q John Sheehan, who initiated and organized this whole effort at the start, provided detailed process modeling for the soybean crushing and biodiesel production technologies.q K. Shaine Tyson, NREL Project Manager for DOE's Biodiesel Program, provided overview and management for the work (and, more importantly, shared her insights based her experience conducting a life cycle study for ethanol).
Studies conducted since the late 1970s have estimated the net energy value (NEV) of corn ethanol. However, variations in data and assumptions used among the studies have resulted in a wide range of estimates. This study identifies the factors causing this wide variation and develops a more consistent estimate. We conclude that the NEV of corn ethanol has been rising over time due to technological advances in ethanol conversion and increased efficiency in farm production. We show that corn ethanol is energy efficient as indicated by an energy output:input ratio of 1.34.
initiated and organized this effort, and provided detailed process modeling for the soybean crushing and biodiesel production technologies. G K. Shaine Tyson, NREL project manager for DOE's Biodiesel Program, provided overview and management for the work and shared her insights based on her experience conducting a life cycle study for ethanol. From the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Energy… G Jim Duffield coordinated this study for USDA, and was the lead contributor to the soybean agriculture portion of the model. G Housein Shapouri, a coauthor of the soybean agriculture section, provided invaluable support in collecting and analyzing USDA's data on soybean farm practices.
This study conducted the updated simulations to depict a life cycle analysis (LCA) of the biodiesel production from soybeans and other feedstocks in the U.S. It addressed in details the interaction between LCA and induced land use change (ILUC) for biodiesel. Relative to the conventional petroleum diesel, soy biodiesel could achieve 76% reduction in GHG emissions without considering ILUC, or 66-72% reduction in overall GHG emissions when various ILUC cases were considered. Soy biodiesel's fossil fuel consumption rate was also 80% lower than its petroleum counterpart. Furthermore, this study examined the cause and the implication of each key parameter affecting biodiesel LCA results using a sensitivity analysis, which identified the hot spots for fossil fuel consumption and GHG emissions of biodiesel so that future efforts can be made accordingly. Finally, biodiesel produced from other feedstocks (canola oil and tallow) were also investigated to contrast with soy biodiesel and petroleum diesel.
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