Abstract
The production and utilization of fertilizers are processes with known and noteworthy environmental impacts. Direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a high contribution to water eutrophication due to the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) derivatives are some of the most crucial impacts derived from the overall life cycle of fertilizer use. The life cycle assessment (LCA) has been reliable and analytical tool for the identification, quantification, and evaluation of potential environmental impacts of fertilizers related to the products, production processes, or activities throughout their lifecycle. In this paper, a gate-to-gate LCA approach was applied in order to identify and evaluate the impacts derived from the production processes of nitrate and compound fertilizers the production industry in Northeastern Greece. The results from this study prove that compound fertilizers have a greater impact compared with nitrate fertilizers, contributing up to 70% of the total production impacts. Furthermore, climate change, freshwater eutrophication, and fossil fuel depletion were identified as the most crucial impact categories. Finally, a comparison with relevant LCA studies was conducted, in order to identify the possibility of a consistency pattern of the fertilizer production impacts in general.
Highlights
In today’s global economy and consumption needs, chemicals play a vital role as there is no single economic sector where chemicals are not being used
Proven to have significant importance, mostly because of the CO2 emissions
Fertilizers production is known to have significant environmental impacts throughout the whole cycle of the production stages. The purpose of this life cycle assessment (LCA) study was to determine the total environmental impacts derived from fertilizer production, and to compare the impacts from nitrate and compound fertilizers separately
Summary
In today’s global economy and consumption needs, chemicals play a vital role as there is no single economic sector where chemicals are not being used. Industries that produce and utilize chemicals have a significant impact on the world’s economy, as the chemical industry is a sector with notable economic growth, providing numerous work positions [1]. (ii) The life sciences industry, including differentiated chemicals and biological substances, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, animal health products, vitamins, and crop protection chemicals. These products are usually produced with very high specifications and are closely monitored by government agencies. The fertilizer industry (FI), as part of the basic chemicals industry, has a crucial impact on the global economy. In 2018, FI directly employed around 964,000 employees, with
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