New insights on ecological footprinting as environmental indicator for production processes

The ecological footprint (EF) has reached worldwide popularity in the last decade as an interesting environmental indicator, and its applications have been extended to different fields. However, shortcomings of the methodology behind the EF calculations have been reported and the need for further improvements has been remarked, especially when this indicator is applied to measure the sustainability of production processes. This paper deals with three controversial aspects of the EF. First, the influence on estimates of using regional or global factors was explored; thus, a specific CO2 absorption rate was assessed for Galicia (NW Spain) using two different methodologies. These were applied to assess the EF of a ceramic industry (manufacture of bricks in baked clay) typical from Galicia, and the results were compared to the case when a global rate was employed.