Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gases Emission form Canned Fish Production in Iran a Case Study: Khuzestan Province

Energy is a fundamental ingredient in the process of economic development, as it provides essential services that maintain economic activity and the quality of human life but intensive use of it causes problems threatening public health and environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate energy consumption and greenhouse gases emission from canned fish production in the Khuzestan province, Iran, to determine the losing energy factors and pollutant emission. In this research, canneries, consuming human labor, electricity and diesel fuel energy sources w ere investigated. Total input energy was 22681.8 MJ/t that diesel fuel had the biggest share in the total energy up to 98%. Energy of labour was a small amount of total input energy, but it is the most expensive input in the canned fish production. Primary cooking and sterilization operations are most consumers of input energy in canning fish production with 21202.6 MJ/t. Manual operations of fish cleaning and transferring, includes the lowest energy and this stage includes 43.33% of total human labour. Amount of greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions from diesel fuel is much greater than electricity in fish cannery. Emission of CO2, NOX and SO2 are the most gas emission with 1071.282, 7.264 and 6.52 Kg/t, respectively. Productivity of labour and electricity, diesel fuel and labour energy were 0.025 t/La 1h and 2.2, 0.044 t/GJ and 0.056 t/MJ, respectively. Using agitating retorts in steed of still retorts and reform path of transferring vapor will decrease the diesel fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emission.