Colley, T.A.; Valerian, J.; Hauschild, M.Z.; Olsen, S.I.; Birkved, M. Addressing Nutrient Depletion in Tanzanian Sisal Fiber Production Using Life Cycle Assessment and Circular Economy Principles, with Bioenergy Co-Production. Sustainability2021, 13, 8881.
Colley, T.A.; Valerian, J.; Hauschild, M.Z.; Olsen, S.I.; Birkved, M. Addressing Nutrient Depletion in Tanzanian Sisal Fiber Production Using Life Cycle Assessment and Circular Economy Principles, with Bioenergy Co-Production. Sustainability 2021, 13, 8881.
Colley, T.A.; Valerian, J.; Hauschild, M.Z.; Olsen, S.I.; Birkved, M. Addressing Nutrient Depletion in Tanzanian Sisal Fiber Production Using Life Cycle Assessment and Circular Economy Principles, with Bioenergy Co-Production. Sustainability2021, 13, 8881.
Colley, T.A.; Valerian, J.; Hauschild, M.Z.; Olsen, S.I.; Birkved, M. Addressing Nutrient Depletion in Tanzanian Sisal Fiber Production Using Life Cycle Assessment and Circular Economy Principles, with Bioenergy Co-Production. Sustainability 2021, 13, 8881.
Abstract
Nutrient depletion in Tanzanian sisal production has led to yield decreases over time. We use nutrient mass balances embedded within a life cycle assessment to quantify the extent of nutrient depletion for different production systems, then used circular economy principles to identify potential cosubstrates from within the Tanzanian economy to anaerobically digest with sisal wastes. The biogas produced is then used to generate bioelectricity and the digestate residual can be used as a fertilizer to address the nutrient depletion. If no current beneficial use of the cosubstrate was assumed, then beef manure and marine fish processing waste were the best cosubstrates. If agricultural wastes were assumed to have a current beneficial use as fertilizer, then marine fish processing waste and human urine were the best cosubstrates. The largest reduction in environmental impacts resulted from bioelectricity replacing electricity from fossil fuels in the national electricity grid and improved onsite waste management practices. There is significant potential to revitalize Tanzanian sisal production by applying circular economy principles to sisal waste management and bioenergy production.
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Atmospheric Science and Meteorology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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