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Plantation Model of Soapberry (Sapindus mukorossi Gaertn.) in Southeast China in Relation to Environmental Impact Effect Based on a Life Cycle Assessment

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Abstract

Sapindus mukorossi G. has been considered as a potential feedstock for forest-based biodiesel in China. To optimize the cultivation of soapberry and ensure its sustainable supply, an environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted using a chronological approach combined with extrapolation. Soapberry plantations with two degrees of cultivation intensities were comparatively analyzed. For the studied environmental categories, nitrogen fertilization accounted for half or more of the global warming potential, primary energy demand, acidification, and eutrophication potential. The main contributors to ozone depletion were pesticides and potassium fertilizer. The plantations with a relatively low cultivation intensity presented better environmental performance, mainly due to the lower input of fertilizers, but they are not a priority choice for soapberry cultivation because of low yield. Stakeholders should focus on how to reduce the environmental impacts of the plantations with a relatively high cultivation intensity in this area. Overall, classified management, increasing the yield, reducing the inputs of chemicals, and decreasing the unproductive years are the key ways to improve the environmental performance of soapberry cultivation in Southeast China. Woody biomass carbon should be included in LCAs, and 3.71–5.11 t CO2 can be fixed by soapberry plantations per ha year, indicating that soapberry cultivation provides a net carbon sink.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support of the National Innovation Alliance of the Sapindus Industry. We are also grateful to Yuanhua Forestry Biotechnology Co., Ltd. and Manyuanchun Agricultural and Forestry Development Co., Ltd. for providing information for data collection.

Funding

This work was part of the “Study on the sustainable development mode of forestry-oil integration industry and related factors” (2017-LYSJWJ-1) financed by the Department of Ecological Protection and Restoration, State Forestry and Grassland Administration of the People's Republic of China (SFGA).

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Author notes

  1. Shiqi Liu and Jiming Liu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Silviculture and Conservation of the Ministry of Education, College of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Shiqi Liu, Jiming Liu, Yuan Gao, Benye Xi, Zhong Chen, Shilun Gao, Guochun Zhao & Liming Jia

  2. National Energy R&D Center for Non-Food Biomass, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Shiqi Liu, Jiming Liu, Yuan Gao, Zhong Chen, Shilun Gao, Guochun Zhao & Liming Jia

  3. National Innovation Alliance of Sapindus Industry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Shiqi Liu, Jiming Liu, Yuan Gao, Zhong Chen, Shilun Gao, Guochun Zhao, Xuehuang Weng & Liming Jia

  4. Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Shiyan Chang

  5. Yuanhua Forestry Biotechnology Co., Ltd, Sanming, 354500, Fujian, China

    Xuehuang Weng

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  1. Shiqi Liu
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Contributions

Conceptualization, S.L. and L.J.; data curation, S.L. and J.L.; formal analysis, S.L. and J.L; investigation, S.L., J.L., Y.G., S.G., and G.Z.; methodology, S.L., J.L., Y.G., B.X., Z.C., and S.C.; project administration, L.J.; resources, X.W.; supervision, L.J.; writing—original draft, S.L.; writing—review and editing, S.L., J.L., B.X., Z.C., S.C., and L.J. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Liming Jia.

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Liu, S., Liu, J., Gao, Y. et al. Plantation Model of Soapberry (Sapindus mukorossi Gaertn.) in Southeast China in Relation to Environmental Impact Effect Based on a Life Cycle Assessment. Bioenerg. Res. 15, 1342–1354 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-021-10312-1

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