding facades of buildings. The LCA study is elaborated based on ISO 14040/44 standard and Product Category Rules for preparing an environmental product declaration for Construction Products and Construction Services. The inventory analysis and, subsequently, the impact analysis have been performed using the LCA software SimaPro8.0.4. The method chosen for impact assessment was EPD (2013) V1.01. The results show that more than ¾ of ‘Acidification’, ‘Eutrophication’, ‘Global warming’ and ‘Abiotic depletion’ caused by 1 m3 of Atlanticwood® pine boards production is due to energy consumption (electricity + gas + biomass). This was to be expected since the treatment is based on heat production and no chemicals are added during the heat treatment process.

Life cycle assessment of residual forestry biomass chips at a power plant: a Portuguese case study

The residual forest biomass (RFB) sector has been experiencing strong development at European level and particularly in Portugal mainly due to the increase of energy production from renewable sources. The aim of this study is to assess the environmental impacts of eucalyptus RFB chips production chain in Portugal. The environmental and economic impact comparison of the processes included in the production chain is presented as well. The environmental impacts were calculated by the life cycle assessment approach described in the ISO 14040 series of standards. The production chain assessed included all processes from eucalyptus forest until the delivery of RFB chips at the power plant. The main conclusion of this study is that eucalyptus wood production is the process that presents the greatest environmental impact through the product life cycle.

Enotourism – more than a life style

Enotourism is a relatively new form of sustainable tourism. But is more than a lifestyle. The Douro landscape reflects its ancient and deep connection with the culture of wine, creating a picture of Man and Nature working side by side in search of the perfect wine. Lifestyle typically reflects: an individual's attitude, a way of life, values, or world view. Practical implications - the results suggest that there is scope for developing wine tourism products to attract tourists and which could be used to promote the Douro Valley region as a centre for enotourism. The beautifully unique landscape of the Douro was one of the reasons that made it a World Heritage site in 2001. There isn´t in Portugal an autonomous strategy process to define enotourism. Is a legal problem when we try to analyse the process or a data base to find information about enotourism players. So, how do winery operators, particularly those running small or family businesses, cope with the new developments occurring in the world of wines? The present study examines these issues from the perspective of a group of Portuguese winery operators. Our proposal in this research, is to analyse how many wineris or enotecas are hable to develop enotourism with a legal process. The results of the study reflect the level of education of employees, the seasonal nature of tourism, the improvements in its promotion and the need for greater support from local government. A key aspect is respect for the people who call the location home, the culture and customs of the area, and the socio-economic system. Design/methodology/approach - The methodology employed for this study consisted of a combination of surveys, interviews and field observations with the suppliers in the traditional wine‐producing region, Douro Valley, or Porto wine region, in the north of Portugal. The results of this investigation are almost analisys made inside the villages and also us wineries and enotecas. From the 30 winemakers that we visited, only 2 have an enotourism service acording to legislation and have a certificate that allows to pratices. It was very hard but it is an open field to future researchs (TOMÁS López‐Guzmán,et al, 2011). From the 30 wineries we have analysed only 2 were enotourism with a legal basis. Enotourism is on the travel agencies department and most of the wineries don´t have the legal licenses. Despite of most tourism agencies see enoturism as a segment of the industry with tremendous growth potential, stating that in some regions, it's only functioning at 20% of its full potential. Enotourism development guidelines and management practices are applicable to all forms of tourism in all destination types, including mass tourism and the various niche tourism segments.