Bsm explicitly focuses on policy issues, their feasibility, and potential side effects. This activity asks students to begin to consider the life cycle energy and carbon dioxide emission costs of gasoline, corn ethanol, and cellulosic ethanol. Using life cycle assessment lca to compare conventional and advanced biofuels by helen finney, dr mireille rack 06 january 2020 helen finney graduated from imperials msc environmental technology in 2019. Life cycle analysis of algal biofuel linkedin slideshare. There is, however, considerable uncertainty in the scienti. Life cycle associates has completed numerous life cycle analysis studies, including those to establish fuel pathway carbon intensities ci for the california low carbon fuel standard lcfs. Fame and hvohefa prepared by antonio bonomi, bruno colling klein, mateus ferreira chagas, and narie rinke dias souza brazilian bioethanol science and technology laboratory ctbe national center for research in energy and materials cnpem prepared for. Lifecycle analysis and the ecology of biofuels sarah c. Environmental protection agency cincinnati, ohio, 45268 final report october 22, 20 systems analysis branch sustainable technology division national. The environmental impacts of different types of biofuels used in switzerland have been compared in a detailed life cycle assessment. Sep 28, 2014 advanced hardwoood biofuels nw life cycle assessment abe martinez. A lifecycle analysis lca framework can be used to assess the environmental impact across the entire product lifecycle. Apr 02, 2014 life cycle analysis of microalgae based biofuel production cradletogate slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising.
All these results show the superiority and sustainability of palm oil as a feedstock for biodiesel production. Life cycle analysis of microalgae based biofuel production cradletogate slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. Beyond biofuels background paper for the eea expert meeting in copenhagen, june 10, 2008 darmstadt, june 2008. A life cycle analysis lca framework can be used to assess the environmental impact across the entire product life cycle. Microalgae species as a feedstock for biofuels have gained considerable interest in the. Cradletogate life cycle analysis surrounding five algaetofuelfuel. Life cycle assessment is a methodological framework defined in the din iso 1404044 to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a products life from raw material extraction through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and disposal or recycling. She also explored the utility of life cycle assessment lca. Quantitative modeling of biofuels life cycles great. Life cycle assessment for the combustion of biomass wastes. The use of environmental lifecycle analysis for evaluating.
Advanced hardwoood biofuels nw life cycle assessment abe martinez. Developing a life cycle assessment model for evaluating. This study forms an important scientific input for the political decission on tax regulations for biofuels. A life cycle assessment lca addon to biosteam to quantify the environmental impacts of biorefineries developed by cabbi postdoctoral researcher rui shi and the guest research group is. Life cycle analysis is a crucial methodology that is key in the analysis and comparison of the different generations of biofuels and other energy options. Greet lifecycle analysis of biofuels march 24, 2015 analysis and sustainability michael wang, jennifer b.
Life cycle analysis has shown that biofuels derived via the fast pyrolysis of switchgrass and miscanthus have lower overall lower life cycle greenhouse gas ghg emissions relative to first generation biofuels such as cornsugarcane ethanol and satisfy the environmental protection agency epa renewable fuel standard 2 rfs2 greenhouse. Different reports of this project are published on thehomepage of the swiss authority of energy. Scientists develop opensource software to analyze economics. Systematic accounting of the energy use and emissions at every stage of the production, use, disposal and recycle of a product welltowheel wtw analysis. Life cycle analysis is a multistage approach, which covers the full life cycle of a product.
Archive of previous versions of the above models 1 life cycle analysis without land use change estimate december 2009. A lifecycle comparison of alternative automobile fuels. Expand beyond excel platform relying on software engineering expertise and. The fuel properties of biodiesel ester content, ec. Lifecycle analysis lca of biofuels has become an integral part of a thorough evaluation of the energy and environmental effects of biofuels. The concept of lca and its application to biofuels. The use of environmental lifecycle analysis for evaluating biofuels deepak rajagopal and david zilberman processors that convert corn into biofuel may use two sources of energyenergy from coal and energy from natural gas. The data for each metric was obtained using gabi 4. Life cycle assessment of bioenergy products the environmental impacts of different types of biofuels used in switzerland have been compared in a detailed life cycle assessment. For example, in 2007 the us passed the energy independence and security act eisa. Quantitative modeling of biofuels life cycles package subjects. Interpretation of economical, social, and environmental advantages and disadvantages, as well as future political reforms can be established, although lack of standardization of lcas has. Lca, the conflicting results about biofuels such as corn ethanol and biodiesel are not surprising.
Figure 1shows the system boundary for the analyzed biomass supply systems and the life cycle stages and activities for which impacts and costs were quantified. A comparison of life cycle assessment studies of different biofuels. Issues, results, and case simulations jennifer dunn systems assessment group. Life cycle analysis lca can serve a critical role in the development of advanced biofuels by determining the carbon intensity of a fuel and by linking particular environmental impacts to certain elements in the production process. Lifecycle assessment of transportation biofuels from. Using life cycle assessment lca to compare conventional and. Environmental protection agency cincinnati, ohio, 45268 final report october 22, 20 systems analysis branch sustainable technology division national risk management research. Technical report comparison of biofuel life cycle analysis tools phase 2, part 1. Lifecycle analysis lca is an important tool used to assess the energy and environmental impacts of biofuels. In general the biomass substrates perform worse compared to the combustion of wood from an environmental point of view. Team demos potential environmental sustainability benefits. Life cycle analysis or assessment lca is an internationally renowned methodology for evaluating the global environmental performance of a product, process or pathway along its partial or whole life cycle, considering the impacts generated from cradle to grave. Lifecycle assessment of biofuel production emergence.
They also find that biodiesel results in 41% less ghg. This activity asks students to begin to consider the life cycle energy and carbon dioxide emission costs of gasoline, corn ethanol and cellulosic ethanol. Life cycle analysis of transportation fuels life cycle analysis lca. Delucia1,2,3 1institute of genomic biology, university of illinois at urbanachampaign, urbana, il 61801, usa 2department of plant biology, university of illinois at urbanachampaign, urbana, il 61801, usa 3energy biosciences institute, university of illinois at. Comparative study of biofuels vs petroleum fuels using. This activity tasks students to assess the life cycle energy and carbon dioxide emission costs of gasoline, corn ethanol, and cellulosic ethanol. Life cycle assessment of biofuels 101 noaa climate. Aug 12, 2010 life cycle analysis lca of biofuels has become an integral part of a thorough evaluation of the energy and environmental effects of biofuels. Lifecycle analysis approach define cradletograve alternative systems set system boundary conditions set time basis snapshot of industry in time vs. Develop a lifecycle analysis lca model that supports. The greenhouse gases, regulated emissions, and energy use in transportation model by argonne national laboratory.
Life cycle assessment of gasoline and diesel produced via. Fuel life cycle analysis lca is a technique that allows you to quantify the potential impacts to the environment from all aspects of a fuels life. While lca results of biofuels have generally shown the energy and ghg benefits of biofuels relative to petroleum fuels, the magnitude of these benefits is determined by the types of feedstocks and. Cradle to grave life cycle analysis is used to investigate the global warming potential and fossil fuel use of converting poplar biomass to dropin biojet fuel via a. Table 1 outlines the various productivity values and other parameters of the supply systems analyzed. Low carbon fuel standard computation modeling softwares. It also includes all the chemicals and energy that go into making a product, and what it takes to make those.
Biofuel lifecycle analysis with the greet model michael wang center for transportation research. Lifecycle analysis of greenhouse gas emissions from. The idea of life cycle costing as a summary of all costs caused by a product during its entire life cycle, however, can be transferred also to the notion of a physical life cycle. Towards standardization of lifecycle metrics for biofuels. Review of lifecycle based tools used to assess the. This report presents the main results of the study carried out for phase 2 of the project entitled comparison of biofuel life cycle assessment tools, which is included in the activities of task 39 commercializing liquid biofuels from biomass of the international energy agency bioenergy technology collaboration program iea bioenergy. May 19, 2017 some of the studies have suggested that after a full life cycle assessmentmeaning an analysis of environmental impact throughout all stages of a products lifebiofuels like corn ethanol may. The social life cycle assessment slca is a comprehensive methodology which aims to assess the positive and negative social impacts of a product or. When selecting alternative fuels, it is important to consider the relative advantages and disadvantages of each. Recent regulations and variable oil prices have resulted in increased production of biofuels from second and third generation feedstocks. Lcas also highlight areas of uncertainty within the production cycle and inform design decisions. The lce and lcg studies are closely related because fossil fuel use has a large in. Alternative feedstocks and conversion processes for the production of liquid and gaseous biofuels second edition, 2019. A high number of life cycle assessment of the production of lignocellulosic bioethanol have been published to evaluate or to demonstrate its environmental benefits, in most of the cases the comparison of results and conclusions is difficult due the different methodological approaches of the analysts.
Biofuel comparison helen finney graduated from imperials msc. Life cycle analysis lca is an important tool used to assess the energy and environmental impacts of biofuels. Some of the studies have suggested that after a full life cycle assessmentmeaning an analysis of environmental impact throughout all stages of a products lifebiofuels like corn ethanol may. Liska and cassman towards standardization of lifecycle metrics for biofuels b lifecycle ghg lcg assessment, or c multicriteria lca. The subjectivity of system boundary selection renders lifecycle assessment susceptible to manipulation and creates a lack of confidence in. Life cycle assessment for the production of biodiesel. This activity allows students to compare the net energy andor net greenhouse gases ghg emitted during the life cycle production of ethanol from switchgrass, diverse prairie and corn stover. The life cycle is divided among vehicle manufacture, use consisting of fuel production, vehicle operation, service, and fixed costs, and endof life stages. Social life cycle assessment an overview sciencedirect. Lifecycle analysis of biofuels with the greet model michael wang center for transportation research argonne national laboratory the gbep meeting, washington, d. Sustainability, life cycle analysis, greenhouse gases, systems modeling, forms of energy, net energy, carbon cycle, climate change, data analysis, scientific. Lifecycle assessment of five microalgaetobiofuels processes of. The life cycle is divided among vehicle manufacture, use consisting of fuel production, vehicle operation, service, and fixed costs, and endoflife stages.
Technical report comparison of biofuel life cycle analysis. Biofuel life cycle analysis with the greet model michael wang center for transportation research. Hydrocarbon biojet fuel from bioconversion of poplar. The environmental impacts of different types of biofuels used in switzerland. Life cycle assessment lca of thirdgeneration biodiesel. Key acronyms list ad anaerobic digestion fr forest residue aeo annual energy outlook ftd fischer tropsch diesel aez agricultural ecological zone fn fuel gasnatural gas age.
Students should not get an impression that biomass is carbon neutral. Different reports of this project are published on the homepage of the swiss authority of energy. A fuel chain and its lifecycle stages cause various harmful impacts on the environment. Although parameters such as resource and land use, along with infrastructure, can be incorporated into lca algorithms, many have noted that the. An lca is a compilation and evaluation of the inputs. Using life cycle assessment lca to compare conventional. To best determine their utilization, many practitioners turn to lifecycle assessment lca to ascertain the environmental footprint. Social life cycle assessment an overview sciencedirect topics. In this sense, lcc has also been proposed as a tool of sustainability assessment in recent years, postulating that the life cycle shall be congruent between lcc. This activity provides generally good explanations to the life cycle assessment science.
Lifecycle analysis methodologies attributional lca consequential lca. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. Specific to transportation fuels wtw analysis takes into account the direct fuel use and its upstream energy use. Quantitative modeling of biofuels life cycles great lakes. Advanced hardwoood biofuels nw life cycle assessment. Life cycle assessment of renewable energy sources pp. The life cycle impact assessment shows that the combustion of the biomass substrates has the highest environmental impact, followed by the disposal of the ash generated by the combustion process.
Fuel life cycle analysis life cycle associates, llc. Biojet fuels compatible with current aviation infrastructure are needed as an alternative to petroleumbased jet fuel to lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Methodology and default values are often standardized within a certain regulatory context, such as the eu renewable energy directive red and us renewable fuel standard rfs. Many of these new policies call for the evaluation of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions of biofuels using life cycle assessment lca. Technical report comparison of biofuel life cycle analysis tools task 39 commercializing liquid biofuelsinternational energy agency iea bioenergy bioenergy plays an important role in the decarbonization of. Hydrocarbon biojet fuel from bioconversion of poplar biomass. Life cycle analysis of biochemical cellulosic ethanol. Life cycle analysis lca is one of the most promising approaches for evaluating the sustainability of biofuels and for comparing bioenergy systems. An increase in the price of natural gas will lead to a switch to coal, which will result in a. We developed software tools and methods that allow.
The biomass scenario model bsm is a unique, carefully validated, stateoftheart, dynamic model of the domestic biofuels supply chain. Comparison of biofuel life cycle analysis tools reports. Using microsoft excel spreadsheets, students model a range of scenarios, starting with data and assumptions provided in the package. Grand challenges for lifecycle assessment of biofuels. It integrates resource availability, physicaltechnologicaleconomic.
Life cycle analysis biofuels approach define cradletograve alternative systems choose alternate fuel options set system boundary conditions this is where the big fights have beenare going to be identify impacts of interest to decisionmakers costs, air pollution, ghg emissions, landuse. Aug 11, 2016 biojet fuels compatible with current aviation infrastructure are needed as an alternative to petroleumbased jet fuel to lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The conversion stage dominates the total ghg emissions, making up. The disparity in results and methodologies is even larger than that amongst corn ethanol studies, and it makes comparing the results difficult. Life cycle analysis of biochemical cellulosic ethanol under. When the data could not be found in the software database. Bioenergy life cycle analysis research excellence marei.
Integrated cost and environmental life cycle analysis of. Furthermore, co 2 sequestration for the whole life cycle chain of palm biodiesel is 20 times higher than jatropha biodiesel. When an artificial boundary for analysis is drawn for processbased lca, it always leads to truncation errors. Biofuels are widely touted as viable, albeit not straightforward, alternatives to petroleumderived fuels. Cradle to grave life cycle analysis is used to investigate the global warming potential and fossil fuel use of converting poplar biomass to dropin biojet fuel via a novel bioconversion platform. Lifecycle assessment of transportation biofuels from hydrothermal. The process emitting most ghgs over the life cycle of htl biofuels is htl buffer production.
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