Agricultural co-product management: An LCA perspective on the use of safflower oilcake from bio-oil production in Umbria region, Italy

Abstract

This work evaluates the impact of cultivating Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) in marginal lands of the Umbrian territory (Italy) to produce oil. The analysis considers the entire production process, aiming to understand which are the most impacting factors. In particular, the work assesses the environmental savings deriving from the reuse of the main by-product of the oil extraction process, i.e. the cake, for animal feed purposes. The evaluation was carried out by means of a cradle-to-gate LCA. The results show that the greatest impacts are due to the crop fertilization. However, such an impact is almost completely compensated by the use of the cake in feed production.