Dynamic life-cycle carbon analysis for fast pyrolysis biofuel produced from pine residues: implications of carbon temporal effects

Abstract Background Woody biomass has been considered as a promising feedstock for biofuel production via thermochemical conversion technologies such as fast pyrolysis. Extensive Life Cycle Assessment studies have been completed to evaluate the carbon intensity of woody biomass-derived biofuels via fast pyrolysis. However, most studies assumed that woody biomass such as forest residues is a carbon–neutral feedstock like annual crops, despite a distinctive timeframe it takes to grow woody biomass. Besides, few studies have investigated the impacts of forest dynamics and the temporal effects of carbon on the overall carbon intensity of woody-derived biofuels. This study addressed such gaps by developing a life-cycle carbon analysis framework integrating dynamic modeling for forest and biorefinery systems with a time-based discounted Global Warming Potential (GWP) method developed in this work. The framework analyzed dynamic carbon and energy flows of a supply chain for biofuel production from pine residues via fast pyrolysis. Results The mean carbon intensity of biofuel given by Monte Carlo simulation across three pine growth cases ranges from 40.8–41.2 g CO2e MJ−1 (static method) to 51.0–65.2 g CO2e MJ−1 (using the time-based discounted GWP method) when combusting biochar for energy recovery. If biochar is utilized as soil amendment, the carbon intensity reduces to 19.0–19.7 g CO2e MJ−1 (static method) and 29.6–43.4 g CO2e MJ−1 in the time-based method. Forest growth and yields (controlled by forest management strategies) show more significant impacts on biofuel carbon intensity when the temporal effect of carbon is taken into consideration. Variation in forest operations and management (e.g., energy consumption of thinning and harvesting), on the other hand, has little impact on the biofuel carbon intensity. Conclusions The carbon temporal effect, particularly the time lag of carbon sequestration during pine growth, has direct impacts on the carbon intensity of biofuels produced from pine residues from a stand-level pine growth and management point of view. The carbon implications are also significantly impacted by the assumptions of biochar end-of-life cases and forest management strategies.

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TECHNO-ECONOMIC AND LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENTS OF BIOFUEL PRODUCTION FROM WOODY BIOMASS THROUGH TORREFACTION-FAST PYROLYSIS AND CATALYTIC UPGRADING

10.37099/mtu.dc.etdr/476 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Olumide Winjobi

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Fast Pyrolysis ◽

Woody Biomass ◽

Biofuel Production ◽

Life Cycle Assessments ◽

Catalytic Upgrading

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Potential yields and emission reductions of biojet fuels produced via hydrotreatment of biocrudes produced through direct thermochemical liquefaction

Biotechnology for Biofuels ◽

10.1186/s13068-019-1625-2 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Susan van Dyk ◽

Jianping Su ◽

Mahmood Ebadian ◽

Don O’Connor ◽

Michael Lakeman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Life Cycle Analysis ◽

Fast Pyrolysis ◽

Jet Fuel ◽

Hydrothermal Liquefaction ◽

Carbon Intensity ◽

Emission Reductions ◽

Considerable Potential ◽

Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis ◽

Significant Compliance

Abstract Background The hydrotreatment of oleochemical/lipid feedstocks is currently the only technology that provides significant volumes (millions of litres per year) of “conventional” biojet/sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). However, if biojet fuels are to be produced in sustainably sourced volumes (billions of litres per year) at a price comparable with fossil jet fuel, biomass-derived “advanced” biojet fuels will be needed. Three direct thermochemical liquefaction technologies, fast pyrolysis, catalytic fast pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction were assessed for their potential to produce “biocrudes” which were subsequently upgraded to drop-in biofuels by either dedicated hydrotreatment or co-processed hydrotreatment. Results A significant biojet fraction (between 20.8 and 36.6% of total upgraded fuel volume) was produced by all of the processes. When the fractions were assessed against general ASTM D7566 specifications they showed significant compliance, despite a lack of optimization in any of the process steps. When the life cycle analysis GHGenius model was used to assess the carbon intensity of the various products, significant emission reductions (up to 74%) could be achieved. Conclusions It was apparent that the production of biojet fuels based on direct thermochemical liquefaction of biocrudes, followed by hydrotreating, has considerable potential.

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Accounting for indirect land-use change in the life cycle assessment of biofuel supply chains

Journal of The Royal Society Interface ◽

10.1098/rsif.2011.0769 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 9 (71) ◽

pp. 1105-1119 ◽

Cited By ~ 68

Author(s):

Susan Tarka Sanchez ◽

Jeremy Woods ◽

Mark Akhurst ◽

Matthew Brander ◽

Michael O'Hare ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Life Cycle Analysis ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Hybrid Approach ◽

Biofuel Production ◽

Policy Outcomes ◽

Carbon Intensity ◽

Indirect Land Use Change

The expansion of land used for crop production causes variable direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, and other economic, social and environmental effects. We analyse the use of life cycle analysis (LCA) for estimating the carbon intensity of biofuel production from indirect land-use change (ILUC). Two approaches are critiqued: direct, attributional life cycle analysis and consequential life cycle analysis (CLCA). A proposed hybrid ‘combined model’ of the two approaches for ILUC analysis relies on first defining the system boundary of the resulting full LCA. Choices are then made as to the modelling methodology (economic equilibrium or cause–effect), data inputs, land area analysis, carbon stock accounting and uncertainty analysis to be included. We conclude that CLCA is applicable for estimating the historic emissions from ILUC, although improvements to the hybrid approach proposed, coupled with regular updating, are required, and uncertainly values must be adequately represented; however, the scope and the depth of the expansion of the system boundaries required for CLCA remain controversial. In addition, robust prediction, monitoring and accounting frameworks for the dynamic and highly uncertain nature of future crop yields and the effectiveness of policies to reduce deforestation and encourage afforestation remain elusive. Finally, establishing compatible and comparable accounting frameworks for ILUC between the USA, the European Union, South East Asia, Africa, Brazil and other major biofuel trading blocs is urgently needed if substantial distortions between these markets, which would reduce its application in policy outcomes, are to be avoided.

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Using Naturalness for Assessing the Impact of Forestry and Protection on the Quality of Ecosystems in Life Cycle Assessment

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13168859 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (16) ◽

pp. 8859

Author(s):

Sylvie Côté ◽

Robert Beauregard ◽

Manuele Margni ◽

Louis Bélanger

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Species Richness ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Forest Management ◽

Black Spruce ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Assessment Model ◽

Wood Production ◽

Management Scenarios ◽

The Impact

A novel approach is proposed to evaluate the impact of forestry on ecosystem quality in life cycle assessment (LCA) combining a naturalness assessment model with a species richness relationship. The approach is applied to a case study evaluating different forest management strategies involving concomitantly silvicultural scenarios (plantation only, careful logging only or the current mix of both) combined with an increasing share of protected area for wood production in a Québec black spruce forest. The naturalness index is useful to compare forest management scenarios and can help evaluate conservation needs considering the type of management foreseen for wood production. The results indicate that it is preferable to intensify forest management over a small proportion of the forest territory while ensuring strict protection over the remaining portion, compared to extensive forest management over most of the forested area. To explore naturalness introduction in LCA, a provisory curve relating the naturalness index (NI) with the potential disappeared fraction of species (PDF) was developed using species richness data from the literature. LCA impact scores in PDF for producing 1 m3 of wood might lead to consistent results with the naturalness index but the uncertainty is high while the window leading to consistent results is narrow.

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Simulation and life cycle assessment of biofuel production via fast pyrolysis and hydroupgrading

Fuel ◽

10.1016/j.fuel.2014.09.014 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 139 ◽

pp. 441-456 ◽

Cited By ~ 62

Author(s):

Jens F. Peters ◽

Diego Iribarren ◽

Javier Dufour

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Fast Pyrolysis ◽

Biofuel Production

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Towards sustainable forest management strategies with MOEAs

Proceedings of the 2020 Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference ◽

10.1145/3377930.3389837 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Philipp Back ◽

Antti Suominen ◽

Pekka Malo ◽

Olli Tahvonen ◽

Julian Blank ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Management Strategies

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Conversion of biomass to biofuels and life cycle assessment: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters ◽

10.1007/s10311-021-01273-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ahmed I. Osman ◽

Neha Mehta ◽

Ahmed M. Elgarahy ◽

Amer Al-Hinai ◽

Ala’a H. Al-Muhtaseb ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Energy Demand ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Biomass Conversion ◽

Biofuel Production ◽

Process Efficiency ◽

Liquid Fuels ◽

Thermochemical Processes ◽

Lower Temperature

AbstractThe global energy demand is projected to rise by almost 28% by 2040 compared to current levels. Biomass is a promising energy source for producing either solid or liquid fuels. Biofuels are alternatives to fossil fuels to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Nonetheless, policy decisions for biofuels should be based on evidence that biofuels are produced in a sustainable manner. To this end, life cycle assessment (LCA) provides information on environmental impacts associated with biofuel production chains. Here, we review advances in biomass conversion to biofuels and their environmental impact by life cycle assessment. Processes are gasification, combustion, pyrolysis, enzymatic hydrolysis routes and fermentation. Thermochemical processes are classified into low temperature, below 300 °C, and high temperature, higher than 300 °C, i.e. gasification, combustion and pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is promising because it operates at a relatively lower temperature of up to 500 °C, compared to gasification, which operates at 800–1300 °C. We focus on 1) the drawbacks and advantages of the thermochemical and biochemical conversion routes of biomass into various fuels and the possibility of integrating these routes for better process efficiency; 2) methodological approaches and key findings from 40 LCA studies on biomass to biofuel conversion pathways published from 2019 to 2021; and 3) bibliometric trends and knowledge gaps in biomass conversion into biofuels using thermochemical and biochemical routes. The integration of hydrothermal and biochemical routes is promising for the circular economy.

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