Fairglow Emission Factor – Climate Change (kgCO2eq)

Foreword - Fairglow Emission Factor Builder

Fairglow emission factors are derived from a compilation of public and private literature about Life Cycle Analysis, chemical synthesis, and plant cultivation. Material and process input information is extracted from peer-reviewed literature and databases, then combined with reputable data from Ecoinvent v3.10 to arrive at an emission factor for chemicals not covered in other sources.

Fairglow replicates this methodology for the 30,000 most used INCI ingredients, enabling us to offer the most comprehensive environmental database to stakeholders in the cosmetics and fragrance industries, including ingredient suppliers, laboratories, and brands.

Although this paper focuses solely on the CO2e impact, we typically address all 16 impact categories defined by the PEFCR.

Introduction

Rose Flower Oil is a plant derived substance coming from the petals of various oil-bearing Rosa species and is highly valued for its rich fragrance and therapeutic properties. It plays a prominent role in the cosmetics, perfumery, and pharmaceutical industries.

Rose Flower Oil is produced by cultivating rose flowers, harvesting them for processing, and processing the rose petals via an extraction process to derive the volatile aromatic compounds in the rose oil.

This Fairglow emission factor is derived from a compilation of public and private literature about Life Cycle Analysis, chemical synthesis, and plant cultivation. Material and process input information is extracted from peer-reviewed literature and databases, then combined with reputable data from Ecoinvent v3.10 to arrive at an emission factor for chemicals not covered in other sources.

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Modeling

The emission factor for Rose Flower Oil is determined via simulated inputs into the ingredient’s system of production. Inputs are derived from published studies on the cultivation and processing of the ingredient and then simulated over a probability distribution to arrive at a final estimate.

Rose Flower Oil production can be divided into two main steps: cultivation and processing.

Cultivation Processes

Rose Oil Concentration: the mass of roses required to produce 1kg of Rose Flower Oil. Essential oil concentration varies according to a number of variables, such as species, farming inputs and more. Literature on the subject points to a range of 3,500 to 6,000 kg of flower mass to 1kg of essential oil1.

• High Efficiency: 3,500kg per kg Rose EO1

• Low Efficiency: 6,000kg per kg Rose EO1

Rose Yield: mass of roses harvested per hectare. For simplicity, fertilizer and yield are considered independent variables. Literature reviews show an extremely high range of mass yield per hectare.

• Low yield: 6,300 kg / ha3

• High yield: 21,900 kg / ha2

Fertilizing Habits: fertilizer habits varied significantly, but industrial cultivation largely followed the need for four main inputs: manure, inorganic nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium fertilizers. All farming was modeled to be outdoor. No greenhouse cultivation was assumed. Literature on the subject describes different fertilizing conditions.1,2,3

Farming Emissions: emissions that come from farming practices during cultivation and harvest. Primary emissions are from the use of diesel to harvest crops. These activities are assumed on a per hectare basis, and thus scale according to the yield and rose-oil concentration assumptions1.

Farming emissions (Ecoinvent):

• Tillage, ploughing

• Fertilizing, by broadcaster

• Planting

• Harvesting, by complete harvester, ground crops

Transport: covering the transport of cultivated mass to processing facilities. Calculated in terms of kgkm.

• Average distance between seed-oil cultivar harvest and processing facilities: 150km4

Processing Emissions

Processing of Rose Flower Oil is typically conducted via steam or hydrodistillation. Hydrodistillation is assumed here, with two processes inspected: commercialized production, to simulate a larger operation that has been electrified, and a traditional operation to simulate a smaller operation that relies less on electricity.1 The main energy inputs into the system are outlined below.

Emissions from electricity were derived from the average European grid as well as from outside-of-Europe averages.

Results

Results display wide variance in overall emissions. The most sensitive variables to the overall calculation is the concentration of rose oil (ie: how much rose petal mass was required to generate 1kg of Rose EO) and the fertilizer treatment. Concentration was tested at several quantities between the minimum of 3,500kg to 6,000kg per kg of Rose Flower Oil. The values scaled linearly.

The minimum simulated emission factor of 1,939.5 kg CO2eq/kg was achieved in the instance when the following conditions were met:

• High rose oil extraction efficiency (3,500kg / kg)

• Low fertilizer scenario (low N)

• High rose yield scenario (21.9+t / ha)

• Commercially processed (electric and gas powered)

The maximum simulated emission factor of 13,982.8 kg CO2eq/kg was achieved in the instance when the following conditions were met:

• Low rose oil extraction efficiency (6,000kg / kg)

• High fertilizer scenario (high N)

• Low rose yield scenario (6.3t / ha)

• Traditionally processed (gas powered)

Additional Assumptions & Considerations

• Allocation was performed to account for co-production of ROSE WATER

• Elements such as packaging, downstream transportation, pesticide use, processing infrastructure, farming infrastructure, irrigation were included in the original model but were not included in this report as they were not significant additions to the carbon footprint.

• Other processing technologies can be deployed to increase yield efficacy, which would reduce cultivation and energy requirements. (See Current trends in essential oil (EO) production | Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery (springer.com))

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References & sources

1. Fereidani B. M., Üçtuğ F. G. (2023). Life cycle assessment of rose oil and rose water production: a case study in Iran. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 20:3831–3848. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-023-04821-z
   
   

2. Haque, M. A., Miah, M. A. Monayem, Hossain, S., & Alam, M. (2013). Profitability of rose cultivation in some selected areas of Jessore district. Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Research, 38(1), 165-174.
   
   

3. Harshavardhan M., Kumar D. P., Yathindra H. A., Rajesh A. M., Reddy P. Vinayakumar (2011). Evaluation of flower yield and quality of greenhouse rose cultivars in open field conditions. J. Ecobiol., 29(3), 195-200. Palani Paramount Publications, ISSN: 0970-9037. Printed in India.
   
   

4. Dalgaard, R., Schmidt, J., Halberg, N., Christensen, P., Thrane, M., & Pengue, W.A. (2008). LCA of Soybean Meal. Int J LCA, 13(3), 240-254.

Disclaimer

FAIRGLOW represents and warrants that the FAIRGLOW data provided are accurate to the best of its knowledge and ability. However, due to the dynamic nature of environmental data, occasional discrepancies or inaccuracies may occur. Furthermore, you acknowledge and accepts that FAIRGLOW data and results derived therefrom are estimates only.