In an increasingly globalized world with more and more distributed international supply chains, sustainability studies and policies need to consider socioeconomic and environmental interactions between distant places. Studies of the global biomass metabolism investigate physical flows between and within nature and human systems, thus providing a useful basis for understanding the interrelatedness of changes in one place with impacts elsewhere. Various methodological approaches exist for studying the human-nature metabolism and estimating the land embodied in international trade flows, a core element of assessing telecouplings in the global land system. The results of recent studies vary widely, lacking robustness and thus hampering their application in policy making. This article provides a structured overview and comparative evaluation of existing accounting methods and models for calculating land footprints. We identify differences in available accounting methods and indicate their shortcomings, which are mainly attributable to the product and supply chain coverage and detail, and biases introduced by the use of monetary flows as a proxy for actual physical flows. We suggest options for further development of global land footprint accounting methods, particularly highlighting the advantages of hybrid accounting approaches as a framework for robust and transparent assessments of the global displacement of land use.

Desenvolvimento sustentável tem se tornado um dos termos mais populares na agenda de empresas e governos. Do relatório Brundtland de 1987 a 15a Conferências das Nações Unidas sobre Mudanças Climáticas – COP15 – em 2009, o tema tem recebido crescente atenção uma vez que os atuais padrões de consumo e produção são claramente insustentáveis dos pontos de vista social, econômico e ambiental. O presente trabalho revisou os principais conceitos, métodos e ferramentas ligados à inclusão de valores ecologicamente sustentáveis no projeto de produtos e em seu ciclo de vida. Além disso, buscou, com a aplicação de um método cada vez mais aceito na literatura, denominado Pegada Hídrica, investigar o impacto do setor de biocombustíveis sobre os recursos hídricos no Brasil. Ao estimar o conteúdo de água virtual presente nas fases agrícola e industrial do ciclo de vida dos biocombustíveis analisados, o presente trabalho também buscou contribuir com a produção de dados que poderão ser utilizados na construção de inventários de produtos que fazem uso de etanol e biodiesel em seu próprio ciclo de vida. Outra contribuição possível visa à economia de recursos naturais, já que dados quantitativos são necessários para permitir comparações e eventuais tomadas de decisão cujo objetivo resulta, em última análise, no aumento de produtividade e redução de custos para as empresas. / Sustainable development has become one of the most popular terms in the agenda of corporations and governments. From 1987’s Brundtland report to the 15th United Nations Conference on Climate Change – COP15 – in 2009, the topic has received increasing attention since the current productin and consumption patterns are clearly unsustainable from the social, economic and environmental point of views. This paper reviewed the main concepts, methods and tools for the inclusion of ecologically sustainable values in design and product life cycle. In addition, we attempted, by applying a method increasingly accepted in literature, called Water Footprint, to investigate the impact of the biofuels sector on water resources in Brazil. In estimating the virtual water content present in agricultural and industrial phases of the life cycle analysis of biofuels, this study also aimed to contribute to the production of data that could be used to build inventories of products that use ethanol and biodiesel in their own life cycle. Another possible contribution is aimed at saving natural resources, since quantitative data are needed to allow comparisons and possible decision-making aimed ultimately in increased productivity and reduced costs for businesses.

Esta tese é composta por três ensaios que versam sobre a complexa relação entre desenvolvimento e meio ambiente. No primeiro ensaio é feita uma revisão das principais abordagens teóricas que tratam do assunto, com destaque para a Curva Ambiental de Kuznets (CAK) e para os conceitos de sustentabilidade fraca e forte. Ambos apontam o crescimento econômico como um importante indutor de impacto ambiental. No entanto, a CAK afirma que a geração de riqueza pode ser aliada na proteção ambiental quando o país alcança um patamar de desenvolvimento suficientemente elevado para que o meio ambiente passe a ser incorporado como um bem superior. Já a conceituação de sustentabilidade não reforça esta conclusão ao passo que sugere que o capital natural precisa ser preservado: seja relativamente (conceito fraco) ou absolutamente (conceito forte). Para estes, a relação entre crescimento e impacto é sempre direta. As abordagens multidimensionais vão além e afirmam que a relação entre o homem e os ecossistemas se dá uma forma impossível de ser mensurada através da simples relação entre crescimento econômico e degradação. Para se aproximar minimamente deste modo de pensar, um conjunto maior de indutores precisa ser considerado. O ensaio 2 desta tese apresenta modelos na literatura que buscam estimar impactos ambientais causados pela atividade humana através de um número maior de indutores (produtivos, populacionais, institucionais, entre outros). Estes modelos (IPAT e STIRPAT) têm como característica a possibilidade de estimar o impacto ambiental esperado através da verificação das variáveis consideradas indutoras. Mas, duas fragilidades são especialmente importantes: i) a variável que mede impacto ambiental é, em geral, reportada com poluição apenas; e, ii) os modelos não fornecem cenários não lineares nos indutores, ou seja, o patamar das variáveis não faz diferença no tamanho do impacto gerado. Então, é proposta a aplicação de um modelo logístico ordenado que seja capaz de estimar as probabilidades de diferentes níveis de impacto ambiental, que é medido através do tamanho da Pegada Ecológica dos países. A metodologia proposta, além de contar com uma medida mais ampla e completa de impacto ambiental, também é capaz de fornecer cenários com maior riqueza informativa, pois levam em consideração os níveis das variáveis indutoras. No trabalho, foram avaliados cenários a partir de um modelo que contou com as seguintes variáveis: percentual de população urbana, percentual de população entre 15-64 anos, densidade demográfica, PIB per capita e percentual de área agrícola. Os sinais e magnitudes das variáveis utilizadas são condizentes com o que a literatura vem apresentando. O diferencial da proposta é, de fato, a possiblidade de análise de cenários através de outra perspectiva. O ensaio 3 da tese aplica este modelo estimado para o globo aos municípios gaúchos. A partir da suposição de que os impactos ambientais são homogêneos ao redor do mundo, foi possível estimar as probabilidades de impacto para cada município. Com estes resultados, foi elaborada uma análise regional dos potenciais impactos ambientais dos municípios a partir dos indutores que apresentavam. Trata-se de um exercício interessante quando se considerada a carência de informações ambientais neste nível de desagregação. / This thesis presents three essays on the complex relationship between development and the environment. On the first essay is performed a survey of the main theoretical approaches on this matter with an emphasis on the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and the weak and strong sustainability concepts. Both approaches points out the economic growth as an important driver of environmental impact. However, the EKC sustains that the pursuit of economic wealth can be responsible for environmental protection as the country reaches a certain level of income which turns the environment into a superior good. On the other hand, the concepts of sustainability do not enforce this conclusion either in relative terms (weak concept) or absolute terms (strong concept); in this scope, the relationship between growth and environment is constantly direct. The multidimensional approaches propose that the relationship between humankind and the ecosystems are established in a way which is impossible to measure through economic growth and environmental degradation. To become closer to this sort of approach it is necessary to consider a wider set of drivers. The essay 2 of this thesis analyses some statistical models that aim to estimate environmental impacts caused by human activity based on a larger number of drivers (production, population, institutions, etc.). These models (IPAT and STIRPAT) present as a major characteristic the ability to estimate the expected environmental impact grounded on the drivers considered. Nevertheless, two important caveats should be considered: i) the impact variable is most of the time just a pollution measure; and, ii) the models do not offer a nonlinear analysis on the drivers, i.e., the level of the drivers does not make any difference in terms of impact. So, we propose an ordered logistic model that is suitable for estimating the probabilities of different levels of environmental impact which is represented by the size of the Environmental Footprint. The proposed methodology, besides counting on a wider and more complete measure of environmental impact, is capable to offer scenarios with a richer degree of information because the level are effectively taken into consideration. The study has evaluated scenarios base on the following drivers: percentage of population in urban areas, percentage of population between 15-64 years old, demographic density, GDP per capita, and the percentage of agricultural land. The signs and magnitudes of the drivers have proven to be the same as those found in the literature. The main difference of this proposal is, in fact, the possibility of analyzing scenarios through a different (wider) perspective. The essay 3 applies the model, which was prior estimated for the globe, to the municipalities of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Based on the assumption that the environmental impact generated by those drivers is homogeneous around the world, it was possible to estimate the probabilities of environmental impact for each municipality and to draw a regional study of these results. It is an interesting exercise if you take into account that there exists a huge lack of information of environmental conditions for municipalities.

Este estudo tem por finalidade modelar a pegada ecológica de incidentes rodoviários que interrompem o fluxo normal de circulação. A pegada ecológica é um indicador que mede o impacto das atividades humanas em quantidades de áreas de terra, água e energia utilizadas para sustentar uma população de determinada região. Em transportes, esse impacto é medido pela área hipotética que deveria ser reservada para a absorção do CO2 emitido que tem constituído, nos últimos anos, a fatia mais significativa das pegadas ecológicas na maioria dos países. A vantagem de utilizar essa abordagem reside na facilidade de entendimento, na simplicidade e na utilização de uma unidade única de comparação entre emissões de diferentes setores. O método proposto e aplicado neste trabalho proporciona a identificação dos impactos dos incidentes, particularmente acidentes viários e obras de manutenção viária, em termos de pegada ecológica. O estudo de caso constou de uma rodovia de pista simples cujas emissões foram avaliadas com a utilização de simulação de tráfego. Como resultado obteve-se uma pegada ecológica de cerca de 2.180 hectares decorrente dos incidentes ao longo de um ano de operação da via. Este valor corresponde a 4% da pegada ecológica da via em condições normais de operação. Ainda, os resultados indicam que os incidentes com maior impacto sobre o meio ambiente são as obras para a manutenção da rodovia que contribuem com 60% do total gerado pelos incidentes. / The purpose of this study is to model the ecological footprint of road incidents that interrupt the normal flow of vehicles. The ecological footprint is an accounting framework that measures the impact of human activities considering amounts of land, water and energy areas used to sustain the population of a region. In transportation, this impact is measured by the hypothetical area required to absorb CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels that has been responsible, over the last years, for the largest share of the ecological footprint of nations. The advantage of using this approach is the ease of understanding, simplicity and the use of a single unit for comparing emissions from different sectors. The method proposed and deployed in this work enables identifying the impact of incidents, basically road accidents and maintenance works, on the transportation ecological footprint. The case study was composed of a single lane highway whose emissions were evaluated with the use of traffic simulation. We obtained an ecological footprint of 2,180 ha due to road incidents over a period of one year. This corresponds to 4% of the ecological footprint of normal road operations. Results also indicate that the incidents with the greatest impact on the environment are the works for the maintenance of the highway which contribute with 60% of the total value.

Esta pesquisa partiu da reflexão sobre a aplicabilidade dos conceitos de sustentabilidade, utilizando como foco a cidade. Pela primeira vez na história, em 2008 a população urbana ultrapassou a rural em níveis mundiais. No Brasil, cerca de 80% da população vive em áreas urbanas, sendo que 75% dos municípios brasileiros possuem até vinte mil habitantes. A Agenda 21 e a Agenda Habitat para Municípios abordam que os atuais padrões de desenvolvimento degradam os recursos naturais, afetando as condições de vida da população nas cidades. Esses documentos alertam para que haja respeito pela capacidade de absorção dos ecossistemas. A Pegada Ecológica, desenvolvida por Mathis Wackernagel e William Rees, é uma ferramenta de análise que permite estimar, em termos de área produtiva correspondente, o consumo de recursos e a capacidade de assimilação dos impactos ambientais gerados por uma determinada população ou economia. Para se utilizar essa ferramenta, de forma a ser implementada nas cidades brasileiras, é preciso adaptá-la, para que seja inserida em um instrumento de política urbana local, o Plano Diretor. O objetivo da presente pesquisa é desenvolver um método de avaliação da sustentabilidade ambiental para pequenos municípios, baseado na Pegada Ecológica, inserido no processo de elaboração de Planos Diretores de Desenvolvimento Urbano. O procedimento metodológico utilizado foi a pesquisa construtiva, dividida nas etapas de inspeção, a qual se refere à compreensão do processo, por meio da revisão da literatura; seguida da etapa de imaginação, onde é possível criar alternativas de transformação do processo atual, a qual contou com a experiência de especialistas; e finalmente, pela etapa de aplicação, em que se colocam em prática as alternativas desejadas. Nesta etapa houve a aplicação da ferramenta em município de pequeno porte (Feliz/RS). A contribuição da pesquisa se refere à apresentação detalhada da aplicação de uma ferramenta de avaliação da sustentabilidade ambiental, a qual discretiza as atividades mais sustentáveis, considerando-as como de reduzido impacto ambiental, e contribui na compreensão de que as decisões de planejamento afetam todo um sistema, que vai além das fronteiras políticas. / This research resulted from the reflection on the applicability of sustainable concepts focused on the city. For the first time in history, in 2008 urban population surpassed rural population at the global level. Around 80 percent of the Brazilian population lives in urban areas, considering that 75 percent of the Brazilian municipalities have up to twenty thousand inhabitants. Agenda 21 and Agenda Habitat for Municipalities address that the current development standards damage natural resources, and thus affect life conditions of the urban population. These documents stress the need to respect ecosystems absorption capability. The Ecological Footprint is an analysis tool developed by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees. It enables to estimate resource consumption and assimilation capability of environmental impacts generated by a specific population or economy, in terms of corresponding productive land. Its implementation in Brazilian cities requires it to be adapted in order to incorporate it in a local urban policy instrument, the Master Plan. The aim of this research is to develop an assessment method of environmental sustainability in small municipalities. It was based on the Ecological Footprint incorporated in the elaboration process of Urban Master Plans. The methodological procedure used was the constructive research, which was divided in inspection, imagination and intervention: the first phase refers to the process comprehension through the review of previous research and references. The second phase refers to the development of alternatives for changing the current process, which had the support of experts' experience. Finally, the third phase refers to the application of the planned alternatives. In the latter phase, the tool was applied in a small municipality (Feliz/RS). The contribution of this research refers to a detailed presentation of an assessment tool of environmental sustainability which points out more sustainable activities, reckoning them as having less impact on environment. The study also contributes in showing that planning decisions affect a whole system, which goes beyond political boundaries.

Climate change may have detrimental effects on agriculture productivity (Challinor et al., 2009). At the same time, agriculture also plays a role in contributing to the causes of global warming (IPCC, 2009). The present research examined current agro-management practices of select agriculture management practices and products with a threefold objective, namely i) to understand the possible impact of climate change on crop yields, ii) to examine the carbon sequestration potential of select agricultural crops and management practices, and iii) to conduct a thorough life cycle assessment to estimate the carbon footprint of select agriculture crops and management practices, so as to help policy makers, planners and business managers in devising appropriate mitigation and adaptation policy frameworks and make sensible management decisions in the context of climate change. The research was conducted in a series of three studies. The first study investigated future corn and soybean yields in the Raccoon watershed in the US Corn Belt using projected climate data. This study used the Environment Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model to estimate the impact of climate change for 2015-2099 with data downscaled from eight atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) with three emissions pathways reflecting low, medium and high greenhouse gas scenarios. Soil properties were gathered from the Soil Survey Geographic Database and data on crop rotation was derived from CropScape, a geospatial cropland data layer product of the US National Agricultural Statistics Service. Our findings show that 5-year averages of both corn and soybean yields for 2095-2099 depicted by all eight AOGCMs under low and medium carbon scenarios will increase in comparison to the 5-year average yields for 2015-2019. However, under the high carbon scenario, 5-year averages of both corn and soybean yields for 2095-2099 will decline in comparison to the 5-year average yields for 2015-2019 pointing to the effects of climate change. The study also examined the possible impact of carbon fertilization on yields. The results show that carbon fertilization of soybean, a C3 plant, may contribute to an increase in yield of 3% to 22% while its contribution to the growth of corn, a C4 plant, will be much lower. The second study focused on land-based carbon sequestration possibilities. Land-based carbon sequestration constitutes a major low cost and immediately viable option in climate change mitigation. Using downscaled data from eight atmosphere-ocean general circulation models for a simulation period between 2015 and 2099, the study examined the carbon sequestration potential of alternative agricultural land uses in an intensively farmed Corn Belt watershed and the impact of climate change on crop yields including impact on switchgrass. The results of the study show that switching from conventional tillage and continuous corn to no-till corn-soybean can sequester the equivalent of 192.1 MtCO2 eq of soil organic carbon per hectare with a sequestration rate of 2.26 MtCO2 eq ha-1 yr-1. The results also indicate that switchgrass can sequester the equivalent of 310.7 MtCO2 eq of soil organic carbon per hectare with a sequestration rate of 3.65 MtCO2 eq ha-1 yr-1. The findings of this research suggest that climate change does not have a significant effect on switchgrass yields, unlike on corn and soybean yields, possibly due to the carbon fertilization effect. As mentioned, agriculture can contribute to climate change mitigation efforts by providing low–land-based options through changes in agricultural management practices. A thorough life cycle assessment is necessary to compare various opportunities provided by a variety of agricultural approaches. The last study is a cradle-to-farm gate life cycle assessment of the contributions of select agricultural practices to mitigate global warming. The study focused on land-based practices including crop rotations instead of just individual crops. In the assessment, the study also included examinations of below-the-ground soil to determine the organic carbon sequestration potential of such practices, which most of the time is ignored in life cycle assessments due to lack of data. Specifically, the study examined three farming practices in the intensively farmed Raccoon watershed: continuous corn rotation with conventional tillage, corn-soybean rotation with no-till, and switchgrass. The assessment was conducted based on land units (hectares), instead of utilizing the usual practice of reporting life cycle assessment in product units, such as kilograms. The results of the life cycle assessment reveal that among the three agricultural practices, switchgrass has the lowest carbon footprint overall, and continuous corn rotation has the highest. Switching from continuous corn to switchgrass would reduce the overall greenhouse gases the most, by 6.30 Mg CO2eq/ha/yr, or by 62% compared to the emissions generated by the continuous corn rotation. Similarly, planting switchgrass instead of a corn-soybean rotation would reduce the overall emissions of greenhouse gases by 1.84 Mg CO2eq/ha/yr, or by 32% compared to the corn-soybean rotation. Finally, switching from continuous corn to the corn-soybean rotation would reduce overall greenhouse gases emissions by 4.46 Mg CO2eq/ha/yr or by 44% of the emissions generated by continuous corn. These findings can inform policy discussions on the potential of agriculture’s role in climate change mitigation.

The practice of diplomacy has changed dramatically in recent decades as a result of technological advancements and shifting geopolitical concerns. No longer confined to the cloaked and closed-door practices of elite state institutions, the diplomatic landscape has broadened, and been made visible, across space and scale. Amidst this rapidly changing environment, it is imperative to understand how states are adjusting their material diplomatic infrastructure and what that means for everyday diplomatic practices. While many countries have adjusted to twenty-first century diplomatic realities by adapting to a more mobile, maneuverable diplomatic corps and fewer facilities, the United States remains committed to a widespread diplomatic network, the largest in the world. This diplomatic footprint is the hallmark of universality, a sustained effort over time to acquire near total diplomatic coverage by dotting the world with embassies and consulates designed to look, work, and behave in a similar, if not, ageographic, manner. Attending to this understudied phenomenon means studying the historical and geographic conditions out of which this relatively even and uniform diplomatic apparatus materialized. It further means analyzing the contemporary pattern of U.S. diplomatic infrastructure against the shifting terrain of diplomatic norms and space. Drawing empirically on interviews with elite diplomatic practitioners, substantial archival material, and the researcher’s own experience working within the U.S. diplomatic assemblage, this study has sought to examine why the United States remains committed to universality and what embassies and consulates actually do to secure U.S. foreign policy goals. Specifically, the study—presented in this dissertation as three discrete original research articles—is framed by the following research questions: (1) What ideas and policies shaped the geographical footprint of U.S. diplomatic infrastructure over the course of the twentieth century? (2) How does the globe-girdling U.S. diplomatic assemblage reflect and influence geopolitical ideas and practices? (3) How does the grouping of diplomatic missions along regional lines reflect and influence U.S. foreign policy?

Esta pesquisa partiu da reflexão sobre a aplicabilidade dos conceitos de sustentabilidade, utilizando como foco a cidade. Pela primeira vez na história, em 2008 a população urbana ultrapassou a rural em níveis mundiais. No Brasil, cerca de 80% da população vive em áreas urbanas, sendo que 75% dos municípios brasileiros possuem até vinte mil habitantes. A Agenda 21 e a Agenda Habitat para Municípios abordam que os atuais padrões de desenvolvimento degradam os recursos naturais, afetando as condições de vida da população nas cidades. Esses documentos alertam para que haja respeito pela capacidade de absorção dos ecossistemas. A Pegada Ecológica, desenvolvida por Mathis Wackernagel e William Rees, é uma ferramenta de análise que permite estimar, em termos de área produtiva correspondente, o consumo de recursos e a capacidade de assimilação dos impactos ambientais gerados por uma determinada população ou economia. Para se utilizar essa ferramenta, de forma a ser implementada nas cidades brasileiras, é preciso adaptá-la, para que seja inserida em um instrumento de política urbana local, o Plano Diretor. O objetivo da presente pesquisa é desenvolver um método de avaliação da sustentabilidade ambiental para pequenos municípios, baseado na Pegada Ecológica, inserido no processo de elaboração de Planos Diretores de Desenvolvimento Urbano. O procedimento metodológico utilizado foi a pesquisa construtiva, dividida nas etapas de inspeção, a qual se refere à compreensão do processo, por meio da revisão da literatura; seguida da etapa de imaginação, onde é possível criar alternativas de transformação do processo atual, a qual contou com a experiência de especialistas; e finalmente, pela etapa de aplicação, em que se colocam em prática as alternativas desejadas. Nesta etapa houve a aplicação da ferramenta em município de pequeno porte (Feliz/RS). A contribuição da pesquisa se refere à apresentação detalhada da aplicação de uma ferramenta de avaliação da sustentabilidade ambiental, a qual discretiza as atividades mais sustentáveis, considerando-as como de reduzido impacto ambiental, e contribui na compreensão de que as decisões de planejamento afetam todo um sistema, que vai além das fronteiras políticas. / This research resulted from the reflection on the applicability of sustainable concepts focused on the city. For the first time in history, in 2008 urban population surpassed rural population at the global level. Around 80 percent of the Brazilian population lives in urban areas, considering that 75 percent of the Brazilian municipalities have up to twenty thousand inhabitants. Agenda 21 and Agenda Habitat for Municipalities address that the current development standards damage natural resources, and thus affect life conditions of the urban population. These documents stress the need to respect ecosystems absorption capability. The Ecological Footprint is an analysis tool developed by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees. It enables to estimate resource consumption and assimilation capability of environmental impacts generated by a specific population or economy, in terms of corresponding productive land. Its implementation in Brazilian cities requires it to be adapted in order to incorporate it in a local urban policy instrument, the Master Plan. The aim of this research is to develop an assessment method of environmental sustainability in small municipalities. It was based on the Ecological Footprint incorporated in the elaboration process of Urban Master Plans. The methodological procedure used was the constructive research, which was divided in inspection, imagination and intervention: the first phase refers to the process comprehension through the review of previous research and references. The second phase refers to the development of alternatives for changing the current process, which had the support of experts' experience. Finally, the third phase refers to the application of the planned alternatives. In the latter phase, the tool was applied in a small municipality (Feliz/RS). The contribution of this research refers to a detailed presentation of an assessment tool of environmental sustainability which points out more sustainable activities, reckoning them as having less impact on environment. The study also contributes in showing that planning decisions affect a whole system, which goes beyond political boundaries.

Desenvolvimento sustentável tem se tornado um dos termos mais populares na agenda de empresas e governos. Do relatório Brundtland de 1987 a 15a Conferências das Nações Unidas sobre Mudanças Climáticas – COP15 – em 2009, o tema tem recebido crescente atenção uma vez que os atuais padrões de consumo e produção são claramente insustentáveis dos pontos de vista social, econômico e ambiental. O presente trabalho revisou os principais conceitos, métodos e ferramentas ligados à inclusão de valores ecologicamente sustentáveis no projeto de produtos e em seu ciclo de vida. Além disso, buscou, com a aplicação de um método cada vez mais aceito na literatura, denominado Pegada Hídrica, investigar o impacto do setor de biocombustíveis sobre os recursos hídricos no Brasil. Ao estimar o conteúdo de água virtual presente nas fases agrícola e industrial do ciclo de vida dos biocombustíveis analisados, o presente trabalho também buscou contribuir com a produção de dados que poderão ser utilizados na construção de inventários de produtos que fazem uso de etanol e biodiesel em seu próprio ciclo de vida. Outra contribuição possível visa à economia de recursos naturais, já que dados quantitativos são necessários para permitir comparações e eventuais tomadas de decisão cujo objetivo resulta, em última análise, no aumento de produtividade e redução de custos para as empresas. / Sustainable development has become one of the most popular terms in the agenda of corporations and governments. From 1987’s Brundtland report to the 15th United Nations Conference on Climate Change – COP15 – in 2009, the topic has received increasing attention since the current productin and consumption patterns are clearly unsustainable from the social, economic and environmental point of views. This paper reviewed the main concepts, methods and tools for the inclusion of ecologically sustainable values in design and product life cycle. In addition, we attempted, by applying a method increasingly accepted in literature, called Water Footprint, to investigate the impact of the biofuels sector on water resources in Brazil. In estimating the virtual water content present in agricultural and industrial phases of the life cycle analysis of biofuels, this study also aimed to contribute to the production of data that could be used to build inventories of products that use ethanol and biodiesel in their own life cycle. Another possible contribution is aimed at saving natural resources, since quantitative data are needed to allow comparisons and possible decision-making aimed ultimately in increased productivity and reduced costs for businesses.

Orientador: Luiz Fernando Costa Nascimento / Banca: Mauro Pedro Peres / Banca: Luis Carlos Ribeiro Lara / Resumo: O presente estudo teve por objetivo realizar um levantamento do padrão do pé em crianças no início da segunda infância. A metodologia utilizou duas plataformas de força para detecção da distribuição das pressões plantares e da impressão plantar para mensurar o arco longitudinal medial, por conseguinte, classificar os tipos de pés. Foram comparadas as forças plantares da porção medial, lateral e as forças plantares da região anterior e posterior dos pés. Os pés, após serem classificados, foram comparados com as médias das forças plantares de cada sensor. Estes valores médios, foram comparados através do teste t de Student, teste de ANOVA e estimadas as correlações através do Coeficiente de Pearson com significância de alfa 5%. Participaram do estudo 57 escolares da primeira série do ensino fundamental com idade média de 7 anos e 6 meses, sem qualquer queixa ou indício de patologia ortopédica e/ou neurológica. A aquisição da atividade baropodométrica, foi coletada três vezes seguidas para cada sensor, e realizada na posição ortostática como a impressão plantar. As pressões plantares foram significativamente maiores da região medial do pé esquerdo e em ambos os retropés. A amostra apresentou prevalência de pés planos. Foi possível identificar uma boa correlação entre as forças plantares e o peso das crianças e uma boa correlação entre o total das áreas da impressão plantar com o peso da criança. / Abstract: The aim of this study was to obtain a survey on foot pattern of children up to 10 years old of. The method utilized two pressure platform to detect the distribution of plantar pressures and of plantar prints to measure the medial and longitudinal foot arch and to classify the foot types. The plantar pressures were compared according to medial and lateral side of foot the anterior and posterior regions of the foot were also studied. The feet were classified and were compared the mean pressure plantar of each platform sensor. These mean values were analysed by Student t test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test and the correlations were performed by the Pearson coeficient. The significance level adopted was alpha = 5%. This study was developed with students of “Alcina Soares” Fundamental Level School, located in Guaratinguetá, São Paulo State. Fitfy seven students were enrolled in this study. The average age of the participants age was 7,5 years old, they did not present any orthopedical or neurological symptom. The baropodometric activity records were collected with three times repetition to each sensor and the prodecure was performed in orthostatic position. The same procedure was adopted to obtain the plantar print. The plantar pressures were higher in the posterior region of the foot and in the medial region of the feet left. The plantar pressures were higher in the flat foot in comparison to the normal foot. It was possible to identify a good correlation between total foot surface and child weight; also, the plantar footprint had a good correlation with the child weight. So, the procedure performed with mechanical sensor was capable to define the pattern of pressure plantar in students. / Mestre