Comparative LCA studies of biodiesel produced from used cooking oil using conventional and novel room temperature processes

Abstract

The present work demonstrated the biodiesel production from Used Cooking Oil via two approaches, viz. conventional and room temperature transesterification. Further, comparative life cycle assessment studies were carried out for both processes in terms of midpoint and endpoint categories using SimaPro software. The functional unit was taken as 1 ton of biodiesel production. Room temperature (RT) biodiesel produced around 425 kg CO2 eq, whereas the conventional biodiesel contributed around 2214 kg CO2 eq to GHG emission. Monte Carlo analysis was also carried out to quantify the uncertainty in each process, and less uncertainty was registered for 12 impact categories. Further, the scenario analysis was also carried out where solvent emissions were removed from the overall emissions, and resultant emissions were 13% less than the total emissions. The overall impact assessment result for room temperature transesterification favoured over conventional process across all the midpoint and endpoint categories.