Open AccessEnvironmental impact of tsipouro production by life cycle assessment
Author(s) -
Panagiotis Tsarouhas,
Ioannis Papachristos
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/899/1/012004
Subject(s) - life cycle assessment , environmental impact assessment , production (economics) , environmental science , agriculture , ecological footprint , raw material , energy consumption , agricultural productivity , yield (engineering) , environmental economics , engineering , sustainability , economics , chemistry , geography , ecology , macroeconomics , organic chemistry , electrical engineering , biology , materials science , archaeology , metallurgy
The study of the environmental impact of agricultural products has significantly grown in recent years, as consumers now demand more information about the product’s footprint in the environment. The aim of this study is to assess the environmental impact of the life cycle phases of tsipouro production, which is one of the traditional products of Greece produced mainly from viticulture. The environmental analysis was performed through the study of eutrophication, global warming, photochemical oxidation and acidification, using the life cycle assessment methodology. The system was studied through fifteen subsystems and a 250 ml bottle of tsipouro, which was the basis of the calculations, was defined as a functional unit. From the results it appears that the process of tsipouro production is the subsystem with the highest energy consumption and the grape cultivation the one with the highest water consumption. In environmental impact the subsystem with the highest contribution is the cultivation of grapes. Also the subsystems production/transportation and use of fertilizers, bottle production/transportation and the process of tsipouro production have a significant contribution. In addition, some literature-based solutions are suggested. Some of the solutions are the use of clearer energy sources, the use of biodiesel and alternative cultivation methods without synthetic fertilizers. The results of this research can be used by tsipouro or similar industries to minimize the environmental impact and focus on the phases that are most involved in it.