Life Cycle Assessment of Olive Oil Production in Turkey, a Territory with an Intensive Production Project

Beatriz Ruiz-Carrasco, Lázuli Fernández-Lobato, Yaiza López-Sánchez and David Vera ()
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Beatriz Ruiz-Carrasco: Department of Electrical Engineering, Linares Higher Polytechnic School, University of Jaén, 23700 Linares (Jaén), Spain
Lázuli Fernández-Lobato: Department of Electrical Engineering, Linares Higher Polytechnic School, University of Jaén, 23700 Linares (Jaén), Spain
Yaiza López-Sánchez: Department of Applied Economics, University of Málaga, 29016 Málaga, Spain
David Vera: Department of Electrical Engineering, Linares Higher Polytechnic School, University of Jaén, 23700 Linares (Jaén), Spain

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-23

Abstract: The global warming fight should focus on agriculture, especially on olive crops, due to their potential role in combating it. One of the leading olive oil-producing countries is Turkey; therefore, evaluating and quantifying the environmental impacts of its olive oil production is essential. This is the first analysis of Turkey that encompasses both the farming and the industrial phases through a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA). As a representative value chain, it was considered an intensive system, according to the representativeness of rainfed and irrigated areas, with two-phase and three-phase olive oil extraction in Turkey. In the climate change category, analysis results gave a value of 3.04 kg of CO 2 equivalent for 1 kg of unpackaged virgin olive oil. The phase that contributes the most in all impact categories is the farming phase (2.53 kg of CO 2 equivalent), whereas the most impactful activities are fertilization and irrigation (69.5% of impact in this stage). The results have been compared to others obtained by different value chains, revealing an intermediate position in environmental impact. It can be concluded that better agricultural practices should be implemented, including the optimization of energy and water systems, in order to minimize the negative environmental effect of olive oil production.

Keywords: life cycle assessment; environmental impact; olive cultivation; olive oil production; intensive farming; Turkey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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