Agricultural life cycle analysis

Development of Integrated Systematic Engineering Approaches to Sustainable Resource Exploitation (e.g., life-cycle analysis, soft-systems analysis) in fields such as Mining, Forestry, and Agriculture,... 

Figure 2. Life cycle analysis results for energy content of various thermoplastic polymers. PLAl represents present technology PLA Bio/WP is the projection for the production of PLA from agricultural waste using wind power.

In looking at the life cycle analysis of surfactants based on renewable materials versus petrochemical feedstocks there are pros and cons to each side. Petrochemical processes use more energy but generate less waste whereas agricultural processes generate more waste and gaseous emissions. However, the opportunities for efficiency improvements are greater in the oleochemical and allied industries than in the petrochemical industry [40]. 

Plants have two parts the tops and the roots. Both have different effects on soil chemistry and analysis. Because the effects are so different, each part will be discussed separately. All plants can be divided into algae, fungi, mosses, liverworts, and vascular plants, while the dominant agriculture plants are commonly divided into grasses and legumes. In addition, these types of plants can be annual, biennial, or perennial in their life cycles. Annual plants are particularly interesting in that both the tops and bottoms die each year and thus add organic matter to soil from both sources. 

Charles, R., Jolliet, O., Gaillard, G., Pellet, D., 2006. Environmental analysis of intensity level in wheat crop production using life cycle assessment. Agriculture, Ecosytems and Enyiron-ment 113, 216-225. 

These indicators are a shortlist of the sustainability issues related to biofuels production and not all of them can be estimated with current life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies. For instance, none of the LCA studies discussed in the Uterature included ILUC (indirect land-use change that may displace existing agricultural activity) in the analysis (Humalisto, 2015). This specific problem remains a major unsolved factor for the assessment of the carbon footprint of biofuels as it is tightly Unked to deforestation, which endangers the local habitats and biodiversity. 

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