Investigating cumulative energy and exergy consumption and environmental impact of sesame production systems, a case study

摘要

In this study, the production of sesame in traditional and mechanised systems was evaluated in terms of cumulative energy, exergy consumption, and environmental impacts. Data of traditional system were collected from 83 farmers in Khuzestan province in Iran and data of mechanised systems were obtained from Shahid Rajaei Agricultural Production Company in Iran. The findings showed that the energy and exergy efficiency in mechanised farms, were higher. Total cumulative exergy consumption in traditional and mechanised systems were 40,148 and 35,373 MJ/ton, respectively. Cumulative degree of perfection (CDP) and renewability index (RI) were obtained for traditional system 0.50 and -0.98, and for mechanised systems 0.57 and -0.74, respectively, indicating that the sesame production process is non-renewable. Life cycle assessment (LCA) indicated that sesame production in the mechanised system has less harmful environmental and health effects. The findings showed that the use of renewable electricity significantly increases the renewability of the sesame production process.