On-site data of on rapeseed oil production was obtained from a food enterprise in Sichuan Province, which produced 15 kt of edible rapeseed oil in 2017.
What should China do about rapeseed oil production?
Industrial layout should be adjusted to shorten the transportation distance. Pesticides use in the hilly region of southern China should be reduced. As the largest consumer of rapeseed oil in the world, China should consider the environmental effect of rapeseed oil production.
What is rapeseed oil?
Rapeseed oil is the world’s third largest edible oil after soybean oil and palm oil ( Lin et al., 2013 ). Its status is especially high in China, the largest consumer of vegetable oils in the world, and the second highest producer and importer with an output of 60.71 million tons and import of 5.77 million tons in 2017 ( NBS, 2018 ).
Does rapeseed oil production affect the environment?
Therefore, the environmental effect of rapeseed oil production at the agricultural stage should be analyzed. Agricultural production accounts for more than 90% of human water consumption ( Hoekstra and Mekonnen 2012 ), and has brought a large amount of energy consumption and carbon emissions.