This paper evaluates and quantifies the environmental performance of alkyl polyglucosides sourced from wheat straw (WS-APG), a low-cost and low-ecological impact agricultural residue, compared to that of their commercial counterpart, which is sourced from palm kernel oil and wheat grain (PW-APG). Escalating pressure to consider the environmental sustainability of fossil derived surfactant consumption has driven biosurfactants to become the product of choice within the surfactant market, and a class of ‘plant’ based non-ionic surfactants called alkyl polyglucosides (APG) are particularly prevalent. However, the existing food based feedstock of APG such as coconut oil, palm oil, wheat and corn (in addition to being expensive) will potentially undermine the claimed ‘sustainability’ of the APG products (i.e. the ‘food vs. chemical’ issue). Here, we present the “cradle-to-gate” life cycle impact assessment of a suggested alternative, hybridised APG synthesis technique where the Fisher glycosidation method is supplemented by novel, green chemistry based techniques. This evaluation provides a quantitative insight into direct GHG intensity and other ecological impact indicators, including land use, waste generation and energy consumption. Upon evaluation, the wheat straw-derived pathway delivered GHG-emission savings in the range of 84–98%, compared to that of the palm kernel–wheat grain pathway. Waste generated from the production of unit mass of the product amounted to 0.43 kg and 10.73 kg per kg of WS-APG and PW-APG, respectively. In addition to the above mentioned facts, the ‘cradle–gate’ stages of WS-APG production were also found to consume relatively lower amounts of water and fossil-derived energy. In conclusion, of the two APG production pathways, the suggested ‘hybrid’ pathway using an agricultural residue, wheat straw, was found to be sustainable and to demonstrate better environmental performance.

中文翻译：

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使用新型化学方法生产的小麦秸秆基烷基多糖苷的环境影响评估

本文评估和量化了源自麦草的烷基多糖苷（WS-APG）的环保性能，该产品是低成本和低生态影响的农业残留物，与之相比，其商业来源的棕榈多糖和棕榈仁油和小麦中的残留物谷物（PW-APG）。考虑到化石衍生的表面活性剂消耗的环境可持续性的压力不断上升，促使生物表面活性剂成为表面活性剂市场上的首选产品，并且一类基于植物的非离子型表面活性剂，称为烷基多糖苷（APG）特别流行。但是，现有的APG食品级原料，例如椰子油，棕榈油，小麦和玉米（除了价格昂贵），有可能破坏APG产品的“可持续性”（即“食物与化学品”）。在这里，我们介绍了一种建议的替代性杂交APG合成技术的“从摇篮到大门”的生命周期影响评估，其中Fisher糖苷化方法由新颖的，基于绿色化学的技术加以补充。该评估提供了对直接温室气体强度和其他生态影响指标（包括土地使用，废物产生和能源消耗）的定量见解。经评估，与棕榈仁-小麦籽粒途径相比，麦秆来源的途径节省了84-98％的温室气体。每千克WS-APG和PW-APG每单位产品生产产生的废物分别为0.43千克和10.73千克。除了上述事实之外，还发现WS-APG生产的“摇篮式”阶段消耗的水和化石能源相对较少。总之，在两种APG生产途径中，使用农业残留物麦秸的建议“混合”途径是可持续的，并表现出更好的环境性能。