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LCA of Biofuels and Biomaterials

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Life Cycle Assessment

Abstract

Biofuels and biomaterials can today substitute many commodities produced from fossil resources, and the bio-based production is increasing worldwide. As fossil resources are limited, and the use of such resources is a major contributor to global warming and other environmental impacts, the potential of bio-products as substitutes for fossil-based products is receiving much attention. According to many LCA studies, bio-products are environmentally superior to fossil products in some life cycle impact categories, while the picture is often opposite in others. Bio-products is a highly diverse group of products and the environmental profile of bio-products relative to their fossil counterparts is case specific and to a high degree depending on the feedstock used. This illustrates the importance of conducting case specific LCAs for determining the environmental profile of bio-products relative to fossil ones, and emphasises the importance of including all relevant impact categories, in order to avoid problem shifting.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    0.01 kg CO2-eq per kg CO2 stored 1 year corresponds to the GWP100 for 1 kg CO2 of 1 kg CO2-eq over 100 years, if assuming linearity, and considering a short-term perspective, rather than the normal infinite one, as explained in the text.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful inputs from Arnaud Hélias (Montpellier SupAgro/INRA) and Anthony Benoist (CIRAD).

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  1. Division of Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, Department for Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Produktionstorvet Building 424, 2800, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

    Susanne Vedel Hjuler & Sune Balle Hansen

  2. Novozymes A/S, Krogshøjvej 36, 2880, Bagsværd, Denmark

    Susanne Vedel Hjuler

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  1. Susanne Vedel Hjuler
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  1. Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

    Michael Z. Hauschild

  2. IRSTEA, UMR ITAP, ELSA Research group and ELSA-PACT, Environmental and Social Sustainability Assessment, Montpellier, France

    Ralph K. Rosenbaum

  3. Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

    Stig Irving Olsen

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Hjuler, S.V., Hansen, S.B. (2018). LCA of Biofuels and Biomaterials. In: Hauschild, M., Rosenbaum, R., Olsen, S. (eds) Life Cycle Assessment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56475-3_30

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