Impacts Of Co-Location, Co-Production, And Process Energy Source On Life Cycle Energy Use And Greenhouse Gas Emissions Of Lignocellulosic Ethanol

Abstract

The performance of lignocellulosic ethanol in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and fossil energy use when substituting for gasoline depends on production technologies and system decisions, many of which have not been considered in life cycle studies. We investigate ethanol production from short rotation forestry feedstock via an uncatalyzed steam explosion pre￢ﾀﾐtreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis process developed by Mascoma Canada, Inc., and examine a set of production system decisions (co￢ﾀﾐlocation, co￢ﾀﾐproduction, and process energy options) in terms of their influence on life cycle emissions and energy consumption. All production options are found to reduce emissions and petroleum use relative to gasoline on a well￢ﾀﾐto￢ﾀﾐwheel (WTW) basis; GHG reductions vary by production scenario. Land￢ﾀﾐuse￢ﾀﾐchange effects are not included due to a lack of applicable data on short rotation forestry feedstock. Ethanol production with wood pellet co￢ﾀﾐproduct, displacing coal in electricity generation, performs best amongst co￢ﾀﾐproducts in terms of GHG mitigation (￢ﾈﾒ109% relative to gasoline, WTW basis). Maximizing pellet output, although requiring import of predominately fossil￢ﾀﾐbased process energy, improves overall GHG￢ﾀﾐmitigation performance (￢ﾈﾒ130% relative to gasoline, WTW). Similarly, lower ethanol yields result in greater GHG reductions because of increased co￢ﾀﾐproduct output. Co￢ﾀﾐlocating ethanol production with facilities exporting excess steam and biomass￢ﾀﾐbased electricity (e.g. pulp mills) achieves the greatest GHG mitigation (￢ﾈﾒ174% relative to gasoline, WTW) by maximizing pellet output and utilizing low￢ﾀﾐGHG process energy. By exploiting co￢ﾀﾐlocation opportunities and strategically selecting co￢ﾀﾐproducts, lignocellulosic ethanol can provide large emission reductions, particularly if based upon sustainably grown, high yield, low input feedstocks. ￂﾩ 2011 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd