Straw utilization for biofuel production: a consequential assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from bioethanol and biomethane provision with a focus on the time dependency of emissions

GCB Bioenergy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd The shift from straw incorporation to biofuel production entails emissions from production, changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) and through the provision of (co-)products and entailed displacement effects. This paper analyses changes in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions arising from the shift from straw incorporation to biomethane and bioethanol production. The biomethane concept comprises comminution, anaerobic digestion and amine washing. It additionally provides an organic fertilizer. Bioethanol production comprises energetic use of lignin, steam explosion, enzymatic hydrolysis and co-fermentation. Additionally, feed is provided. A detailed consequential GHG balance with in-depth focus on the time dependency of emissions is conducted: (a) the change in the atmospheric load of emissions arising from the change in the temporal occurrence of emissions comparing two steady states (before the shift and once a new steady state has established); and (b) the annual change in overall emissions over time starting from the shift are assessed. The shift from straw incorporation to biomethane production results in net changes in GHG emissions of (a) −979 (−436 to −1,654) and (b) −955 (−220 to −1,623) kg CO2-eq. per tdry matter straw converted to biomethane (minimum and maximum). The shift to bioethanol production results in net changes of (a) −409 (−107 to −610) and (b) −361 (57 to −603) kg CO2-eq. per tdry matter straw converted to bioethanol. If the atmospheric load of emissions arising from different timing of emissions is neglected in case (a), the change in GHG emissions differs by up to 54%. Case (b) reveals carbon payback times of 0 (0–49) and 19 (1–100) years in case of biomethane and bioethanol production, respectively. These results demonstrate that the detailed inclusion of temporal aspects into GHG balances is required to get a comprehensive understanding of changes in GHG emissions induced by the introduction of advanced biofuels from agricultural residues.

Subjects

2G biofuels

advanced biofuels

bioethanol

biomethane

consequential LCA

GHG emissions

lignocellulosic biofuels

second-generation biofuels

time dependency of emissions

wheat straw

DDC Class

500: Naturwissenschaften

570: Biowissenschaften, Biologie

600: Technik

Funding(s)

Publikationsfonds 2020

More Funding Information

The study and its publication was supported by Verbio AG Zörbig, and Projekt DEAL Wiley 2019-21 Hamburg University of Technology.

Publication version

publishedVersion

Lizenz

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Name

gcbb.12734.pdf

Size

1.13 MB

Format

Adobe PDF

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Straw utilization for biofuel production: a consequential assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from bioethanol and biomethane provision with a focus on the time dependency of emissions