Comparison of the Carbon Dioxide Output(LC-CO₂) in the Production and Use of No-wash Rice and Conventional Rice

Abstract

The carbon dioxide output(LC-CO₂) was analyzed for both no-wash rice and conventional rice from the beginning of the polishing process up to the start of cooking in order to assess the environment benefit of no-wash rice.
Of the four different methods for producing no-wash rice, we focused on the bran grind(BG) process for which fuel-consumption data is publicly available. After excluding those processing steps which are common to the production of both no-wash and conventional rice, we found that BG no-wash rice produced 0.016 kg of CO₂/kg of rice compared to 0.078 kg of CO₂/kg of conventional rice. Hence, the BG production method yields a 20% reduction in CO₂ emissions compared to conventional rice production. In addition to the savings in labor, water and time afforded by no-wash rice, which needs no washing before cooking, we conclude that using BG no-wash rice instead of conventional rice is an effective way to reduce CO₂ emissions.