No abstract

Global climate change resulting from increased greenhouse gas emission and environmental pollution remain a serious threat to the world. Food processing industries is one of the major contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions. Intergovernmental Panel on climate change (IPCC) reported that greenhouse gas emission should be reduced to avert the worst effects of climate change. One of the ways to reducing greenhouse gas emission is by assessing the environmental impact associated with food production, and one of the well-known methodologies used for environmental impact evaluation is life cycle assessment model (LCA). This paper presents the results of LCA analysis of cassava flour production in Southwestern Nigeria. The result shows that global warming potential of cassava flour production was 1.105E+01 kg CO 2 equivalent, eutrophication 2.632E-03 kg NO 3 equivalent and acidification 5.583E-03 kg SO 2 equivalent. In this study, the major contributor to global warming is the carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission from burning of fossil fuel (Coal) used for drying operation which emits 93% of the CO 2 , while 7% of the total CO 2 emission is from the diesel generator. This study has shown that cassava flour production is contributing greatly to environmental global warming potential in Southwest Nigeria.

The behavior of an agricultural system can be understood better by considering its economic and environmental analysis. In order to reduce environmental load of energy uses, there is need for improved energy conversion and utilization. In this research, the energy consumption pattern in cassava production, and its environment burden were considered. Data of resources consumption were collected from cassava cultivation field and relevant research institutions, and converted to their energy value. Selected environmental impacts categories of the crop were determined using life cycle assessment model according to ISO 14040-14043 series. The results from the findings showed that crop protection, planting operation, land preparation, harvesting and packing consumed 16764.83, 5057.32, 5011.46 and 294MJ/ha which represented 61.80%, 18.64%, 18.48% and 1.08% respectively of the total energy consumption. Other energetic parameters and their value determined in cassava production were, energy productivity (1.47 kg/MJ), energy ratio (8.95) and net energy gain (215672.39 MJ/ha). The percentage nonrenewable energy and renewable energy consumed were 78.40% and 21.60% respectively. The environmental impacts associated with cassava production include global warming potential (GWP) (8.025E+01 kg CO2 equiv.), acidification potential (AP) (1.8892E-02 kg SO2 equiv), eutrophication potential (EP) (6.7375E-01 kg NO3 equiv.), and ozone layer depletion potentials (OLDP) (2.9981E-04 kg RII equiv.) The results obtained established cassava tuber as energy crop, and it production has negative impact on the environment. Non-renewable energy utilization in the crop production should be targeted for reduction.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) was developed to estimate the environmental impacts of industrial production processes and systems. This paper assessed the environmental impacts associated with the production, storage and disposal of cowpea grains in Ilorin, Kwara state, Nigeria, and proffer ways of improving and reducing some of the environmental impacts associated with the system. Three scenarios were created in the cowpea study; production and storage in an inert atmosphere silo, hermetic storage, and cold shock (freezer) storage respectively. The inventory data obtained from the scenario was analysed using Gabi 8.7 think step 2018 version. From the cradle-to-grave research study and Centre of Environmental Science (CML) methodology used, it was obtained that the Global Warming Potential (GWP) for the three scenarios were 6.7, 6.46, and 8.82 kg CO2-equivalent for inert, hermetic and cold shock respectively. Acidification Potential (AP) values for the three scenarios were: 0.0105, 0.01 and 0.0121kgSO2 equivalent respectively, Eutrophication Potentials (EP), were 1.68, 1.56, and 2.012e-3kg phosphate equivalent respectively. Ozone layer depletion potential (ODP) gave same values each in the scenarios with 9.99e-13kgR11 equivalent, and human toxicology potential (HTP) values for each were 0.181, 0.151 and 0.24kg DCB equivalent respectively. Diesel and petrol fuel used for tillage and post farm operations respectively were major hotspots in the scenarios. Based on the emissions value and characterization factor from each scenario, inert storage and hermetic storage are recommended for environmentally friendly storage over cold shock storage in the cowpea scenario.