Economic and environmental eva‎luation of different value-adding options from bagasse in Karun sugarcane cultivation and industry with life cycle assessment approach

9/30/2025 12:00:00 AM

In this thesis, a life cycle assessment (LCA) and economic analysis were conducted for various value-added options of sugarcane bagasse, aiming to identify the best approach that aligns most closely with sustainable development criteria. Furthermore, this study, which focuses on the different applications of bagasse at the Karun Agricultural and Industrial Company, is the first of its kind in Iran. The studied scenarios for value addition from bagasse included the production of animal feed, fuel pellets, particleboard, biochar, and paper, all of which were examined and eva‎luated. Data related to the production lines of animal feed, particleboard, and paper were collected through field measurements, completed questionnaires, and interviews with stakeholders. For fuel pellets and biochar, part of the information was gathered from catalogs and reference guides of machinery from active companies in these fields, while additional data were collected from literature and articles. In this thesis, SimaPro 9.0.0.48 software was utilized to create LCA models, and the Ecoinvent database was employed to measure the environmental impacts of consuming one ton of sugarcane bagasse. Data such as fuel consumption, water usage, machinery performance, electricity consumption, raw material requirements for production lines, characteristics of wastewater, and types and amounts of pollutant emissions to air and soil were collected for environmental assessment. The economic analysis data included capital costs, operational expenses, revenues from product sales, and other financial data related to each option. In the final stage of interpreting the LCA results, inputs, outputs, and processes identified as critical hotspots with the most significant environmental impacts were recognized, and operational and managerial solutions were proposed to optimize and enhance these systems with the goal of improving environmental performance. The results indicated that fuel pellet production scored 17.6, representing the best environmental performance, while paper production received a score of 126, indicating the worst performance compared to other options. Additionally, it was found that biochar production had a profitability index of 1.82 and a net present value of 146,581.4 million tomans, making it the best approach from an economic perspective, whereas animal feed production had a profitability index of 0.83 and a net present value of -53,309.66 million tomans, marking it as the worst option compared to others. Finally, considering the three main pillars of sustainable development (environmental, economic, and social) as the criteria for this analysis and utilizing the results from the assessment, the TOPSIS method was employed to select the best option. After determining the criteria and collecting data related to each option, the steps included establishing a decision matrix, normalizing the matrix, weighting the criteria, calculating distances from positive and negative ideal options, determining proximity scores to the ideal option, and ranking the options. Ultimately, the production of fuel pellets from bagasse was identified as the best approach.

باگاس , ارزيابي چرخه حيات , ارزيابي اقتصادي , تصميم‌گيري چند معياره , توسعه پايدار

Bagasse , Life Cycle Assessment , Economic eva‎luation , Multi-criteria decision making , Sustainable development

Emad Jafari

Majid Hosseinzadeh