Dr. Sahar Azarkamand
Qualifications
Dr. Sahar Azarkamand holds a PhD (2013) and an MSc (2006) in Environmental management from Islamic Azad University (Science and Research Branch) in Iran. She got her second PhD in sustainability in 2021, at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Barcelona Tech – UPC).
Professional and research activity
Dr. Sahar Azarkamand is a postdoctoral researcher at the UNESCO Chair in Life Cycle and Climate Change (ESCI-UPF). Her primary research interests lie in Environmental Impact Assessment, Life Cycle Assessment, Green Supply Chain Management, and Carbon Footprint.
During her Master's degree, she evaluated the green management system of Iran Aseman Airline and throughout her Ph.D., she focused on green supply chain management at a petrochemical site in Iran, where she developed a conceptual model for evaluating the environmental impacts of the site.
In her second Ph.D, she developed an Excel-based tool for calculating the three scopes of greenhouse gas emissions in ports Tool, earning recognition as one of the top ten theses in the 'Thesis in 4 Minutes' competition that year.
Dr. Azarkamand has an academic background, having served as a researcher at the Waste Biotechnology Research Group at Alzahra University and supervised master's theses at Islamic Azad University (Najaf Abad) in Iran. Additionally, she worked at the BETA Research Center at the University of Vic for a year. In 2014, she co-authored a book titled 'Urban Environmental Management Strategies,' and in 2016, she translated and published a book titled 'Green Supply Chain Management.
Furthermore, she brings over a decade of experience from consultancy firms in Iran, where she worked on assessing the environmental impacts of various projects, particularly in the oil and gas and road construction sectors in Iran.
Selected publications
Ana Fernández-Ríos , Laura Batlle Bayer, Sahar Azarkamand, Jara Laso , Pere Fullana-i-Palmer , Alba Bala, Rita Puig , Rubén Aldaco, María Margallo
Abstract
Alternative protein sources (APSs) have emerged as a potentially healthy and, presumably, environmentally sustainable solution for meeting future food demand. Here we develop a new complex nutrient profile model to assess the nutritional quality of protein-rich foods, which, concurrently, allows to evaluate their environmental implications efficiently through the application of life cycle assessment (LCA). The development of the index was guided by the identification of priority nutrients in APSs and main deficiencies of similar models, which gave rise to the ‘quality Nutrient Rich Food 1.10.2’ (qNRF1.10.2). This model is the first nutrient profile system that combines various essential nutrients and a protein quality scoring system, namely Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score (DIAAS). From a nutritional perspective, its accuracy was proven and its application identified animal products as the most nutritionally complete food group, surpassing plant-based alternatives. However, when using the index as functional unit in LCA of protein-rich foods, we discovered that seeds, nuts, and mixtures of vegetable foods reported the lowest environmental impacts as a function of their nutrient density. Some exceptions were found for algae or insects, which performed worse than animal-derived foods in terms of resources consumption, or for cereals, which shown an important water deprivation potential. These results suggest that we should find a trade-off between the production of emerging and conventional foodstuffs, and that main environmental issues of each region should condition the location of production systems.
Sahar Azarkamand , Ana Fernández Ríos , Laura Batlle-Bayer , Alba Bala , Ilija Sazdovski , Mercè Roca , María Margallo , Rubén Aldaco , Jara Laso , Rita Puig , Rosa Cantero , Pere Fullana-i-Palmer
Abstract
The food sector is responsible for a great part of the environmental impact of our society (for instance, according to the UN, about a third of all human-made greenhouse gas emissions are linked to this sector) and protein sources, as one of the main food groups, have a particularly significant impact on the environment. Understanding the environmental and economic impacts of dietary choices is crucial, especially proteins choices, a main food source. Market prices alone do not comprehensively represent the true costs for society. True Cost Accounting is a methodology that quantifies the comprehensive economic, environmental, and social costs. Calculating the hidden environmental costs of the different alternative proteins helps to inform the public about the environmental consequences of their dietary choices. Adjusted prices, which integrate market prices with hidden environmental costs of protein alternative sources, including both animal-based and plant-based options, were estimated. In determining the true cost of proteins, assigning monetary values to environmental impacts is essential. Calculating environmental costs and adjusting the price of proteins provide a more accurate reflection of their true cost by accounting for the environmental externalities associated with protein production. A life cycle approach was applied, considering both a conventional mass-based functional unit and a proposed protein-content-based functional unit, which integrates the source's efficiency to deliver protein nutrient. In a mass-based calculation, beef and lamb production consistently demonstrate the highest adjusted costs, amounting to 33.72€ per kg of source, while plant-based protein sources typically exhibit lower adjusted costs, with an average of 12.31€ per kg of source. In between, seafood ranks fourth at 26.41€ per kg of source.
However, when the calculation of the adjusted price is based on real protein content, seafood commands the highest value, reaching 179.97€ per kg of protein, whereas beef and lamb drop to the third position at 131.76€ per kg of protein, and plant-based options Increase to 116.32€ per kg of protein. In summary, our study emphasizes the significance of informed dietary choices that account for both environmental sustainability and economic factors, and the need to use proper methodologies for the quantitative accounting. Further research is necessary to include social dimensions in the study, given their current unmeasurability due to complexity and limited information.
Ilija Sazdovski, Laura Batlle-Bayer, Alba Bala; María Margallo, Sahar Azarkamand, Rubén Aldaco, Pere Fullana-i-Palmer
Abstract
Sustainable packaging is a crucial focus in the context of circular economy efforts. This study evaluates the circularity of two secondary packaging systems used in Spanish fresh food produces: Reusable Plastic Crates and Single-use Cardboard Boxes. A Mass Flow Analysis was performed to assess the material flows in the production and use phases of both systems and two circular indicators were applied: the Material Circularity Indicator and Product Circular Indicator. While most previous studies for single-use packaging use these indicators at the product level, this study applies a system approach since the Reusable Plastic Crates can be reused 100 times. The functional unit was defined as the distribution of 1,000 tonnes of fresh products, resulting in the distribution of 6,666,700 packages with 15 kg of products. The Material Circularity Indicator and Product Circular Indicator results show that Reusable Plastic Crate is more circular than Single-use Cardboard Boxes. The Product Circular Indicator provides a more comprehensive assessment of circularity by considering multiple life cycle stages, efficiency, and unrecoverable waste, resulting in a difference in circularity evaluations. The indicators used have limitations as they do not consider the resource stock. Further research is needed to explore this aspect.