› klimos › klimos-seminars › 20150504... · Environmental impacts of biofuel...

Environmental impacts of

biofuel projects

How to analyze/evaluate?

Wouter Achten

KLIMOS Seminar, BXL

4th May 2015

Why biofuels?

Singer et al., 2011

• Do they meet objectives, goals, claims?

• Which are the trade-offs? Are there

sustainability/environmental impacts related to achieving

these goals?

Why to evaluate them?

• Principles, Criteria & Indicators

• Life cycle assessment

How to evaluate biofuels?

• Footprinting

• But also, cost-benefit analysis, EIA, social impact assessment, …

• To get to know the conceptual working of these methods

• Influence of methodological choices

Objectives

• Limits and weaknesses of these methods, and current

developments

Principles, Criteria and Indiactors

Principles, Criteria and Indicators

Goal:Sustainable Forest Management

Principle:The productive function of the forest shall be maintained

Criterion:

Verifier:Penetrograph measurements

Criterion:Harvesting operations respect the soil (yes/no)

Indicator:Soil compaction

Norm:Penetration resistance within the forest stands < 200N/cm²

Principles, Criteria and Indicators

Principle - an accepted fundamental rule of sustainable

develoment. It is formulated as a commandment (e.g. The

protection function shall be maintained, and where appropriate,

enhanced)

Criterion describes the state of the system under compliance

with a principle. It is formulated to allow a verdict (e.g. Soil erosion with a principle. It is formulated to allow a verdict (e.g. Soil erosion

is minimized)

Indicator is a variable indicating the level of compliance with

a criterion

Norm or Threshold is a well-defined indicator value setting the

boundary between compliance and non-compliance to a criterion

Verifier is a tool or instrument to measure an indicator

Example RSB

• Principle 1 – Legality

• Principle 2 – Planning, Monitoring and Continuous Improvement

• Principle 3 – Greenhouse Gas Emissions

• Principle 4 – Human and Labor Rights

• Principle 5 – Rural and Social Development

• Principle 6 – Local Food Security

• Principle 7 – Conservation

• Principle 8 – Soil

• Principle 9 – Water

• Principle 10 – Air

• Principle 11 – Use of Technology, Inputs, and Management of Waste

• Principle 12 – Land Rights

RSB – Principle 4 Human and Labor Rights

Principle – Biofuel operations shall not violate human rights or labor rights, and shall promote decent work and the well-being of workers

• Criterion 4a - Workers shall enjoy freedom of association, the right to organize, and the right to collectively bargain.

• Criterion 4b – No slave labor or forced labor shall occur

• Criterion 4 c – No child labor shall occur, except on family farms and then only when work does not interferre with the child’s schooling and does not put his or her health at risk

• Criterion 4d – Workers shall be free of discrimination of any kind, whether in employment or opportunity, with respect to gender, wages, working conditions and social benefits.

• …

RSB - Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Principle – Biomass and biomaterials shall contribute to climatechange mitigation by significantly reducing lifecycle GHG emissions as compared to fossil fuels

Criterion 3a – Complience to local policies, regulations and targets

Criterion 3b – Lifecycle GHG emissions shall be calculated the using the RSB method

Criterion 3 c – Biofuel blends shall have on average 50% lowerlife cycle greenhous gas emission relative to the fossil fuel baseline

RSB - Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Principle – Biomass and biomaterials shall contribute to climatechnge mitigation by significantly reducing lifecycle GHG emission

as compared to fossil fuels

Criterion 3a – Compliance to local policies, regulations and targets

Criterion 3b – Lifecycle GHG emission shall be calculated the using the RSB method

Criterion 3 c – Biofuel blends shall have on average 50% lowerlife cycle greenhous gas emission relative to the fossil fuel baseline

EU Renewable energy Directive 2009

Sustainability criteria:

« The greenhouse gas emission saving from the use of biofuels

and bioliquids […] shall be at least 35% »

« With the effect from 1 Januari 2017, the greenhouse gas

emission saving […] shall be at least 50% »

« From 1 January 2018 that greenhouse gas emission saving shall

be at least 60% »

EU Renewable energy Directive 2009

Biofuel life cycle

By-products

CO2

Oil extraction

Biodiesel production

CO2

CO2

ECO2

CO2

Biodiesel productionCO2

CO2

E

E

E

E

Life cycle assessment

LCA is a technique to quantify environmental impacts

associated to the complete life cycle of a product or function

Life cycle analysis

Ecobalance

Cradle to grave analysis

Life cycle approach



associated to the complete life cycle of a product or

function

- Energy requirement

- Global warming potential

- Water use

- Eutrophication potential

- Acidification potential

- Ozone layer depletion

- …



associated to the complete life cycle of a product or

function

Why LCA?

• Calculate the energy/environmental profile/impact of products and/or production systems

• Compare the environmental performance of products and product systems

• Identify optimization options in the production system

• Policy recommandations

• Strategic planning

• Marketing

• Consumer awareness

• Product composition/design

How does it basically work?

Cultivation

Fresh Fruit Bunches

Agricultural land

Inputs Outputs

Fertilizer

Land area

Field operations

Field emissions

Describe your system

Extraction

Transesterification

Engine combustion

Crude Palm Oil

Refinery

Stearin

POME

Biodiesel

Field operations

Infrastructure

Machines

Energy

Methanol

By-products

Waste water

Products


Cultivation

Fresh Fruit Bunches

Agricultural land

Inputs Outputs

Fertilizer

Land area

Field operations

Field emissions CO2

SO2

Inventory inputs and outputs

Extraction

Transesterification

Engine combustion

Crude Palm Oil

Refinery

Stearin

POME

Biodiesel

Field operations

Infrastructure

Machines

Energy

Methanol

By-products

Waste water

Products

N2O

MJ

PO4

CH4

…


Inventory inputs and outputs

Cultivation

Fresh Fruit Bunches

Agricultural land

CO2

SO2

Global warming

potential

(CO eq)

1×

Impact assessment

Extraction

Transesterification

Engine combustion

Crude Palm Oil

Refinery

Stearin

POME

Biodiesel

N2O

MJ

PO4

CH4

…

Energy use

(CO2eq)

297×

23×

Jatropha versus Oil Palm

Cultivation

Reference system

System boundary expansion

Seeds

Crude fossil oil

SubstitutionBy-products

Oil extraction

Biomass waste

wasteland

Palm Kernel Meal + animal feed

Palm Kernel Meal

Cultivation

Extraction

Fresh Fruit Bunches

Crude POME

Extraction

Agricultural landSystem boundary expansion

Substitution

Jatropha in India Oil palm in Cameroon

By-products

Achten et al. (2010) LCAinFood

Transesterification

Engine combustion

Glycerine

Fossil Diesel

Crude Jatropha Oil

Engine combustion

BiodieselGlycerine

Seed cake

feed

Crude Palm Oil

Glycerine

Olein + Free Fatty Acids

Transesterification

Engine combustion

Crude Palm Oil

Refinery

Stearin

Biodiesel

Processing

Glycerine

Palm Kernel Oil + Alcohol Ethoxylates

Palm Kernel Oil

Jatropha versus Oil Palm

LCA Methodological Choices

• Funtional unit

• Impact category

• System boundaries

• Allocation procedure


Functional UnitGlobal warming potential of electricity production from short

rotation coppice

800

1200

1600

ton

CO

2-e

q./

ha

/10

0jr

wilg

Miscanthus 0,06

0,08

0,1

0,12

0,14

ton C

O2-e

q./GJpro

d

Bio

ma

ss

& B

ion

ere

gy,

20

03

-400

0

400

emissie productsysteem

(per ha)

emissie

referentiesysteem (per

ha)

vermeden

broeikasgasemissie (per

ha)

ton

CO

2-e

q./

ha

/10

0jr

Miscanthus

hakhoutfk

0

0,02

0,04

0,06

vermeden

broeikasgasemissie (per

geproduceerde GJ)

ton C

O2-e

q./GJpro

d

•Performance on a ha basis (figure left) differs from the one on an

energetic basis

•Show result using different functional units?

•Which question do you want to answer?

Le

tte

ns

et

al., B

iom

ass


Impact categories

Cultivation

Reference system

System boundary expansion

Seeds

Crude fossil oil

SubstitutionBy-products

Oil extraction

Biomass waste

wasteland

Palm Kernel Meal + animal feed

Palm Kernel Meal

Cultivation

Extraction

Fresh Fruit Bunches

Crude POME

Extraction

Agricultural landSystem boundary expansion

Substitution

Jatropha in India Oil palm in Cameroon

By-products

Achten et al. (2010) LCAinFood

Transesterification

Engine combustion

Glycerine

Fossil Diesel

Crude Jatropha Oil

Engine combustion

BiodieselGlycerine

Seed cake

feed

Crude Palm Oil

Glycerine

Olein + Free Fatty Acids

Transesterification

Engine combustion

Crude Palm Oil

Refinery

Stearin

Biodiesel

Processing

Glycerine

Palm Kernel Oil + Alcohol Ethoxylates

Palm Kernel Oil


Impact categories


System boundaries

Cultivation

Extraction

Fresh Fruit Bunches

Agricultural land

Inputs Outputs

Fertilizer

Land area

Field operations

Field emissions

Waste waterExtraction

Transesterification

Engine combustion

Crude Palm Oil

Refinery

Stearin

POME

Biodiesel

Infrastructure

Machines

Energy

Methanol

By-products

Waste water

Products


System boundaries

Fargione et al. 2008

Science


Allocation procedure

Mass allocation

Energy allocation

Economic allocation

Avoid allocation through

Cultivation

Extraction

Fresh Fruit Bunches

Agricultural land

Inputs Outputs

Fertilizer

Land area

Field operations

Field emissions

Waste waterAvoid allocation through

Substitution

Extraction

Transesterification

Engine combustion

Crude Palm Oil

Refinery

Stearin

POME

Biodiesel

Infrastructure

Machines

Energy

Methanol

By-products

Products

Total mass products:

7 + 2 = 9

Burden allocation to

Flour: 7/9 = 78%,

Bran: 2/9 = 22%

Wheat cultivation

Wheat milling

Wheat flour fractionation

Fertilizer, pesticides,

herbicides

Field operations

Water

Mill

Energy

Mixer

Centrifuge

Water (16.74 l)

Infrastructure

Field emissions

Bran (2 kg)

Leaching

Waste water

Land area

Grains (10 kg)

Flour (7 kg)

Wet gluten (3 kg)

Wet A-starch (7 kg)

Wet B-starch (10 kg)

Adapted from Achten et al., SAM7, 2012

Drying glutenInfrastructure

Energy


Gluten powder (1 kg)

Compression molding

Composting

Infrastructure

Energy

Infrastructure

EnergyN fertilizer

Glassy gluten bioplastic (1 kg)

flour: € 0.8/kg,

bran: € 0.15/kg

Total value of ouput:

(7*0. 8)+(2*0.15)=

€ 5.9

Allocation factor:

Wheat cultivation

Wheat milling

Wheat flour fractionation

Fertilizer, pesticides,

herbicides

Field operations

Water

Mill

Energy

Mixer

Centrifuge

Water (16.74 l)

Field emissions

Bran (2 kg)

Leaching

Waste water

Land area

Grains (10 kg)

Flour (7 kg)

Wet gluten (3 kg)

Wet A-starch (7 kg)

Adapted from Achten et al., SAM7, 2012

Allocation factor:

Flour: (7*0.8)/5.9=

95%

Bran: (2*0.15)/ 5.9=

5%

Drying glutenInfrastructure

Energy

Wet A-starch (7 kg)


Gluten powder (1 kg)

Compression molding

Composting

Infrastructure

Energy

Infrastructure

EnergyN fertilizer

Glassy gluten bioplastic (1 kg)



0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

1

Climate change

Terrestrial acidificationFossil depletion

Mass allocation

Economic allocation

0

0,2

Freshwater eutrophication

Marine eutrophication

Agricultural land occupation

Achten et al., SAM7, 2012

Limits and Weaknesses of LCA

• No land use change impacts on land quality or ecosystem

services

Impact on land quality

Waste land � Jatropha Agriculture � Oil palm Forest � Oil palm

Impact of direct land use change and land use occupation

Area×Time per FU =

412 m²yr

Area×Time per FU =

350 m²yr


(and current developments)


services

• Static




services

• Static

• Generic in time and space

Regionalization

Repayment time of carbon debt by selling

seeds after one time investment (years) N.A.no GHG reduction10 - 1516 - 3031 - 6061 - 100101 - 941

100 0 100 200 KilometersN




services

• Static

• Generic in time and space

• Focus on environmental impacts

Life cycle thinking

Social LCALife Cycle Assessment

Life cyclemanagement

Life cycle costing

Conclusions

• Principles, criteria and Indicators

• Life cycle assessment

• Concept

• Methodological choices

• Limits, weaknesses and current development

Thank you

Wouter Achten

[email protected]

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