Evaluation of the Environmental Burdens of Sugar Beet Production with the Life Cycle Method in Hamadan Province

This work presents estimates of the emissions resulting from the production of sugar beet from Consumption of inputs in cultivation to the final product at the farm gate. Life cycle assessment method was used. The study covers the impact of abiotic and fossil depletion potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, global warming potential for time horizon 100 years, ozone depletion potential, human toxicity potential, freshwater and marine aquatic ecotoxicity potential, terrestrial ecotoxicity potential, and photochemical oxidation potential. The results of this analysis are presented for the functional unit of 1 tonne sugar beet without allocation. Abiotic depletion, abiotic depletion (fossil fuel), acidification, eutrophication, global warming, ozone depletion, human toxicity, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, and photochemical oxidation were calculated as 3.78×10-4 kg Sb eq, 3.57×10+3 MJ, 310 kgCO2 eq, 8.25 ×10-6 kgCFC-11 eq, 37.70 kg 1,4-DB eq, 47.40 kg 1,4-DB eq, 5.45×10+4 kg 1,4-DB eq, 1.72 kg 1,4-DB eq, 5.37×10-2 kg C2H4 eq, 3.16 kg SO2 eq, 1.73 kg PO4 eq, respectively. Almost all impact categories were dominated by electricity and chemical fertilizers. Replacing grid electricity as the main source of irrigation energy source with renewable electrical energies reduced the environmental burdens for sugar beet production. Due to the limited water resources in Iran, changing and improving the cultivation pattern on micro and macro scales can significantly affect the environment.