Environmental Implications of BioJet LCA approach Indroneil Ganguly
Environmental Implications of Bio-Jet: LCA approach Indroneil Ganguly Asst. Professor (Research) University of Washington, Seattle Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance
Presentation Overview • Background – Being Green – What is LCA – Importance of LCA in the project • Results of Bio-Jet LCA – Some scenarios on the feedstock aspect – Overall LCA of Bio-jet Fuel • Comparing Bio-jet of Fossil based Jet-fuel
What does it mean to be Green? ? How do we measure it? ? What is Sustainability? ?
Sustainability United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Sustainable Development definition: “… development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. ” • • • Biodegradable Recyclable Ozone friendly Eco-design Greenwashing
We all know that being Green is Trendy. . . What is the science of being green? • • Industry is looking for ways to green their products and manufacturing processes. Individuals and Families are looking to green their homes and lifestyles. • • How can you tell if something really is green? ? What is currently happening to achieve this goal?
Definition: “Compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle” This establishes an environmental profile of the system! ISO = International Organization for Standardization Ensures that an LCA is completed in a certain way. WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH LCA? 1. Product or project development and improvement 2. Strategic planning 3. Public policy making 4. Marketing and ecodeclarations
Life Cycle Assessment of Bio- Jet Fuel O 2 CO 22 Air Emissions SUN Soil Carbon Management & Harvest Extraction Production Water & Land Removals and Emissions * municipal solid wastes (MSW), lawn wastes, wastewater treatment sludge, urban wood wastes, disaster debris, trap grease, yellow grease, waste cooking oil, etc. Urban and suburban wastes* 7
Life Cycle Assessment of Bio- Jet Fuel O 2 CO 22 Air Emissions SUN Soil Carbon Management & Harvest Extraction Production Water & Land Removals and Emissions
Life Cycle Assessment of Bio- Jet Fuel System Boundary O 2 CO 22 Air Emissions SUN Soil Carbon Management & Harvest Extraction Production Water & Land Removals and Emissions
Life Cycle Assessment of Bio- Jet Fuel System Boundary O 2 CO 22 Air Emissions SUN Soil Carbon Management & Harvest Extraction Production Water & Land Removals and Emissions 10
Life Cycle Assessment of Bio- Jet Fuel System Boundary O 2 CO 22 Air Emissions SUN Soil Carbon Management & Harvest Extraction Production Water & Land Removals and Emissions 11
US Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 • Bio-Fuels necessary to move the United States toward greater energy independence and security • LCA is required for public procurement Suggested Greenhouse Gas Reduction Criterion Subtitle A—Renewable Fuel Standard • ‘‘(E) CELLULOSIC BIOFUEL –to be considered acceptable has to be “at least 60 percent less than the baseline lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions”. H. R. 6: (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate), PROCUREMENT AND ACQUISITION OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS. (Source: http: //www. gpo. gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-110 hr 6 enr/pdf/BILLS-110 hr 6 enr. pdf) 12
Relevant Characteristics of Forest Biomass Ø Difficulty handling and economic viability issues Ø Low bulk density Ø Varying sizes and shapes of woody biomass Ø Inconsistent mix of multiple species Ø Various handling complications in cases of Ø Salvage of mountain pine beetle killed trees Ø Stage of beetle attack at the time of harvest is critical Ø Post fire salvage operations (can we use it for Bio-fuel? )
Biomass Handling Methods: in woods Grinding: Chipping: Bundling: Source : Han-Sup Han et al. 2012
Biomass recovery and production systems Slash recovery operation Ø Ø Ø Dump truck slash shuttle & centralized grinding Roll-off/Hook-lift truck slash shuttle & centralized grinding Bundling slash & Centralized grinding Grinding on site & Hog fuel shuttle Pile-to-pile on site grinding Whole tree chipping Ø Medium Chipper – Small/large trees Ø Large Chipper – Small/large trees Integrated harvesting Ø Chipping (whole tree) & Grinding (slash) Ø Grinding only (slash & whole tree) Source: Han-Sup Han et al. 2012
Example: System Boundary for LCA of Forest Thinning
Equivalency factors used (equivalent mass/mass emitted) Impacts Considered CH 4 CO CO 2 Contribution to Climate Change (CO 2 equivalents) 21 0 1 310 0 Contribution to Acidification (H+ equivalents) 0 0 0 Contribution to photochemical smog (NOx equivalents) N 2 O NMVOC NOx PM SOx 0 0 40 0 50. 8 0. 78 1 0 0 17 0. 0030 0. 013 0
Impact category Media Ozone depletion Air Global climate Air Acidification Air Eutrophication Air, water Smog formation Air Human health criteria Air Human health cancer Human health noncancer Urban air, nonurban air, freshwater, seawater, natural soil, agricultural soil Ecotoxicity Urban Source: TRACI 2. 0 18
Overview of Bio-Jet fuel LCA Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance
Overall Scope for LCA of woody biomass to bio-jet fuel
Scenarios developed for recovery of landing residue Benchmark scenario: 1. Harvest standing forest using a Feller-buncher 2. Take harvest to primary landing using a track-skidder 3. Shuttle Loose Residue from Primary Landing to secondary using a dump truck (30 CY capacity) 4. Chip at the secondary landing and haul to biomass processing facility using a chip van (140 CY capacity) 5. Transportation Scenario: Avg. miles/hr One way haul miles Spur Road 1 ½ lane Gravel Highway Interstate Total 6 20 29 55 62 2. 5 5 10 20 37. 5 75 Developed by: CORRIM 1 st Alternate Scenario: 1. A larger Roll-off container (50 CY capacity) can access the primary landing for shuttling the loose residue to secondary landing for chipping. 2. Everything else remains constant
Global Warming Potential 120. 0 100. 0 Front Loader 80. 0 Kilogram of CO 2 equivalebnt Chipper/Loader 60. 0 49. 2 40. 0 Residuals from forest harvest Shuttle from harvest to landing using dump truck 29. 6 Transport Chips to Facility 20. 0 Harvest site to landing in roll off container Harvest site to landing in dump truck
Alternate distance scenarios Second series of scenarios (Total distance stays constant; spur road distance increases): • Spur Road (miles) 1 ½ lane (miles) Gravel (miles) Highway (miles) Interstate (miles) Total (miles) Alternate Scenario 2 3. 5 5 10 20 36. 5 75 Alternate Scenario 3 5 5 10 20 35 75 All other factors same as baseline case Third series of scenarios: (Interstate road distance increases) Spur Road (miles) 1 ½ lane (miles) Gravel (miles) Highway (miles) Interstate (miles) Total (miles) Alternate Scenario 4 2. 5 5 10 20 62. 5 100 Alternate Scenario 5 2. 5 5 10 20 82. 5 120 • All other factors same as baseline case
Alternate distance scenarios (baseline, 2 and 3) 160 75 miles from Harvest site to Biomass Processing Facility 140 120 Global warming kg CO 2 eq, 137. 6 119. 7 Acidification mol H+ eq, 107. 5 107. 8 100 93. 6 80 84. 3 Smog kg O 3 eq, 60. 4 60 52. 6 47. 4 40 20 2. 5 miles spur road 3. 5 miles spur road
Alternate distance scenarios (baseline, 4 and 5) 160 2. 5 miles Spur Road Distance frim Harvest Site to Landing Different Highway Distances from Landing to Biomass Processing Facility 140 120 114. 0 Global warming kg CO 2 eq , 118. 8 107. 8 Acidification mol H+ eq , 92. 9 100 89. 1 84. 3 80 60 47. 4 50. 1 Smog kg O 3 eq, 52. 2 40 20 75 miles 100 miles 120 miles
Consequential LCA Environmental Impacts of Residual Extraction and Avoided Impacts of Slash Pile Burning System Impact Avoided Impact Total Impact Global Warming kg CO 2 eq 65. 71 -65. 7 0. 006 Smog kg O 3 eq 28. 8 -89. 5 -60. 7 Acidification Air mol H+ eq 52 -176 -124 Ozone Depletion kg CFC-11 eq 2. 71 E-09 -3. 26 E-10 2. 38 E-09 Respiratory Effects kg PM 10 eq 0 -11. 1
Complete Forest to IPK Process: Environmental Performance of 1 kg of IPK Preliminary findings – do not publish or cite Impact Category Global warming potential (GWP) Acidification Potential Eutrophication Potential Ozone depletion Potential Smog Potential Respiratory Effects Unit Total Contribution from Feedstock process Contribution from Pretreatment and GEVO process kg CO 2 eq. 1. 304708 4. 38848 E-05 1. 304664 H+ moles eq. -0. 83518 -0. 85198225 0. 016798 kg N eq. 0. 004714 -0. 000699414 0. 005413 6 E-08 1. 63197 E-11 6. 00 E-08 kg O 3 eq. -0. 27772 -0. 4162199 0. 138496 kg PM 10 eq. -0. 07464 -0. 075427 0. 00079 kg CFC-11 eq.
Fossil Jet Fuel Crude Oil Extraction Emissions: CO 2, PM, Nox, Sox, H 20 Emissions to Air, Water and Land Crude Oil Transportation Refinery: Jet Fuel Production Aviation Productivity Jet Fuel Combustion Jet Fuel Transportation Co-Products Bio Jet Fuel CO 2, PM, Nox, Sox, H 20 CO 2 Greenhouse & Land Prep. Forest Stand Soil Carbon Harvest Operations Prep. & Transport Biomass Co-Products Emissions to Air, Water and Land Pre-treatment and Bio-jet conversion Bio-Jet Fuel Transportation Co-Products Bio-Jet Fuel Combustion
Aircraft transportation: One person for 1 km on an intercontinental flight Preliminary findings – do not publish or cite Impact Category Unit Ozone depletion Transport, aircraft, passenger, intercontinental Bio-Jet Fuel (IPK) Fossil Fuel (Kerosene) kg CFC-11 eq 1. 69 E-06 1. 42 E-05 Global warming kg CO 2 eq 32. 32 84. 22 Fossil fuel depletion MJ surplus 65. 17 165. 79 120% Bio-Jet Fuel (IPK) Fossil Fuel (Kerosene) 100% 80% 62% Reduction 60% 40% 20% 0% Ozone depletion Global warming Fossil fuel depletion
Conclusion • We were able to get such favorable results primarily for the following reasons: – A minimal amount of fossil fuel is used during the conversion process, because waste biomass (in the form of lignin), can be substituted for coal and/or natural gas to provide the heat and power needed for the IPK process. – The avoided environmental burdens associated with not having to burn the slash piles in the forest reduced the overall environmental footprint of the process. • We can improve the overall carbon footprint associated with bio-jet fuel through innovations in efficient feedstock handling.
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