Abstract

In this research, the environmental profile of sugar produced from beet was estimated by considering the beet cultivation and the milling process in the Iranian Hamadan Province via the life cycle assessment methodology. Data were obtained from sugar beet growers and the main sugar mill in the province. The system boundaries were set from the sugar beet planting to the production of white sugar in the sugar mill. The functional unit was considered to be 1 ton of white sugar. The calculations were performed for impact categories including global warming, abiotic depletion, fossil fuel depletion, ozone layer depletion, human toxicity, fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, photochemical oxidation, acidification, and eutrophication. Results indicate that the global warming impact of sugar production through beet cultivation and the milling process was estimated to be 310, and 1540 kgCO2eq/ton, respectively. Electricity accounted for the greatest share of the impact for agricultural phase (55.29%), followed by chemical fertilisers (20.83%). This electricity consumption in sugar beet production is mainly due to the agricultural irrigation. Therefore, the enhancement of water use efficiency and water extraction in sugar beet farming seems to be a possible solution to the reduction of the overall environmental burden. Also, sugar beet production should become more efficient in terms of fertiliser use. In the industrial phase, the most significant impacts are related to the production and use of natural gas. Renovation of equipment and development of renewable energies in the mill have been suggested for making beet processing more energy efficient.