Robert M. Handler

A Review of Environmental Life Cycle Assessments of Liquid Transportation Biofuels in the Pan American Region

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) has been applied to many biofuel and bioenergy systems to determine potential environmental impacts, but the conclusions have varied. Different methodologies and processes for conducting LCA of biofuels make the results difficult to compare, in-turn making it difficult to make the best possible and informed decision. Of particular importance are the wide variability in country-specific conditions, modeling assumptions, data quality, chosen impact categories and indicators, scale of production, system boundaries, and co-product allocation. This study has a double purpose: conducting a critical evaluation comparing environmental LCA of biofuels from several conversion pathways and in several countries in the Pan American region using both qualitative and quantitative analyses, and making recommendations for harmonization with respect to biofuel LCA study features, such as study assumptions, inventory data, impact indicators, and reporting practices. The environmental management implications are discussed within the context of different national and international regulatory environments using a case study. The results from this study highlight LCA methodology choices that cause high variability in results and limit comparability among different studies, even among the same biofuel pathway, and recommendations are provided for improvement.

Opportunities and challenges in the design and analysis of biomass supply chains.

The biomass supply chain is one of the most critical elements of large-scale bioenergy production and in many cases a key barrier for procuring initial funding for new developments on specific energy crops. Most productions rely on complex transforming chains linked to feed and food markets. The term ‘supply chain’ covers various aspects from cultivation and harvesting of the biomass, to treatment, transportation, and storage. After energy conversion, the product must be delivered to final consumption, whether it is in the form of electricity, heat, or more tangible products, such as pellets and biofuels. Effective supply chains are of utmost importance for bioenergy production, as biomass tends to possess challenging seasonal production cycles and low mass, energy and bulk densities. Additionally, the demand for final products is often also dispersed, further complicating the supply chain. The goal of this paper is to introduce key components of biomass supply chains, examples of related modeling applications, and if/how they address aspects related to environmental metrics and management. The paper will introduce a concept of integrated supply systems for sustainable biomass trade and the factors influencing the bioenergy supply chain landscape, including models that can be used to investigate the factors. The paper will also cover various aspects of transportation logistics, ranging from alternative modal and multi-modal alternatives to introduction of support tools for transportation analysis. Finally gaps and challenges in supply chain research are identified and used to outline research recommendations for the future direction in this area of study.

Low-Carbon Aviation Fuel Through the Alcohol to Jet Pathway

Abstract The aviation industry is seeking economical and technically viable approaches to providing sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based jet fuel. For example, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Destination 2025 (FAA 2025) has a goal to develop cleaner jet fuels, explore new ways to meet environmental and energy goals, and foster development towards one billion gallons of renewable jet fuel for aviation use by 2018. Alternative jet fuels via Fischer–Tropsch (F–T) and hydrotreated vegetable oils (HEFA) have already been approved for use in jet fuel blends of up to 50%. Other conversion processes, such as alcohol to jet (ATJ), are in various stages of development. This chapter focuses on opportunities for production of jet fuel blend components through an ethanol intermediate via a number of processing routes. These are then compared to conversion routes through other oxygenated intermediates, such as higher alcohols (eg, butanol). Higher alcohols provide technically simple conversion chemistry routes to jet blend components, but are currently produced in small quantities (relative to fuels) for the chemical market. Ethanol on the other hand is widely produced as both a fuel and a chemical and has an established distribution infrastructure. Furthermore, renewable ethanol volumetric yields via fermentation surpass those of higher alcohols. Ethanol conversion processes can produce both paraffinic and cyclic molecules. However, the conversion pathway from ethanol through ethylene is more challenging than from higher alcohol-derived olefins. Mixed oxygenated intermediates can also belong in the ATJ category, but are not yet at the same stage of development as alcohols. The major market drivers for producing alternative jet fuel components, including ATJ, are climate change, cost stability, and national security. Biologically derived ATJ fuels can provide significant climate change benefits by reducing CO2 life cycle emissions, possibly exceeding 80%. In addition, they produce lower levels of sulphur oxides and particulate matter. Because jet fuel accounts for 40% of an airline’s operating costs, reducing price fluctuations associated with petroleum is another significant driver. Finally, dependence on foreign oil could be minimized using alternative fuels. As a result of these drivers, government agencies as well as the private sector have set aggressive targets to increase their consumption of alternative fuels. In addition to targets, the government has provided favourable policies to incentivize alternative aviation fuel use. Carbon taxes abroad and potentially in the United States will drive up prices of petroleum-based fuels, making alternative fuels more competitive. Government incentives in the form of renewable fuel credits are expected to further improve alternative fuel viability. Energy Information Agency (EIA) projections suggest there may be a significant surplus of ethanol over that required for gasoline blending, potentially filling 4% of jet fuel demand in 2020. EIA projections also suggest there is a positive price differential between ethanol intermediate and jet fuel in future scenario projections, unless oil prices drop to the Low Oil Case. Ethanol currently has a price and market share advantage over other alcohols, such as butanol. However, development of ethanol to jet technology lags butanol to jet technology. Reported production costs for raw ethanol, projected ethanol supplies over that needed for gasoline blending, and the presence of existing infrastructure all suggest that ethanol is a viable intermediate for the production of alternative jet fuel components.

The Role of Railroads in Multimodal Woody Biomass Transportation in Michigan

Minimizing transportation costs is essential in the forest products industry, as the relatively low value and high weight of the products causes transportation to account for exceptionally high portion of the overall cost. The forest products such as logs, chips, and residues (woody biomass) are one of the major business sources in Michigan especially in Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Currently, truck transportation is used for the great majority of the trips, but it is believed that a more cost-efficient transportation chain might be achieved through use of multimodal approach by trucks and rail and in some cases water transportation.This paper presents the three alternative transportation supply chain models for woody biomass transportation; 1) single mode, 2) multimodal and 3) intermediate storage. The paper uses data from three recent studies to describe the forest products transportation in the upper mid-west, including the typical distances for movements and the breakdown of cost elements for each alternative. It will discuss the potential benefits of increased use of rail as part of the transportation chain and address the perceived drawbacks and challenges caused by the shift. It will also present cost-gradient maps developed to highlight the capability of rail to expand the economical radius for obtaining feedstock and demonstrate how increasing fuel prices change the balance toward multimodal transportation. Finally, the paper will highlight the potential for gained efficiency in log truck operations through increased use of rail.Copyright

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Methane Biocatalysis: Key Considerations and Potential Impacts

Biocatalysis offers the potential to utilize stranded sources of methane to make a wide range of fuels and chemicals. Environmental impacts are one set of criteria on which any new biocatalysis project will likely be judged, and it will be important to consider the environmental impacts of proposed new technologies across the entire life cycle of the new system. Life cycle assessment is a valuable tool that has been employed to evaluate and compare environmental impacts in several new bio-based fuel and chemical production systems. The considerations important in each key unit operation involved with a general methane biocatalysis system are discussed. A case study is briefly introduced to illustrate the potential impacts of key decisions that could be made across the entire life cycle of a potential methane biocatalysis system. The case study illustrates that through a combination of careful methane gas sourcing, innovative bioreactor technology, and an integrated system designed to recover and reuse non-lipid biomass, a system could be developed to produce bio-based liquid transportation fuels with clear greenhouse gas emissions benefits, in comparison to conventional diesel fuel. Opportunities to develop biorefinery systems involving production and recovery of high-value coproducts like ectoine may also shift the distribution of environmental impacts among products in significant ways, which will require careful consideration of the technical operations and regulatory regime influencing the biorefinery system.

Toward Integrated Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Cost Analysis for Road and Multimodal Transportation Alternatives: A Case Study of the Highland Copper Project

Freight transportation of goods and commodities is a necessity and is often a significant portion of the overall investment in industrial development, especially in the natural resource industry. The economic costs of developing infrastructure have long been factored into the project costs, but environmental or social impacts have received less attention. In addition, alternative transportation modes are rarely compared from both economic and environmental perspectives. This paper performs a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for truck-only, multimodal and rail transportation options to transport ore and concentrate. In this paper, LCA is performed in SimaPro for construction/manufacturing, operations, maintenance, and end of life phases to obtain the overall Global Warming Potential (GWP) in terms of kilogram equivalents of CO2 (kg CO2eq). After emissions from alternative options have been defined, the cost of each option can be investigated through Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) This paper also discusses the past work on LCCA and its application to transportation projects. The final part provides a methodology to convert the emission results from LCA for integration with the costs from LCCA.Copyright