Análisis del impacto ambiental del cultivo Cannabis sativa mediante la evaluación de análisis de ciclo de vida y minería de texto

Abstract

Cannabis sativa has attracted increasing interest worldwide due to its medicinal and recreational properties. In recent years, studies have suggested that cannabis cultivation can generate environmental impacts, as well as the extensive use of natural resources such as water, soil, and energy. Using in a first phase, scientometric analysis from text mining and in a second phase, the use of OpenLCA software based on the methodology of life cycle analysis - LCA, the evaluation of environmental impacts generated by a Cannabis sativa crop was obtained for the limits of the system "from cradle to gate" (seed germination to flower drying), adopting for discussion the impact categories considered as the most representative. In the first phase, the text mining analysis resulted in the lack of existing studies associated with the terms: environmental impact assessment and life cycle analysis, in relation to Cannabis sativa cultivation. For the second phase, the environmental impact assessment established that global warming is the most representative category of potential environmental impact with 881039.47 kg CO2 eq generated, followed by aquatic acidification (7947.17 kg SO2 eq), respiratory inorganic (2328.02 kg PM2.5 eq) and ozone layer depletion (0.15 kg CFC - 11 eq), all associated with energy and fossil fuel requirements related to cannabis cultivation activities.