Energy Engineering Program, Faculty of Engineering, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Center of Excellence on Energy, Economic, and Ecological Management (3E), Science and Technology Research Institute, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand.
Sci Rep. 2020 Feb 26;10(1):3516. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-60532-2.
Maize, a major food source for the world, is a high-yield commodity crop, and one of five major crops in Thailand. Occupying about 33% of the Thai upland farmlands, maize farming has been growing tremendously especially in northern Thailand. However, after harvesting, open burning is widely used in order to get rid of maize cobs and husks in land preparation for the next period. The current maize farming practices have caused several problems to local communities as well as urban dwellers. The objectives of this research were: (i) to analyze the life cycle inventory of maize cultivation, maize cob pellet production and heavy fuel oil production in northern Thailand using IDEA v2.0 and ecoinvent v3.0 databases; (ii) to evaluate environmental impacts of maize cultivation, maize cob pellet production and heavy fuel oil production using A Global Scale Environmental Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LIME-3) with the results of weighting (Country-specific) based on monetary valuation of end-points. This study evaluated the life cycle environmental impacts of maize cultivation and continuing through biomass energy production from maize cob by comparing with heat production from heavy fuel oil in Mae Chaem and Chiang Dao districts in the north of Thailand by using two different databases, IDEA v2.0 and ecoinvent v3.0 with an endpoint-based life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) method (LIME-3). The system boundary of this study includes land preparation, planting, weeding, farming, harvesting, maize cob pellet production and heat production from maize cob pellet and heavy fuel oil. The units of analysis in this study are 1 kg of maize grain, 3.76E-03 MJ of biomass energy production from maize cob and 3.76E-03 MJ of heat production from heavy fuel oil, respectively. The data were obtained from field survey supplemented with the Thai National Life Cycle Inventory Database and other scientific publications. The results included the environmental impacts of maize cultivation and continuing through biomass energy production from maize cob by comparing with heat production from heavy fuel oil in Mae Chaem and Chiang Dao districts by using two different databases with LCIA method on the endpoint approaches (LIME-3). The total damage cost based on IDEA v2.0 life cycle inventory (LCI) database in Mae Chaem and Chiang Dao districts was about 4.64E-01 USD and 4.89E-01 USD, respectively. As regards ecoinvent v3.0 database, the total damage cost in Mae Chaem and Chiang Dao districts was about 5.37E-01USD and 5.99E-01 USD, respectively. It can be seen that the total damage cost using different inventory databases in Chiang Dao are slightly higher than Mae Chaem due to different input materials. The result of total cost using inventory data from ecoinvent v3.0 is slightly higher than IDEA v2.0 due to different inventory processes in each database. However, the results in this study demonstrated that the databases show similar trends in the assessment results. On the other hand, certain numerical differences between the databases at some points were found to be more substantial. The results of present study are particularly relevant to policy choices for improving or using the good practices for maize cultivation, which would reduce the environmental performance of maize production systems in the area. To address the air pollution issue from biomass open burning of agricultural residues in the study area, the government agencies in Thailand should be responsible for promoting better biomass management for the future.
玉米是世界上主要的粮食作物之一，是一种高产量的商品作物，也是泰国的五大主要作物之一。玉米种植约占泰国旱地农田的 33%，在泰国北部地区发展迅速。然而，收获后，为了在下一阶段的土地准备中清除玉米穗和玉米皮，人们广泛采用露天焚烧的方式。目前的玉米种植方式给当地社区和城市居民带来了一些问题。本研究的目的是：（i）使用 IDEA v2.0 和 ecoinvent v3.0 数据库分析泰国北部玉米种植、玉米穗颗粒生产和重燃料油生产的生命周期清单；（ii）使用基于终点货币估值的全球规模环境生命周期影响评估（LIME-3）方法，对玉米种植、玉米穗颗粒生产和重燃料油生产的环境影响进行评估。本研究通过使用两个不同的数据库，即 IDEA v2.0 和 ecoinvent v3.0，并采用基于终点的生命周期影响评估（LIME-3）方法，比较了 Mae Chaem 和 Chiang Dao 地区从玉米穗生产生物质能与从重燃料油生产热能的生命周期环境影响，对玉米种植和通过玉米穗颗粒生产生物质能的持续过程进行了评估。本研究的系统边界包括土地准备、种植、除草、耕作、收获、玉米穗颗粒生产和玉米穗颗粒及重燃料油的热能生产。本研究的分析单位分别为 1 公斤玉米籽粒、3.76E-03 MJ 玉米穗颗粒生物质能生产和 3.76E-03 MJ 重燃料油热能生产。数据来自田间调查，并辅以泰国国家生命周期清单数据库和其他科学出版物。结果包括使用两个不同的数据库和 LCIA 方法（LIME-3），基于终点方法对 Mae Chaem 和 Chiang Dao 地区从玉米穗生产生物质能与从重燃料油生产热能的生命周期环境影响进行了比较。基于 IDEA v2.0 生命周期清单（LCI）数据库的 Mae Chaem 和 Chiang Dao 地区的总损害成本分别约为 4.64E-01 美元和 4.89E-01 美元。基于 ecoinvent v3.0 数据库，Mae Chaem 和 Chiang Dao 地区的总损害成本分别约为 5.37E-01 USD 和 5.99E-01 USD。可以看出，由于输入材料的不同，Chiang Dao 地区使用不同清单数据库的总损害成本略高于 Mae Chaem。由于每个数据库的库存流程不同，使用 ecoinvent v3.0 库存数据的总成本略高于 IDEA v2.0。然而，本研究的结果表明，这些数据库在评估结果上表现出相似的趋势。另一方面，在某些点上，数据库之间的某些数值差异被发现更为显著。本研究的结果特别与改善或使用玉米种植良好实践的政策选择有关，这将降低该地区玉米生产系统的环境绩效。为了解决研究区域农业残留物生物质露天焚烧造成的空气污染问题，泰国政府机构应负责为未来的生物质管理提供支持。
