Life Cycle Assessment for Joint Production of Biodiesel and Bioethanol from African Palm

Abstract

In this paper LCA is applied to a biodiesel production process from African palm using lignocellulosic ethanol as a reagent in the transesterification reaction which is obtained from residues with high contents of cellulose resulting from the oil extraction stage. The LCA was evaluated through the biodiesel production chain starting with the land adaption stage, oil extraction, ethanol production from residual lignocellulosic biomass, transesterification of palm oil and ending with the distribution and use of the biofuel. This study was developed for Sabana de Torres (Santander Colombia) region. The biodiesel plant was simulated by Aspen Hysys 2006.5; besides a parallel process was simulated to produce bioethanol from residual palm biomass. The last process is carried out in four steps: pretreatment of biomass, hydrolysis, fermentation and alcohol separation. The LCA was developed using SIMAPRO 7.1 software and database ECOINVENT with which the environmental profile of the system was elaborated evaluating different impact categories such as climate change (CCI), acidification (AI), eutrophication (EI), photochemical smog formation (POI), respiratory effects (REI) and non-renewable energy (NRE), among others. According to the environmental profiles obtained, the stage of distribution and use of the B10 blend (10% biodiesel) has the greatest influence in the output impact categories and the input impact category. The methodology was applied following the procedures established in the ISO 14040 and 14044 standards of 2006. This study was supported by the State Department of Science, Technology & Innovation (COLCIENCIAS), Projects CT 475-2007 and CT 272-2008. and the Ibero-American Program on Science and Technology for Development (CYTED) project 306RTO279 “New technologies for biofuels production” UNESCO codes 330303, 332205, 530603, 330999.