Comparison of LCA and external-cost analysis for biodiesel and diesel

This paper compares the environmental impacts over the entire life cycle from biodiesel from rapeseed and conventional diesel. The emissions over the full life cycle are weighted using both a traditional LCA (life cycle assessment) approach and an external costs analysis. The emission data refer to the demonstration project at VITO on the use of rapeseed methyl ester (RME) or biodiesel as automotive fuel. The comparison illustrates that both methods to assess and evaluate impacts differ a lot but that results are complementary. The LCA analysis shows that the benefits in terms of greenhouse gas emissions are being compensated by higher other environmental impacts, especially for eutrophication. The external costs analysis, based on the ExternE approach, estimates the damages to public health, materials, agriculture and global warming but cannot monetise the ecological impacts. This analysis shows that external costs of biodiesel and fossil diesel are in the same range, and are dominated by the impacts of the use phase.