Over the last few years, sustainable production in all areas of manufacture has been greatly promoted and encouraged. In a recent interview with the director of the Associated Tuscan Olive Growers, Giampiero Cresti, recent improvements in sustainable olive oil extraction methods were discussed and it seems there has been a convergence from the usual three-phase method of production to the two-phase technology.
“In 2012 we decided to adopt a new production system, as we understood to have the possibility to take a sustainable approach, reusing the by-products of the olive oil extraction,” Giampiero Cresti explained.
In the three-phase mill, 30 to 40 percent of water is added to the olive paste for dilution, whereas in the two-phase process water is not added. This is both beneficial for cost savings of the company as well as water preservation. In this process, after being crushed, the olives are separated into two phases, olive oil and a very wet pomace.
At this point, the fragments of olive pits are separated from the rest of the olives, to be used as a biomass comparable in quality to high-quality pellets for heating systems, Cresti explained.
Olive pits, when used as pellets, produce much less smoke and ash as they have a higher calorific value than those of the average pellets.
In addition, Cresti pointed out, the humid pomace, through controlled anaerobic fermentation in specific digesters, produce a biogas containing methane, which is used for the production of electrical energy.
“This manufacturing cycle ends up delivering all of the byproducts for renewable energies: the process concludes with no generated waste,” stated Cresti.
“The improvement of this kind of system — renewable energies sources which reduce the emission of landfill gas and, in general, exerts a very small carbon footprint into the atmosphere — seems to be essential for an eco-friendly olive oil production with reduced management costs.” – Ylenia Granitto, Olive Oil Times.
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