Anne Claire De Rouck Sarah Cook. Life Cycle Assessment Sugarcane Farming Sustainability

Transcription

1 Anne Claire De Rouck Sarah Cook Life Cycle Assessment Sugarcane Farming Sustainability

2 Today's Goals Introduction to our LCA Research Lessons Learned LCA use for environmental assessment is a relatively new concept Many areas need to be perfected and standardized LCAs must be looked at with critical eyes

3 Biofuels and Biomass

4 Brief History New words-very old concept More recent growing interest WWII Oil Crisis 1970's Hinging all our hopes on Biofuels? Energy security Reduce GHG Emissions Reduce consumer fuel prices Rural economic development

5 Policy Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA)-2007 Renewable Fuel Standards 9 billion gallons per year by billion gallons per year by 2022 Of which 21 billion gallons must be cellulosic or advanced biofuels Policies being implemented too early? Must look to long term

6 Technologies Explored What is the difference between 1 st and 2 nd generation biofuels? Types of biofuels Biogas Biodiesel Bioethanol

7 Feedstocks explored

8 Brazil s Story 1973 Brazil relied on imported oil for 80% of supply Now producing beyond consumption Many factors are not being considered Land Use Change Deforestation Rangeland relocation

9 Standardization Increasing Incentives to explore biofuel Focus on doing it right the first time Standardized means of comparison must exist

10 Everglades Agricultural Area Farming

11 What is the EAA 700,000 acres Sugarcane Vegetables Organic Soils

12 History Everglades drained in early 20 th century Flood control Agricultural development Damage Control Best management practices CERP Everglades Forever Act 1994

13 Sugar Industry $1.3 billion income 18,000 full time jobs Build up Sugar Act Cuban Revolution Industry versus Restoration

14 Department of Energy Grant

15 DOE Goals A viable, sustainable domestic biomass industry that produces renewable biofuels, bioproducts and biopower, enhances U.S. energy security, reduces our dependence on oil, provides environmental benefits including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and creates economic opportunities across the nation.

16 Where Do We fit? Many Partners Edison State College University of Florida Intelligentsia International Goals of Grant Biofuels System Evaluation Workforce Development Economic Development Research

17 Introduction to Life Cycle Assessment

18 Definition What is a LCA? Quantify impacts All stages What is it used for? Identify major sources of impacts Help for stakeholders

19 International Standardization ISO to Environmental management Life Cycle Assessment Principles and frameworks Methodology and technical reports Methodology Goal and scope Inventory Impact assessment Interpretation 1. Goal and scope 2. Inventory analysis 3. Impact evaluation LCA framework Interpretation Adapted from N. Boeglin (2005) Introduction à l'acv. ADEME

20 Goal and scope Stakeholders/Objectives Goal might be different according to stakeholders Functional unit Enable comparison with other works Boundaries Time Space Processes Sugarcane production Sugarcane burning Sugarcane harvesting Sugarcane treatment Bagasse transportation Biethanol production Biethanol transportation Bioethanol combustion

21 Inventory Inventory Identify flows Quantify according to processes Functional unit Normalization Total impacts Adding all the elementary processes

22 Inventory Functional unit Normalization Total impacts Adding all the elementary processes

23 Impact assessment Mid point method/end-point method Primary/Secondary impacts Related impact categories Normalizing/Weighting Optional Adapted results Single result

24 Interpretation Impacts sources Contributional analysis Influences Uncertainties Sensibilities Results validation Molasses feedstock Industrial phase Biomass transport Agricultural phase Transport to admixture Gas

25 Review of Results Inconsistencies Found

26 MPG Functional Unit-Consequences Decreased transparency Parameters not taken into account Influence on results Bias from omissions Under- or overestimation Comparison Standardization impossible Results unusable Ethanol Gasoline

27 Water 1L 1L Functional unit-choice FARM A ha Land Input related Mass, energy... Results independents on the products Output related Mass, energy, distance... Unit of land Dedicated energy crops Land competition Recommendations Ethanol X L Y L Water XL YL FARM Ethanol 1 L 1 L Water AL BL FARM Ethanol X L Y L B ha Land 1 ha Land

28 Functional unit-choice A LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) of the methanol production from sugarcane bagasse (2011). Brazil Functional unit: 1kg of methanol produced

29 Land Use Change Definitions Sequestration Storage Competition Carbon debt Payback period

30 Land Use Change-direct/indirect Direct Land Use Change Previously managed land converted to biofuel production Insignificant impact on carbon accounting Indirect Land Use Change Secondary effect of biofuel production Overwhelming effect on carbon accounting

31 Land Use Change-inconsistencies Boundaries Searchinger et al example Relates to LCA type Technology Lagging behind Policy No standards developed for comparison EAA case Land conversion at a rate of 1.1 % a year Sea Level Rise increases competition How to quantify effect on Everglades?

32 Land Use-Sample Results Land Use Change Normalized Impact Categories

33 GHG accounting-results Most important step in LCA about GHG emission Reliability of C accounting Importance of land use emissions Nitrogen flows

34 GHG accounting-inputs/outputs Find all the possible sources of GHG emission Renewability Soil and plant uptake Concept of CO2 neutrality Account for all forms of GHG CO2, CH4, CO... Non-C GHG (N2O...) Biof uel

35 Overestimation GHG accounting-inputs/outputs Systematic under- and overestimation of GHG reductions in renewable biomass systems (2010). USA Main problem: renewability GWP

36 Water Accounting Global Issues Demand Supply Average Water Footprint for Bioenergy Water Footprint Blue/green Consumption

37 Water Accounting-life cycle use Agricultural Industrial EAA Case

38 Water Accounting-inconsistencies Lacking quantitative means of measurement Modeling not refined for most biomass feedstocks Wide variations Spatial By feedstock

39 Water Accounting-Sample results Results from Thomas Leyens-Former Intelligentsia intern 1kg of plant cane requires 89 L of water input 1kg of ratoon cane requires 118 L water input Must also consider Impact of runoff water (Nitrogen and Phosphorus loads) Variability of crop yields (temporal/spatial) Amount received from irrigation/rainfall

40 Co-product-Definition Product/Co-product/By-product Depending on shares of the production Significance in results Competition between different uses Bagasse Wastes and residues GHG savings

41 Co-product-Allocation method Methods and influences on results Mass or energy allocation Not available for sugarcane Market-value allocation System expansion method All product included Advocated for in ISO Link with the functional unit

42 Adapted from Wang et al. (2010) Methods of dealing with co-products of bifuels in LCA and consequent results within the U.S. context. Energy Policy. Co-product-Allocation method Sugarcane Bioethanol plant Integrated facilities Ethanol Bagasse Electricity Coal transportation Natural gas transportation Coal mining Natural gas extraction

43 LCA Types-definitions Attributional Provides information about impacts of processes Useful for consumption based accounting Used to ID ways to reduce impacts within a system Consequential Looks at consequences of changing output levels Relative changes Much less defined than attributional

44 LCA Type-misuse example Searchinger et al 20% GHG benefit Actually 47% debt Result of LCA type Boundaries

45 LCA Types-Inconsistencies No guidance set in LCA standards for which type to use Mixing types leads to useless data Outcomes can easily be manipulated Typically not identified in LCA reports Uncertainties versus Limited Scope

46 Results-Standardization/Reading Factors within the LCA influencing results Scope Methods Data External factors Authors Technology/Knowledge

47 Results-Results interpretation Recommendation Ranges Used to show variations Uncertainties assessment Sensitivity assessment To give the reader all the keys to understand

48 Conclusion Moving forward Expand on previous work Include land use considerations Further investigation into water resources More suitable function units Consider issues unique to the EAA Soil subsidence Water storage Soil ph

49 Thank You Questions?

50 Extra Slides

51 Special Local Issues

52 Soil subsidence Lowering of soil level Organic matter Oxygen availability => decomposition Risk for the EAA ½ inch per year Influence on the LCA Depletion of soil organic carbon Solutions Best Management Practices Water management

53 Soil ph Values Historical 4.5 to 5.5 Today 6.5 to 7.5 Use of sulfur Extremely large amount Solutions Cultural practices Control of water table

54 Water Resources Sustainability Requires Change Soil Subsidence Changes to water resource management required Impact on Everglades Unique situation Runoff accounting Need quantitative means of determining effects Importance of sugarcane research

55 Blue and Green Water

56 Carbon Cycle

57 Three case studies LCA results and issues Energy and greenhouse gas based LCA of biofuel and bioenergy systems: key issues, ranges and recommendations. Comparison between different feedstocks Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the biofuel process from sunflower oil, rapeseed oil and soybean oil. Biofuel contribution to GHG emissions Good or bad bioethanol from a greenhouse gas perspective What determines this? What conclusions?

58 Case 1

59 Case 2

60 Case 3 Emissions of GHG, taking into account various systems and calculation methods Börjesson (2009) Applied Energy 86(5)

61 Results-Weighting Ease of reading No conventional unit Accuracy/justification