Shiv Prasad

Key issues in life cycle assessment of ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass: challenges and perspectives.

Progressive depletion of conventional fossil fuels with increasing energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have led to a move towards renewable and sustainable energy sources. Lignocellulosic biomass is available in massive quantities and provides enormous potential for bioethanol production. However, to ascertain optimal biofuel strategies, it is necessary to take into account environmental impacts from cradle to grave. Life cycle assessment (LCA) techniques allow detailed analysis of material and energy fluxes on regional and global scales. This includes indirect inputs to the production process and associated wastes and emissions, and the downstream fate of products in the future. At the same time if not used properly, LCA can lead to incorrect and inappropriate actions on the part of industry and/or policy makers. This paper aims to list key issues for quantifying the use of resources and releases to the environment associated with the entire life cycle of lignocellulosic bioethanol production.

Emission of nitrous oxide from rice-wheat systems of Indo-Gangetic plains of India.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) accounts for 5%of the total enhanced greenhouse effect and responsiblefor the destruction of the stratospheric ozone. The rice-wheat cropping system occupying 26 million ha ofproductive land in Asia could be a major source ofN2O as most of the fertilizer N in this region isconsumed by this system. Emission of N2O asinfluenced by application of urea, urea plus farm yardmanure (FYM), and urea plus dicyandiamide (DCD), anitrification inhibitor, was studied in rice-wheatsystems of Indo-Gangetic plains of India. Total emissionof N2O-N from the rice-wheat systems varied between654 g ha-1 in unfertilized plots and 1570 g ha-1 in urea fertilized plots. Application of FYM and DCDreduced emission of N2O-N in rice. The magnitude ofreduction was higher with DCD. In wheat also N2O-Nemission was reduced by DCD. FYM applied in rice had noresidual effect on N2O-N emission in wheat. In riceintermittent wetting and drying condition of soilresulted in higher N2O-N emission than that ofsaturated soil condition. Treatments with 5 irrigationsgave higher emissions in wheat than those with 3irrigations. In rice-wheat system, typical of a farmersfield in Indo-Gangetic plains, where 240 kg N isgenerally applied through urea, N2O-N emission is1570 g ha-1 (0.38% of applied N) and application ofFYM and DCD reduced it to 1415 and 1096 g ha-1,respectively.