Environmental efficiency of olive oil production by small and micro-scale farmers in northern Jordan: Life cycle assessment

Olive groves cover nearly 73% of the total tree-planted agricultural land in Jordan, making olive oil production one of the most important agri-business sectors in the country. Nearly half of the olive trees are planted in the northern region of Jordan where the sector is dominated by small and micro-scale farming practices. Olive farmers rely on traditional production methods with little mechanization or chemicals use. To better understand the environmental impact of the industry on the environment and to compare it to other olive oil production practices in the Mediterranean region; life cycle assessment study was carried out. Five environmental impact categories relevant in the context of Jordan were assessed: acidification (AP); particulate matter formation (PM10); human toxicity (HTP); climate change (GWP100) and agricultural land occupation (AGLO). The study revealed that olive oil production in the northern region of Jordan is environmentally efficient when compared to large scale production practices common in other Mediterranean olive oil producing countries. On average, the production of 1 kg of olive oil in northern Jordan contributed: 0.57 kg CO2eq to GWP100; 11.8 × 10− 3 kg SO2eq to AP; 5.99 × 10− 3 kg PM10eq; 0.77 kg 1,4-DBeq to HTP and 22.54 m2 ∗ a to AGLO. Uncertainty due to variation at farm level practices affected all impact categories. Monte Carlo analysis showed that GWP100 was the most sensitive to variation at farm level practices while HTP was the least sensitive. Nevertheless, despite the high level of uncertainty, Monte Carlo analysis suggested that the GWP100 was < 1.55 kg CO2eq, 95% of the time. The efficiency of the Jordanian small and micro-olive oil production sector is due to its low level of water, energy and chemical usage in the agriculture phase and the efficient use of waste material for energy production to displace fossil fuel. Soil management practices are the major contributor of the environmental impacts. The system may be further improved if farmers adopt low tillage or no-tillage practices.Griffith Sciences, Griffith School of EngineeringNo Full Tex

Comparative LCA on using waste materials in the cement industry: A Hong Kong case study

Cement is traditionally regarded as an energy and emission intensive construction material. The reduction of environmental impacts in the cement industry has gained increasing concern worldwide for environmental sustainability. As a resource-scarce city, cement production in Hong Kong is associated with high CO2 emissions, thus contributing significantly to the high environmental impacts in the construction industry. This study herein has been conducted to comprehensively assess the energy consumption and global warming potential impacts of different types of cement manufactured in Hong Kong using life cycle assessment (LCA) techniques. Two sustainable strategies for the reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gases emission in the cement industry were then proposed. The LCA results showed that ordinary Portland cement production has high environmental impacts mainly due to the import of associated raw materials and burning of fossil fuel. The use of alternative material, such as fly ash would help to reduce the environmental impacts. Significant impacts reductions associated with cement production can be further achieved by strategies such as the use of glass powder from locally generated waste glass bottles as part of the raw materials, and the use of a bio-fuel produced from locally generated wood wastes as a co-fuel with coal. The assessment results indicated that about 12% of the total greenhouse gases emission and 15% of energy consumption can be reduced from the cement industry in Hong Kong by using waste materials to replace virgin materials (clinker/coal). © 2016 Elsevier B.V