Biofuel sustainability according to emergy assessment · 2009-07-08 · Biofuel sustainability according to emergy assessment. Marcos Watanabe, PhD Student. Enrique Ortega Rodriguez,

Biofuel sustainability according to emergy assessment

Marcos Watanabe, PhD StudentEnrique Ortega Rodriguez, PhD professor at UNICAMP

State University of Campinas, BrazilCollege of Food Engineering Laboratory of Ecological Engineering

32nd IAEE International ConferenceSan Francisco, June 21-24, 2009.

Main topics

Other performance indices

Biofuel production

Emergy Assessment

Biofuel performance indices

Conclusions

Biofuel sustainability according to emergy analysis Main topics

Other performance indices

Biofuel production

Emergy Assessment

Biofuel performance indices

Conclusions

Main topics

Biofuel sustainability according to emergy analysis Main topics

Biofuel production

Expanding production (ethanol ~ 90 billion litters)Transport sector: alternative to fossil fuelsMotivation: CO2 reduction / opportunities from new markets

Major ethanol producers, with projections to 2017

Biofuel sustainability according to emergy analysis Biofuel production

Biofuel production

How to measure its economic and environmental feasibility)?

Without using conventional economic approaches

Without using environmental indicators of CO2 emissions and energy output/input ratio

Emergy assessment

Energetic-based concept of value Deals with economic and environmental systemsIndicators to guide decision-making processes

Other performance indices

Biofuel production

Emergy Assessment

Biofuel performance indices

Conclusions

Main topics

Biofuel sustainability according to emergy analysis Emergy Assessment

Emergy assessment

What’s eMergy?

Emergy means “energy memory” or “the available required energy used up directly and indirectly to make a service or product” (Odum, 1996).

+

Rain

+

Soil

+

Services / Labor

+

Materials

=

Sun

Corn

Emergy assessment

Biofuel system:

Biofuel sustainability according to emergy analysis Emergy Assessment

Sun, rain, wind

Soil Buildings, material, services, seeds, labor

Biofuel

Emergy assessment

Accounting table (corn production, Cavalett, 2008)

Main topics

Other performance indices

Biofuel production

Emergy Assessment

Biofuel performance indices

Conclusions

Biofuel sustainability according to emergy analysis Main topics

Biofuel performance indices

Transformity (Tr) is equal to the emergy content (Y) divided by total energy content (given in joules or calories). The lower the value, the higher the system’s efficiency because less solar energy equivalent was required to produce 1 calorie of product

Emergy Yield Ratio (EYR) is equal to the total emergy (Y) divided by total economic inputs (F). The higher the value, the lower the system’s reliance on economic investment and the higher its economic competitiveness

Biofuel performance indices

Renewability (%R) is equal to the Renewable Input (R) divided by total emergy (Y). The higher the value, the greater the sustainability of the production system.

Biofuel performance indices

Environmental Loading Ratio (ELR) is equal to Non-renewable resources from economy and from environment (F+N) divided by Renewable Input (R).

Biofuel performance indices

The lower the value, the lower the environmental stress caused by the system

on the surrounding areas.

Main topics

Other performance indices

Biofuel production

Emergy Assessment

Biofuel performance indices

Conclusions

Systems generating electricity

Transformity: Biofuel ~ 1.00 E+05 seJ/J Wind ~ 1.10 E+05 seJ/J, similar to biofuel

Emergy Yield Ratio: Wind, Geothermal and Hydro: EYR ~ 5.50Biofuel: EYR ~ 1.50 , lower economic competitiveness

Other performance indices

Other performance indices

Renewability: Wind: ~85 %Ethanol: ~5%, corn (Europe)Gasoline: 0 %

Other performance indices

Environmental Loading Ratio: Wind and hydro: 0.22 (lowest environmental stress)Oil Plant: 23.26 (high)

Main topics

Other performance indices

Biofuel production

Emergy Assessment

Biofuel performance indices

Conclusions

Conclusions

•Among biofuel case studies assessed, Brazilian sugarcane ethanol provided the best performance indices

• Results can vary depending on the region, model and scale of production

• Although some fuel production systems based on fossil energy have higher economic competitiveness (EYR), biofuels have best ELR and %Renewability performances and should contribute to reduce environmental stress

Thank you!

marcosw@fea.unicamp.br