Life cycle assessment of rice bran oil production: a case study in China

Environmental problems caused by the food processing industry have always been one of the concerns for the public. Herein, for the first time, a gate-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) was employed to evaluate the environmental impact of rice bran oil production. Four subsystems, namely, transportation of the raw rice bran to oil factory, crude oil extraction, oil refining, and oil storage, were established. The product sustainability software GaBi and the method CML 2001-Jan. 2016 were used to calculate and analyze the environmental burdens at each stage of the rice bran oil production chain. The results show the oil refining stage had the greatest environmental impact, followed by the oil extraction stage. High demands for coal and electricity make a critical difference in generating vast majority of environmental impacts. Modifying the electricity source and replacing traditional fuels with cleaner ones will do bring benefits to the sustainable development of the industry.

Automated summary

This study conducted a gate-to-gate life cycle assessment for rice bran oil production, showing that the oil refining and extraction stages have the highest environmental impact, primarily due to high demands for coal and electricity. It is recommended to change the electricity source and use cleaner fuels to promote sustainable development in the industry.