Scientific sustainability report — Chicken Masala Powder (functional unit: 1 kg finished product)

Below is a transparent, reproducible sustainability (GHG-focused) report for Chicken Masala Powder (1 kg basis, cradle → distribution). I state the assumptions up front, show every arithmetic step (digit-by-digit), give sensitivity examples, practical mitigation options, and the key web references used.

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1 — Executive summary (headline)

Using conservative, literature-anchored assumptions for spice agriculture, processing (roasting, grinding, small conditioning/drying), packaging and road transport, the estimated cradle → distribution greenhouse-gas footprint for 1 kg Chicken Masala Powder is ≈ 2.95 kg CO₂-eq per kg under the assumptions below. Major contributors are upstream agriculture (raw spices) and processing electricity (grinding + conditioning + light roasting). teriin.org+3Central Electricity Authority+3PMC+3

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2 — Product & system boundary

• Product: Chicken Masala Powder — a blended spice mix typically containing roasted cumin, coriander, red chilli, black pepper, turmeric, fennel, nutmeg, mace, and salt. (Exact formulation changes results; I use a blended-spice upstream assumption — see Section 4.)

• Functional unit: 1 kg retail-ready powder.

• System boundary (cradle → distribution):
  Agriculture of component spices → optional roasting/conditioning → grinding/blending → primary packaging → transport to distribution centre. (Excluded: consumer use, retail shelf emissions, end-of-life beyond embodied packaging.)

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3 — Key data sources (most load-bearing)

• India grid emission factor (FY2022–23, CEA): 0.716 kg CO₂ / kWh. Central Electricity Authority

• Representative grinding energy for fine powders: examples report ~309 kWh/tonne (0.309 kWh/kg) in stirred/ball-mill studies for fine powders. PMC

• Drying / dehydration & solar dryer literature: drying SECs for spices/herbs vary widely (solar tunnel, forced convection, hybrid dryers); drying energy can be small (conditioning) or substantial depending on moisture and tech — used for sensitivity. ScienceDirect+1

• PE (packaging) embodied carbon: LDPE/PE cradle-to-gate values commonly in the ~2.6 kg CO₂e per kg plastic range. ScienceDirect

• Road freight methodology for India: TERI / freight methodology documents and India transport EF resources used for tonne-km emission factors. teriin.org+1

(These sources anchor the numerical assumptions below.)

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4 — Inventory assumptions (explicit, 1 kg basis — change any to re-run)

All assumptions are conservative/moderate and stated so you can replace them with your real data.

1. Agriculture / upstream (lumped spices mix): 2.10 kg CO₂e per kg finished spice mix (accounts for fertilizer, field diesel, soil N₂O, handling — spice blends often sit around 1–3 kgCO₂/kg depending on ingredients).

2. Grinding (size reduction): 0.309 kWh / kg. PMC

3. Drying / conditioning (small conditioning for some ingredients): 0.50 kWh / kg (moderate; many spices need little or no drying but some conditioning/rehydration steps may use energy). ScienceDirect

4. Roasting (typical pre-grind spice roast): 0.15 kWh / kg (light, industrial roasting step — may be gas or electric; here modelled as electricity for simplicity).

5. Electricity emission factor (India grid): 0.716 kg CO₂ / kWh. Central Electricity Authority

6. Packaging: 0.03 kg PE per kg product (30 g pouch per kg), PE embodied 2.6 kg CO₂e / kg. ScienceDirect

7. Transport (road): total distance farm→mill + mill→DC = 250 km, road EF assumed 0.33 kg CO₂ per tonne-km (typical planning value for India freight). teriin.org+1

Note: you can swap any of these (e.g., measured kWh/kg for your plant, real pouch grams, exact distances) and I’ll re-run the calculation.

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5 — Step-by-step GHG calculation (digit-by-digit) — 1 kg basis

We compute each life-cycle stage and sum. I keep 6 decimals where useful and show intermediate arithmetic.

5.1 Processing electricity emissions

Grinding emissions = grinding_kWh × grid_EF
= 0.309 kWh/kg × 0.716 kgCO₂/kWh
Calculation: 0.309 × 0.716 = (0.309 × 0.700) + (0.309 × 0.016)
= 0.216300 + 0.004944 = 0.221244 kg CO₂e / kg. PMC+1

Drying/conditioning emissions = 0.50 kWh/kg × 0.716 kgCO₂/kWh
= 0.50 × 0.716 = (0.5 × 0.700) + (0.5 × 0.016) = 0.350000 + 0.008000 = 0.358000 kg CO₂e / kg. ScienceDirect

Roasting emissions = 0.15 kWh/kg × 0.716 kgCO₂/kWh
= 0.15 × 0.716 = (0.1 × 0.716) + (0.05 × 0.716) = 0.071600 + 0.035800 = 0.107400 kg CO₂e / kg.

Processing subtotal = grinding + drying + roasting
= 0.221244 + 0.358000 + 0.107400 = 0.686644 kg CO₂e / kg.

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5.2 Packaging emissions

Packaging mass × PE EF = 0.03 kg × 2.6 kgCO₂/kg = 0.03 × 2.6 = (0.03 × 2) + (0.03 × 0.6) = 0.060000 + 0.018000 = 0.078000 kg CO₂e / kg. ScienceDirect

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5.3 Transport emissions (road)

Road emissions = EF × tonnes × distance = 0.33 kgCO₂ / t-km × 0.001 t × 250 km
= 0.33 × 0.001 × 250 = 0.33 × 0.25 = 0.082500 kg CO₂e / kg. teriin.org

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5.4 Agriculture / upstream

Assumed 2.100000 kg CO₂e / kg (lumped spices farm stage).

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5.5 Total — add stepwise (digit-by-digit)

1. Agriculture + Processing = 2.100000 + 0.686644 = 2.786644

2. • Packaging = 2.786644 + 0.078000 = 2.864644

3. • Transport = 2.864644 + 0.082500 = 2.947144 kg CO₂e / kg

Final rounded result: ≈ 2.95 kg CO₂-eq per kg Chicken Masala Powder (cradle → distribution).

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6 — Contribution breakdown (percent shares)

(using the exact components above)

• Agriculture / upstream: 2.10 / 2.947144 = 71.3%

• Processing (grinding + drying + roasting): 0.686644 / 2.947144 = 23.3%

• Packaging: 0.078000 / 2.947144 = 2.6%

• Transport: 0.082500 / 2.947144 = 2.8%

Takeaway: upstream spice production dominates (~70%), processing (notably any roasting + conditioning) is the next important contributor.

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7 — Sensitivity & uncertainty (short — swap one parameter at a time)

1. Supplier agronomy improvement — if upstream falls to 1.20 kgCO₂/kg (low-input growers / rainfed suppliers):
   New total = 1.20 + 0.686644 + 0.078 + 0.0825 = 2.047144 kg CO₂e/kg (≈ 2.05 kg). Big reduction.

2. Solar / sun drying (drying_kWh → 0):
   Processing becomes 0.221244 (grinding) + 0.1074 (roast) = 0.328644; total = 2.1 + 0.328644 + 0.078 + 0.0825 = 2.589144 kg CO₂e/kg. Savings ≈ 0.36 kg CO₂e/kg vs baseline.

3. Mill powered by onsite solar (processing EF → 0): processing → 0; total = 2.1 + 0 + 0.078 + 0.0825 = 2.2605 kg CO₂e/kg. Very effective mitigation.

4. Heavier roasting or long roasting (roast energy 0.6 kWh/kg): roasting emissions = 0.6×0.716 = 0.4296; processing subtotal would jump to 0.221244 + 0.358 + 0.4296 = 1.008844 → total ≈ 4.189344 kg CO₂e/kg (processing can dominate if roasting/drying is high).

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8 — Practical mitigation recommendations (priority order)

1. Lower upstream emissions (highest leverage): source from low-input/high-yield spice suppliers; encourage precision fertilizer management, integrated pest management and traceable sourcing. Supplier training and procurement incentives reduce per-kg farm emissions.

2. Use low-energy roasting/drying & recover heat: optimize roast profiles, use heat recovery, or replace electric burners with biomass waste-to-energy where sustainable. Avoid over-roasting. ScienceDirect

3. Switch processing electricity to renewables: rooftop solar + battery / green-tariff purchases reduce processing footprint rapidly. Central Electricity Authority

4. Packaging optimisation: reduce pouch grammage, increase recycled content (PCR), and prefer mono-material recyclable pouches to lower embodied impacts. ScienceDirect

5. Logistics optimisation: consolidate shipments, increase truck fill factor and consider modal shift (rail) for long distances when feasible. Use route optimization to minimize empty runs. teriin.org