Product environmental assessment as vector of differentiation – ACéVOIL, a new tool for the vegetable oil sector★

Environmental impacts of human activities, heightened consumer concern over the food they eat, and business survival hinging on increasing performance mean there is pressure from all sides to reduce product environmental impacts—a strategic challenge to help keep businesses in business and improve competitiveness. Conscious of this challenge, the oilcrop commodity chain wanted to provide vegetable oil producers and users with a tool for assessing the environmental impacts of vegetable oil-based foods. The tool is called ACéVOIL, and can be used to validate the environmental value benefit of ecodesign initiatives as-deployed or as-designed. ACéVOIL accounts for every stage in the end-to-end commodity production and distribution process, making it possible to control and contain any pollution transfers between two distinct environmental impacts or two lifecycle stages. The tool also outputs results that can be readily communicated out to clients and/or consumers as part of a product information backbone to differentiate from competitor products and up-value the ecodesign initiatives implemented. However, communicating LCA results out to the general public can prove tricky business, so the exercise needs to be managed with care and forethought. Several upgrades are envisioned to extend the scope of ACéVOIL out to biomass-based products made from pure or processed vegetable oils

French environmental communication on sunflower and rapeseed oils based on life cycle assessment

The French “Grenelle” laws sparked a French national experiment trialling the environmental labelling of fast-moving consumer goods. The data required for this labelling scheme are generated by carrying out a life cycle assessment (LCA). The aim of this study is to provide all necessary information to fit the national experiment for two standard oils: sunflower oil and rapeseed oil. The complete oil life cycle was studied, from oilseed farming through to the end-of-life of the packaging. We focused heavily on the impacts of crushing and refining. The seed processing data was collected from different plants that are representative of the French crushing/refining industry and packaging site practice. The data inventory was used to calculate the identified environmental labelling indicators, i.e. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and water consumption. The production of 100g of refined bulk sunflower and rapeseed emits 89 and 127 g equivalent CO2 and consumes 1.7 L and 0.8 L of water, respectively. Most impacts on the studied indicators stem from the farming phase. Energy and water consumptions during crushing and refining also weigh on the studied indicators. The results of this study provide a relevant overview of all sunflower and rapeseed oils produced in France, and are usable as standard values for vegetable oil producers and users. Oil supply chain operators can use these values to compare to their own process values and gauge the improvements brought about by their ecodesign strategies. For example, using a biomass boiler, using less packaging, and making different choices on seed suppliers can lead to a lower set of impact values

French environmental communication on sunflower and rapeseed oils based on life cycle assessment

The French “Grenelle” laws sparked a French national experiment trialling the environmental labelling of fast-moving consumer goods. The data required for this labelling scheme are generated by carrying out a life cycle assessment (LCA). The aim of this study is to provide all necessary information to fit the national experiment for two standard oils: sunflower oil and rapeseed oil. The complete oil life cycle was studied, from oilseed farming through to the end-of-life of the packaging. We focused heavily on the impacts of crushing and refining. The seed processing data was collected from different plants that are representative of the French crushing/refining industry and packaging site practice. The data inventory was used to calculate the identified environmental labelling indicators, i.e. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and water consumption. The production of 100g of refined bulk sunflower and rapeseed emits 89 and 127 g equivalent CO2 and consumes 1.7 L and 0.8 L of water, respectively. Most impacts on the studied indicators stem from the farming phase. Energy and water consumptions during crushing and refining also weigh on the studied indicators. The results of this study provide a relevant overview of all sunflower and rapeseed oils produced in France, and are usable as standard values for vegetable oil producers and users. Oil supply chain operators can use these values to compare to their own process values and gauge the improvements brought about by their ecodesign strategies. For example, using a biomass boiler, using less packaging, and making different choices on seed suppliers can lead to a lower set of impact values

Compte rendu de la 8e conférence internationale relative aux Analyses de Cycle de Vie dans le secteur agro-alimentaire : LCA Food 2012

The eighth edition of the ‘‘international conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agrifood sector’’ was held in Saint Malo (France) in October 2012. It was organized by INRA, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, with the support of ADEME, the French Environment and Energy Management Agency. The LCA Food conferences are the first international scientific forum on LCA in the agri-food sector. ITERG and CETIOM attended this conference. This paper reviews the principal research topics in progress on life cycle assessment shown and interesting for vegetable oil sector

Compte rendu de la 8e conférence internationale relative aux Analyses de Cycle de Vie dans le secteur agro-alimentaire : LCA Food 2012

Compte- Rendu dans la revue OCL. Oléagineux Corps Gras LipidesThe eighth edition of the ‘‘international conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agrifood sector’’ was held in Saint Malo (France) in October 2012. It was organized by INRA, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, with the support of ADEME, the French Environment and Energy Management Agency. The LCA Food conferences are the first international scientific forum on LCA in the agri-food sector. ITERG and CETIOM attended this conference. This paper reviews the principal research topics in progress on life cycle assessment shown and interesting for vegetable oil sector

La valorisation des coproduits de l’huilerie par méthanisation

Profitable use of vegetable oil by-products by anaerobic digestion The productions of vegetable oil and methyl esters of vegetable oil lead to the generation of a lot of by-products. The purpose of this work was to study an alternative solution for a profitable use of vegetable oil by-products: anaerobic digestion. The potential for anaerobic digestion of 24 by-products was studied. The results show that most of oil by-products had a good capacity for anaerobic digestion. Then, the effects of the addition of oil by-products on the behavior of one reactor treating a mixture of grass, cow manure and fruit and vegetable waste and another reactor treating household waste were investigated. Most of the by-products tested improved significantly the production of methane indicating that the addition of by-products from oil production could represent a significant financial earning for the digester operators. Discussions are in progress involving oil producers and biogas plant operators to assess the opportunity of supporting the addition of by-products from oil refining in their facilities. A first evaluation of the costs and potential benefits of by-product treatment was performed. These costs should be reviewed in line with the increased development of anaerobic digestion and the expected benefits due to the digestion of by-products

La valorisation des coproduits de l’huilerie par méthanisation

The productions of vegetable oil and methyl esters of vegetable oil lead to the generation of a lot of by-products. The purpose of this work was to study an alternative solution for a profitable use of vegetable oil by-products: anaerobic digestion. The potential for anaerobic digestion of 24 by-products was studied. The results show that most of oil by-products had a good capacity for anaerobic digestion. Then, the effects of the addition of oil by-products on the behavior of one reactor treating a mixture of grass, cow manure and fruit and vegetable waste and another reactor treating household waste were investigated. Most of the by-products tested improved significantly the production of methane indicating that the addition of by-products from oil production could represent a significant financial earning for the digester operators. Discussions are in progress involving oil producers and biogas plant operators to assess the opportunity of supporting the addition of by-products from oil refining in their facilities. A first evaluation of the costs and potential benefits of by-product treatment was performed. These costs should be reviewed in line with the increased development of anaerobic digestion and the expected benefits due to the digestion of by-products

Création d’une base de données spatialisée relative à la valorisation énergétique par méthanisation des résidus et coproduits organiques des agro-industries : Présentation du projet VALORMAP

Création d’une base de données spatialisée relative à la valorisation énergétique par méthanisation des résidus et coproduits organiques des agro-industries. Présentation du projet VALORMAP. Journées Recherche et Industrie Biogaz méthanisatio