Life cycle assessment of rice straw utilization practices in India

- A comparative LCA of Rice straw utilization practices in India.
- Four scenarios studied were use as, fertilizer, fodder, electricity and biogas.
- Scope of the study starts from collection of straw to the end use of the products.
- System expansion is used for accounting emissions from the replaced product.
- Electricity and biogas give highest benefits in most of the environmental impacts.

The aim of this study is to find potential utilization practice of rice straw in India from an environmental perspective. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted for four most realistic utilization practices of straw including: (1) incorporation into the field as fertilizer (2) animal fodder (3) electricity (4) biogas. The results show that processing of 1 ton straw to electricity and biogas resulted in net reduction of 1471 and 1023 kg CO2 eq., 15.0 and 3.4 kg SO2 eq. and 6.7 and 7.1 kg C2H6 eq. emissions in global warming, acidification and photochemical oxidation creation potential respectively. Electricity production from straw replaces the coal based electricity and resulted in benefits in most of the environmental impacts whereas use as an animal fodder resulted in eutrophication benefits. The burning of straw is a harmful practice of managing straw in India which can be avoided by utilizing straw for bioenergy.