Life cycle assessment of coconut oil product

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyse the life cycle of the coconut oil industry and process improvement alternatives. The life cycle analysis (LCA) method are based on the scope of the gate to gate. This study shows that the input for coconut oil production consists of copra as the main raw material and several supporting materials and energy. The outputs are coconut oil, coconut pulp pellets, and waste (liquid, solid, and gas). The total potential GHG emissions, acidification, and eutrophication per-kg-coconut-oil-products are 2.9271 kg-CO2 eq, 0.0178 kg-SO2-eq, and 0.0145 kg-PO4-3-eq. The highest GHG emissions produced from the Crude Coconut Oil Plant sub-system was 1.2045 kg-CO2eq per-kg-coconut-oil. The acidification potential produced from the Boiler Plant and Transportation sub-system with the potential value was 0.0094 kg-SO2-eq and 0.0084 kg-SO2-eq per-kg-coconut-oil, respectively. The eutrophication potential produced from the Boiler Plant and Transportation sub-system with a potential value was 0.0026 kg-PO4-3-eq and 0.0119 kg PO4-3-eq pe- kg-coconut-oil, respectively. Optimization of energy usage can be done by optimizing fuel, water, and electricity in each sub-system of coconut oil production. The NEV and NER values result in 40,998,456 MJ and 1.0971, respectively.