Abstract
Azadiractha Indica (Neem) is one of the promising tree species suitable for providing oil for biodiesel production. This paper addresses the life cycle assessment (LCA) with respect to, global warming potential, acidification potential and energy balance of a small scale biodiesel system using Neem oil as feedstock, in rural Karnataka (a southern state in India). The environmental impacts have been bench marked with the life cycle impacts of fossil diesel system and Jatropha. Global warming potential of Neem biodiesel life cycle (338 gCO2-eq Functional Unit -1* ) was found be 1.2 times higher than fossil diesel system (280 gCO2-eq Functional Unit -1 ) and 2.7 times higher than Jatropha biodiesel system(123.7 gCO2-eq Functional Unit-1). Acidification potential of Neem system was found to be negligible. It is observed that one hectare of Neem plantation is capable of sequestering the 1.35t of biogenic CO2 released during the Neem biodiesel life cycle, with additional sequestration potential of 8.65 t CO2 ha -1 . Net energy ratio of Neem biodiesel life cycle (22.06) has been found to be 26 times higher than fossil Diesel system and twelve times higher than Jatropha system (1.85). This life cycle study revealed that producing biodiesel from Neem oil is ecologically sustainable.
Highlights
Neem is an evergreen and deciduous tree with straight trunk and long spreading branches forming a broad round crown, growing to height of 12 to 18m
Global Warming Potential (GWP) The Neem biodiesel system showed a total emission of 338.2 g CO2-eq Functional Unit -1 of which 293 g CO2 was found to be biogenic
Table 2), which was found to be on par with CO2 emission of fossil fuel (280 g CO2-eq Functional Unit -1) and 1.8 times higher than Jatropha (159.3 g CO2-eq Functional Unit -1) [25]
Summary
Neem is an evergreen and deciduous tree with straight trunk and long spreading branches forming a broad round crown, growing to height of 12 to 18m. Neem is one of the most valuable trees in India The mean annual girth increment is 2.3 to 3cm It is one of the promising tree species suitable for providing oil for biodiesel production, which conforms to international standards. Neem cake is the by-product of the Neem oil industry Life cycle assessment (LCA) method has been found to be suitable for evaluating the environmental impact of biodiesel produced from vegetable oils [21]. An exclusive LCA of a small-scale biodiesel production system using Neem oil in rural Karnataka has been presented. The LCA compares the performance of the Neem system with fossil fuel, and Jatropha biodiesel
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