Techno-Economic and Environmental Assessment of Dairy Products: A Case Study in Southeast Idaho, USA

Abstract

Abstract Idaho was the 3rd largest milk producer in the United States in 2019, and the dairy industry remains one of the most considerable sections of the state’s economy. The dairy industry itself has many effects on the environment, and there are many opportunities within this industry to improve its environmental impacts. This paper explores a dairy processing facility (under current operating norms and an improved set of operating conditions) to assess techno-economic aspects, determine the gate-to-gate environmental impacts, and identify critical process parameters. In this study, the environmental impact was determined using the life cycle assessment method to evaluate greenhouse gas emissions in kg CO2 equivalents per kg of packaged milk. The economic assessment was performed, using a life cycle costing analysis method for estimating the net present value, payback period, and total profit of the various scenarios, as well as determining the major cost drivers to the process. The results show that the total environmental impact of 1 kg of packaged milk was between 0.0102 to 0.0125 kg CO2 equivalents. It was also determined that the proposed adjustments to the operating conditions could reduce the heating costs by 84% and the overall annual costs by 16.3%. This study can help provide justification for further research when determining the optimum operating conditions and energy sources for dairy processing equipment and facilities. This includes investigating both real-world and theoretical models when making plans for improving dairy processes.