Life Cycle Assessment of Colombian Cocoa Pod Husk transformation into value added products

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Cocoa production is an important activity for the Colombian agro-industry; however, the production of dry cocoa beans generates agricultural residues as the shells known as cocoa pod husk (CPH), represent 65 to 75% of the fruit’s wet weight. In this contribution, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted on the use of Colombian CPH to obtain activated carbon, potassium hydroxide and cellulose; production of KOH showed the lowest environmental impact. It was found that electricity consumption during the transformation process emerges as the primary contributor in the impact evaluation, and the categories with the most significant impact are HTPc, FETP and METP. When solar drying was considered for CPH pretreatment instead of drying in an oven, the impact quantification significantly decreased up to 63% to produce cellulose, 56% for KOH and 32% for activated carbon. The value-added products obtained exhibit favorable properties, making them suitable for various potential applications.