This paper presents the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) results of
biodiesel produced from rapeseed oil. The functional unit (FU) is defined as
3750 km of distance traveled by a truck fuelled with biodiesel. The reference
flow is 1000 kg of biodiesel. The LCIA method used in the study is the ReCiPe
method. At midpoint level the ReCiPe method addresses environmental issues
within 18 impact categories. Most of these midpoint impact categories are
further converted and aggregated into 3 endpoint categories (damage to human
health, damage to ecosystem diversity, damage to mineral resource
availability). The total impact of biodiesel?s life cycle was estimated at
540 Pt/FU. The damage to ecosystem diversity (1.48E-04 species?year/FU), the
damage to human health (7.48E-03 DALY/FU) and the damage to mineral resource
availability (8.11E+03 US$/FU) are responsible for 63%, 27% and 10% of the
total negative impact in the life cycle of biodiesel, respectively. The
results have revealed that only 4 impact categories are responsible for most
of the impacts within the specific endpoint categories. These are impacts
associated with global warming (3000 kg CO2 ekv./FU), particulate matter
formation (12.4 kg PM ekv./FU), agricultural land occupation (6710 m2a./FU)
and fossil fuel depletion (21168 MJ/FU). Greenhouse gases emitted in the life
cycle of biodiesel (mainly N2O, CO2) are responsibly for 56% of the damage
caused to human health and for 16% of the damage caused to ecosystem
diversity. Airborne emissions which contribute to particulate matter
formation (NOx, NH3, PM, SO2) are responsible for 43% of the damage caused to
human health. Agricultural land occupation is responsible for 82% of the
damage caused to the ecosystem diversity. Damage to mineral resource
availability is almost entirely related to the depletion of fossil energy
sources. The production chain of biodiesel and the combustion of biodiesel
are responsible for 69% and 31% of the total impact of biodiesel?s life
cycle, respectively. The negative impact of the production chain is mainly
related to biodiversity loss due to agricultural land occupation (38%) and
the life cycle impacts of mineral fertilizers used in the production of
rapeseed (47%). The environmental impact of biodiesel can be reduced by
increasing the yield of rapeseed with more efficient use of fertilizers and
optimization of agro-technical processes.
Life cycle impact assessment of biodiesel using the ReCiPe method
