A life cycle assessment comparison between centralized and decentralized biodiesel production from raw sunflower oil and waste cooking oils.

Abstract In this study, a comparative Life Cycle Assessment has been performed with the aim of finding out how the environmental impact derived from biodiesel production (using raw sunflower oil or waste cooking oils) could be affected by the degree of decentralization of the production (number of production plants in a given territory). The decentralized production of biodiesel has been proposed for several reasons, such as the possibility of small scale production, the fact that there is no need to use high technology or make large investments, and because small plants do not need highly specialized technical staff. Thus, hypothetical territories (considering scenarios in which the production and area were theoretically modified), as well as real territories, have been analyzed to determine which environmental indicators were most affected. Results showed that the optimum degree of centralization was different for each analyzed case. In general, in small territories centralized production was more suitable for the environment, decentralization being more advisable as the territory increased in area. For each of the cases analyzed, an optimum number of plants, which minimized the environmental impacts, was found. This work illustrates the importance of considering the number of industrial plants in the production design, not only from an economic aspect but also from an environmental point of view.

[1]  Andrew C. Matheaus,et al.  Cetane numbers of branched and straight-chain fatty esters determined in an ignition quality tester , 2003 .

[2]  Michael Narodoslawsky,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment as an engineer's tool? , 2008 .

[3]  E. Benetto,et al.  Life cycle assessment of ecological sanitation system for small-scale wastewater treatment. , 2009, The Science of the total environment.

[4]  A. Kondo,et al.  Biodiesel fuel production by transesterification of oils. , 2001, Journal of bioscience and bioengineering.

[5]  M. Curran,et al.  A review of assessments conducted on bio-ethanol as a transportation fuel from a net energy, greenhouse gas, and environmental life cycle perspective , 2007 .

[6]  M. P. Dorado,et al.  EXHAUST EMISSIONS FROM A DIESEL ENGINE FUELED WITH TRANSESTERIFIED WASTE OLIVE OIL , 2003 .

[7]  John Sheehan,et al.  Life Cycle Inventory of Biodiesel and Petroleum Diesel for Use in an Urban Bus , 1998 .

[8]  Michael Zwicky Hauschild,et al.  Comparison of Three Different LCIA Methods: EDIP97, CML2001 and Eco-indicator 99 , 2003 .

[9]  M. Dubé,et al.  Biodiesel production from waste cooking oil: 2. Economic assessment and sensitivity analysis. , 2003, Bioresource technology.

[10]  Shabbir H. Gheewala.  LCA of waste management systems—research opportunities , 2009 .

[11]  Harro von Blottnitz,et al.  2nd Generation biofuels a sure bet? A life cycle assessment of how things could go wrong , 2011 .

[12]  M. G. Kulkarni,et al.  WASTE COOKING OIL – AN ECONOMICAL SOURCE FOR BIODIESEL: A REVIEW , 2006 .

[13]  Jesús Martín-Gil,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the biofuel production process from sunflower oil, rapeseed oil and soybean oil , 2011 .

[14]  W. Fernando,et al.  Technologies for production of biodiesel focusing on green catalytic techniques: A review , 2009 .

[15]  E. Kondili,et al.  Small-scale biodiesel production economics: a case study focus on Crete Island. , 2012 .

[16]  G. Norris,et al.  TRACI the tool for the reduction and assessment of chemical and other environmental impacts , 2002 .

[17]  B. Dale,et al.  Life cycle assessment of various cropping systems utilized for producing biofuels: Bioethanol and biodiesel , 2005 .

[18]  Sven Bernesson,et al.  A limited LCA comparing large- and small-scale production of rape methyl ester (RME) under Swedish conditions , 2004 .

[19]  H. von Blottnitz,et al.  A life-cycle comparison between inorganic and biological catalysis for the production of biodiesel , 2008 .

[20]  V. Dovi',et al.  Cleaner energy for sustainable future , 2009 .

[21]  J. W. Ponton,et al.  Biofuels: Thermodynamic sense and nonsense , 2009 .

[22]  Ram Prasad,et al.  TRIGLYCERIDES-BASED DIESEL FUELS , 2000 .

[23]  Pål Börjesson,et al.  Agricultural crop-based biofuels – resource efficiency and environmental performance including direct land use changes , 2011 .

[24]  Rainer Zah,et al.  Global environmental consequences of increased biodiesel consumption in Switzerland: consequential life cycle assessment , 2009 .

[25]  Michael Narodoslawsky,et al.  Ecology of scale versus economy of scale for bioethanol production. , 2007 .

[26]  Paul Upham,et al.  Substitutable biodiesel feedstocks for the UK: a review of sustainability issues with reference to the UK RTFO , 2009 .

[27]  J. H. Van Gerpen,et al.  A pilot plant to produce biodiesel from high free fatty acid feedstocks. , 2003 .

[28]  R. Howard-Hildige,et al.  The effect of steam treating waste cooking oil on the yield of methyl ester , 2002 .