Análisis de ciclo de vida, economía circular, sostenibilidad y eficiencia energética en un proyecto de valorización de residuos de la producción de aceite de oliva

Abstract

The possibility of gasifying the biomass of the “alpeorujo” in the olive oil mill where it is generated avoids other polluting activities that involve transporting waste and by-products to specialized plants, such as olive pomace mills and biomass treatment plants. In addition, a more powerful circular economy is generated based on the recovery of the by-products generated and the energy efficiency of the processes involved is improved. This research shows that the installation of a biomass plant in an oil mill can generate a reduction of 8.25% of the normalized environmental impact in the olive oil production chain. In terms of climate change, one of the most relevant environmental impact categories, the installation of the proposed gasification plant in the most representative olive oil mills in Spain would reduce their environmental impact by 21%, the equivalent of the annual CO2 emissions of 220,000 vehicles.