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@article{191028,
        author = {Dr. Rupak Roy and Aaryan Jain},
        title = {Life Cycle Inventory Assessment of Corn Cob Production for Sustainable Biomass Utilization: A Quantitative Approach Based on Maize Cultivation Data},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {8},
        pages = {4744-4753},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=191028},
        abstract = {Corn cobs, an abundant agricultural residue generated during maize harvesting, represent a promising lignocellulosic feedstock for bioenergy, biopolymer production, and circular bioeconomy applications. Establishing a standardized Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) is essential for quantifying the environmental burdens associated with corn cob utilization and supporting downstream Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies. This research develops a cradle-to-farm-gate LCI for the production of 1 kg of dried corn cob by integrating detailed cultivation input data, including fertilizer application, pesticide use, irrigation requirements, energy consumption, and machinery operations. Inventory modelling correlates per-hectare agricultural inputs with cob yield and applies allocation among co-products such as grain and stover to accurately attribute resource and emission flows to cob production.
The system boundary encompasses seed production, land preparation, crop cultivation, harvesting, and post-harvest cob separation and drying. Sensitivity analysis evaluates the impact of regional yield variations and allocation methods on the resulting environmental profile. Results reveal that fertilizer production and field emissions dominate contributions to climate change and eutrophication potential, while post-harvest operations contribute marginally to total environmental loads. The developed LCI provides a reliable dataset for evaluating sustainable biomass supply chains and guiding resource-efficient valorisation pathways for corn cob-based biorefineries.},
        keywords = {Life Cycle Inventory; Corn cob biomass; Maize cultivation; Environmental impact assessment; Agricultural residue valorisation; Circular bioeconomy.},
        month = {January},
        }