Paper details

Title:

Application of the GHG-Methodology of the European Directive to 6 European Biofuel Production Plants - Experiences, Lessons Learned and Future Perspectives for Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Biofuels Production in Europe

Author(s):

Jungmeier, G., Canella, L., Pucker, J., Könighofer, K.

Document(s):

Abstract:

In June 2009 the “Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable” (RED ­Renewable Energy Directive) was published, which contains a methodology for the calculation of the life cycle based greenhouse gas emissions and emission savings of biofuels. This methodology was applied to 6 European industrial biofuel production plants on biodiesel, bioethanol and biogas in 4 countries (Austria, Germany, Hungary, Belgium) to calculate the greenhouse gas saving compared to gasoline and diesel. The RED­methodology was broken down to the relevant stages and processes in the life cycle of the transportation biofuels and the necessary site specific data were identified. A data collection format was developed and the data were provided by the operators of the biofuel plants. In parallel the current status of life cycle assessment e.g. system boundaries, allocation was compared to the “simplified” RED­methodology. The greenhouse gas emissions were calculated (g CO2­eq/MJ) in total and for each individual processes and the greenhouse gas saving (%) compared to fossil fuels. An innovative guideline for the proper setting of the system boundaries for the allocation of GHG­emissions to the biofuels and their co­products (e.g. animal fed, fertilizer, food) was developed and tested for the 6 plants. The relevance of this GHG assessment on existing biofuels plant was that the plant operators now have a reliable basis for the necessary auditing of the GHG saving of their biofuel production and for future developments e.g. in processes, raw materials. The results show that the RED­methodology can be applied to existing different industrial biofuel production plants. All 6 considered biofuel plants reach the minimum GHG saving of 35% currently required by RED, most of them have a GHG saving in the range between 45% and 55%, and one plant is reaching 80%. The influences of allocation procedure, system boundary setting, type of co­products and data source are significant. The analysed biofuel plants are very specific in terms of their processes, co­products and energy supply, so each plant must be analysed in detail to get a reliable GHG balance. With these experiences the future application of the RED­methodology will become quicker, more reliable and more effective in daily life of biofuel industry.

Keywords:

life cycle assessment (LCA), biofuels, greenhouse gas emissions, RED

Topic:

Plenaries

Subtopic:

Biomass policies, markets and sustainability

Event:

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

Session:

PD1.3

Pages:

34 - 37

ISBN-13:

978-88-89407-55-4

ISBN-10:

88-89407-55-7

Paper DOI:

10.5071/19thEUBCE2011-PD1.3

Price:

FREE