An environmental impact assessment of the management of cassava waste: a case study in Thailand

Prakobboon, N., Vahdati, M. M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8604-3004 and Shahrestani, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8741-0912 (2018) An environmental impact assessment of the management of cassava waste: a case study in Thailand. International Journal of Biomass & Renewables, 7 (2). pp. 18-29. ISSN 2289-1692

Abstract/Summary

In Thailand, cassava waste is one of the main biomass residues and has the potential to be used as a biomass fuel. However, currently most cassava waste in Thailand is left in agricultural fields or burnt on site and is not utilised for any energy-related purposes. This research investigates the environmental impacts associated with three cassava waste management practices including (i)- ploughing the waste to the soil (ii)-burning the waste in the field (iii)- collecting and using the waste in cassava-based bioethanol plant. The environmental impact assessment and material flow analysis associated with these management practices were conducted using the Global Emissions Model for Integrated Systems (GEMIS) package [1]. The outcomes of this study reveal that the CO2 emissions associated with these waste management practices are about 0.195, 0.243 and 0.361 kg CO2-eq/kg of as received (wet) cassava waste, respectively. Compared to other cassava waste disposal methods such as ploughing and burning, cassava waste collection would result in the biggest environmental impact, emitting nearly 85% more GHGs than ploughing and 48% more than burning.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/79411
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of the Built Environment > Energy and Environmental Engineering group
Publisher	Universiti Teknologi Petronas
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