Integrated environmental assessment of sunflower oil production

The high energy and petroleum based fuels demand of the world require use of alternative fuels from materials available within each country. Therefore biofuels may be an alternative to mineral diesel. A local pilot production of sunflower oil was implemented in order to test the possibility to reduce fossil fuels consumption on a local scale. Vegetable oils can be directly obtained from oilseed plants and can be used as energy sources in internal combustion engines. Environmental Impact Indicators were provided by Material Flow Accounting, Embodied Energy Analysis and Emergy Accounting. All three approaches reveal that the agricultural phase is the critical step in the whole production line from the point of view of environmental impact. The renewability calculated for the sunflower oil is 33.6%. A comparative Life Cycle Assessment analysis for the sunflower oil production line from conventional farming with organic farming showed environmental advantages. Furthermore use of vegetable oils instead of diesel oil as energy sources in internal combustion engines reduces carbon dioxide emissions of 59%. This study represents an opportunity for farms to reduce dependence on petroleum and to explore energy production systems exploiting renewable energy.