The “Zero Miles Product” Concept Applied to Biofuel Production: A Case Study

Nikolaj Kaae Kirk,Jakob Ellegaard Juhl,José Luis Martínez,Clara Navarrete,Alessandra Procentese

doi:10.3390/en14030565

Abstract

To make biofuel production feasible from an economic point of view, several studies have investigated the main associated bottlenecks of the whole production process through approaches such as the “cradle to grave” approach or the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis, being the main constrains the feedstock collection and transport. Whilst several feedstocks are interesting because of their high sugar content, very few of them are available all year around and moreover do not require high transportation’ costs. This work aims to investigate if the “zero miles” concept could bring advantages to biofuel production by decreasing all the associated transport costs on a locally established production platform. In particular, a specific case study applied to the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) campus is used as example to investigate the advantages and feasibility of using the spent coffee grounds generated at the main cafeteria for the production of bioethanol on site, which can be subsequently used to (partially) cover the campus’ energy demands.

Highlights

Academic Editor: Alberto CozAs defined by the European Union, “Biofuels are liquid or gaseous transport fuels such as biodiesel and bioethanol which are made from biomass” [1].Bioethanol is the most common biofuel obtained by a fermentation process and can be run by using a variety of carbon sources
Since the feedstock is essentially “free”, all costs related to transport come from paying local waste management contractors, which in turn saves money for those that provide the feedstock by reducing their waste streams
As reported in the literature, one of the main bottlenecks in the biofuel production is the selection of a feedstock which simultaneously responds to the following needs: high availability all year around, low transport cost, and low Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions associated with its transport

Summary

Introduction

As defined by the European Union, “Biofuels are liquid or gaseous transport fuels such as biodiesel and bioethanol which are made from biomass” [1]. Bioethanol is the most common biofuel obtained by a fermentation process and can be run by using a variety of carbon sources. Based on the starting feedstock, biofuels are classified in three categories [2]: Received: 8 December 2020. Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Discussion

Conclusion