Agricultural LCA for Food Oil of Winter Rapeseed, Sunflower, and Hemp, Based on Czech Standard Cultivation Practices

Abstract

The demand for food vegetable oil is rising and this trend is reflected in the agricultural sector of the Czech Republic. The traditional oil crops of the Czech Republic are winter rapeseed and sunflower. These oil crops have high demands on energy inputs, for example, in the form of land preparation and chemical protection. At the same time, they are characterized by high food oil production and oiliness. Moreover, marginal oils crops, such as hemp, are also gaining prominence. This work aimed to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with the cultivation of winter rapeseed and sunflowers based on standard cultivation practices typical of the conditions of the Czech Republic. For comparison, an intensive cultivation strategy for hemp was modelled, also corresponding to the conditions of the Czech Republic. This study assessed the environmental impact of traditional oil crops from the agricultural Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) perspective. The system boundaries included all the processes from the cradle to the farm gate. Mass-based (volume of food oil) and area-based (land demand for generating the same volume of food oil) functional units were employed. The results cover nine impact categories related to the agricultural LCA. ReCiPe Midpoint (H) characterization and normalization models were used for the data expression. Hemp is a plant with generally low demands on the inputs of the growing cycle but generally has a low oil production, which affects the character of the results relating to the goal and scope definition of the study. Hemp food oil thus generated a higher environmental impact per unit of production and area compared to sunflower and rapeseed food oil.