Life cycle assessment of organosolv biorefinery designs with the complete use of biomass

Abstract

“Biorefinery” refers to facilities that utilize plant materials from either marine or terrestrial environment. More complete utilizations of biomass via less aggressive processes to produce higher value-added products are the area of interests to achieve economic feasibility and environmental advances. In this study, carbon and energy efficiencies of straw utilization as well as environmental performance of a formic acid pretreatment (Formiline) based biorefinery producing ethanol, furfural, and lignin were evaluated and compared with those of the conventional Dilute acid pretreatment based biorefinery. Results show that the Formiline biorefinery is superior in all aspects mentioned above except ODP (Ozone layer depletion) in life cycle assessment (LCA) results. Furthermore, the Formiline supply chain design was expanded to include processing of lignin to lignin-based phenol–formaldehyde (LPF) resin and furfural to multiple products such as butadiene, surfactants, jet fuel, and lubricants. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction potentials and economic performances of expanded supply chains were quantified. Results reveal that all the expanded designs result in positive GHG reduction potentials, delivering promising contributions to China’s 2060 carbon neutrality ambition. Among four expanded supply chain scenarios, those producing surfactants and lubricants are more economic feasible than the baseline. However, conclusions are highly influenced by product prices and discussed accordingly.