The environmental impacts of citrus residue management in China: A case study in The Three Gorges Reservoir Region

Abstract

This study conducted the first life cycle analysis for citrus residue (CR) management systems in China. The results indicated conventional waste treatment systems were not suitable for CR management in China. Although feed system seems to be a favourable option, the uncertainty analysis suggested valorisation system could achieved better performance in global warming, eutrophication and human toxicity. The environmental impacts of valorisation systems were more sensitive to energy consumption. For silage and single cell protein (SCP) system, the environmental impacts could be significantly reduced by improving the energy use efficiency or using more renewable energy. In comparison, although the environmental impacts of biorefinery system were less favourable than SCP and silage systems. The multiple extraction unit had less impact than reported values in other studies. Further research in biorefinery system can focus on increasing the energy efficiency of pre-treatment or reuse of extraction chemicals.

Keywords: Citrus residue; Environmental impacts; Life cycle analysis; Valorisation.