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A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Crop Systems Irrigated with the Groundwater and Reclaimed Water in Northern China

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  • Xiaobo Xue Romeiko

    (Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, New York, NY 12144, USA)

Abstract

Using reclaimed water from treated wastewater as an irrigation source is gaining popularity in arid and semi-arid areas. However, life cycle assessment studies, utilizing experimental data to analyze the environmental and health impacts of crops irrigated with reclaimed water, are lacking. This study presents the first comparative life cycle assessment of corn, soybean and wheat systems irrigated with groundwater and reclaimed water in Northern China. While the life cycle foreground inventory was based on a combination of experimental and modeling datasets, the life cycle background inventory was compiled with commercially available data packages augmented with Chinese electricity mix data. The life cycle impact analyses were based on the characterization factors from state-of-art life cycle impact assessment models. The analyses indicated that the life cycle global warming impacts of the crop systems ranged from 0.37 to 0.64 kg CO2-eq/kg grain, with reclaimed water irrigated soybean and ground water irrigated wheat exhibiting, respectively, the lowest and highest global warming impacts. Irrigation, farming equipment operation, on-field emissions and fertilizer production ranked as top contributors to the life cycle impacts for corn, soybean, and wheat. The comparative analyses of irrigation sources suggested that significant environmental tradeoffs existed. Replacing groundwater with reclaimed water as the irrigation source significantly decreased life cycle global warming, acidification, ozone depletion, smog formation, and respiratory impacts of corn, soybean and wheat systems. However, replacing groundwater with reclaimed water increased the life cycle noncancer impacts of those systems. Coordinating policies within the water–food–health nexus is required, in order to minimize the environmental tradeoffs, while maximizing the benefits of irrigation with reclaimed water.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaobo Xue Romeiko, 2019. "A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Crop Systems Irrigated with the Groundwater and Reclaimed Water in Northern China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-17, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:10:p:2743-:d:230933
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Andi Mehmeti & Kledja Canaj, 2022. "Environmental Assessment of Wastewater Treatment and Reuse for Irrigation: A Mini-Review of LCA Studies," Resources, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, October.
    2. Luigi Pari & Alessandro Suardi & Walter Stefanoni & Francesco Latterini & Nadia Palmieri, 2021. "Economic and Environmental Assessment of Two Different Rain Water Harvesting Systems for Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Karolina Szalkowska & Monika Zubrowska-Sudol, 2023. "Opportunities for Water Reuse Implementation in Metropolitan Areas in a Complex Approach with an LCA Analysis, Taking Warsaw, Poland as an Example," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-19, January.
    4. Kledja Canaj & Andi Mehmeti & Julio Berbel, 2021. "The Economics of Fruit and Vegetable Production Irrigated with Reclaimed Water Incorporating the Hidden Costs of Life Cycle Environmental Impacts," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-13, September.
    5. Evelyn Corona-López & Alma D. Román-Gutiérrez & Elena M. Otazo-Sánchez & Fabiola A. Guzmán-Ortiz & Otilio A. Acevedo-Sandoval, 2021. "Water–Food Nexus Assessment in Agriculture: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-14, May.
    6. Xiaobo Xue Romeiko & Zhijian Guo & Yulei Pang & Eun Kyung Lee & Xuesong Zhang, 2020. "Comparing Machine Learning Approaches for Predicting Spatially Explicit Life Cycle Global Warming and Eutrophication Impacts from Corn Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-19, February.

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