IMPACT4SOIL OpenAire Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (BASE) Crossref Agritrop Microsoft Academic Graph Biomass and Bioenergy Closed Access 2012-03-09 Available results about energy and GreenHouse Gases (GHG) balances of biofuels from Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) or life-cycle based studies present large discrepancies and thus, may lead to contradictory policy-making measures. This work reviewed seven important European LCA studies in a sensitivity analysis approach in order to get a better understanding of the roots of such a debate for three major biofuels in European production: rape methyl ester and ethanol from wheat and sugar beet. Global trends and variability of energy and GHG balances were depicted and completed with a sensitivity analysis carried out for each methodological and data parameter, which allowed making recommendations on the carrying out of LCA in a policy-making or a biofuels comparison context. Methodological choices, and especially allocation rule, appeared as key elements for results variation with influences on balances up to 149%; system expansion approach was identified as the most relevant rule since it integrates the market potential and the environmental interest of by-products promotion, which was pointed out as a crucial point for biofuels sustainability. The influence of local specificity for cultivation data was evaluated up to 167%, which puts too large geographical coverage in question. Modelling uncertainties due to N2O emissions from soils showed influences from 17 to 46%, which represents a crucial challenge for research and for LCA results accuracy. Approximations evaluation pointed out the need to integrate agricultural machinery into the assessment. Finally, land-use issue revealed its dramatic importance for LCA results and the need to define explicit scenarios for land-use alternatives. [SDV.BIO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biotechnology 330 http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_24420 P06 - Sources d'énergie renouvelable http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_37938 http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_890 éthanol 02 engineering and technology 7. Clean energy 01 natural sciences 630 12. Responsible consumption 11. Sustainability 0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_10677 gaz à effet de serre http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_34841 [INFO.INFO-BT]Computer Science [cs]/Biotechnology Triticum http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_2671 http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1066 0105 earth and related environmental sciences 2. Zero hunger http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_27465 Ethanol Sugar beet Brassica napus http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_2724 Life cycle analysis LCA 15. Life on land http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_9000056 biocarburant 13. Climate action Rapeseed methyl ester Wheat modélisation environnementale ester P01 - Conservation de la nature et ressources foncières impact sur l'environnement Beta vulgaris Sensitivity analysis P02 - Pollution http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7950 évaluation de l'impact Benoist, Anthony, Dron, Dominique, Assaad, Zoughaib, 2012-05-01 journalpaper Available results about energy and GreenHouse Gases (GHG) balances of biofuels from Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) or life-cycle based studies present large discrepancies and thus, may lead to contradictory policy-making measures. This work reviewed seven important European LCA studies in a sensitivity analysis approach in order to get a better understanding of the roots of such a debate for three major biofuels in European production: rape methyl ester and ethanol from wheat and sugar beet. Global trends and variability of energy and GHG balances were depicted and completed with a sensitivity analysis carried out for each methodological and data parameter, which allowed making recommendations on the carrying out of LCA in a policy-making or a biofuels comparison context. Methodological choices, and especially allocation rule, appeared as key elements for results variation with influences on balances up to 149%; system expansion approach was identified as the most relevant rule since it integrates the market potential and the environmental interest of by-products promotion, which was pointed out as a crucial point for biofuels sustainability. The influence of local specificity for cultivation data was evaluated up to 167%, which puts too large geographical coverage in question. Modelling uncertainties due to N2O emissions from soils showed influences from 17 to 46%, which represents a crucial challenge for research and for LCA results accuracy. Approximations evaluation pointed out the need to integrate agricultural machinery into the assessment. Finally, land-use issue revealed its dramatic importance for LCA results and the need to define explicit scenarios for land-use alternatives. Origins Of The Debate On The Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Energy Consumption Of First-Generation Biofuels – A Sensitivity Analysis Approach 10.1016/j.biombioe.2012.02.011 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2012.02.011