Choosing co-substrates to supplement biogas production from animal slurry – A life cycle assessment of the environmental consequences

Vega, Giovanna Croxatto; Hoeve, Marieke ten; Birkved, Morten; Sommer, Sven G.; Bruun, Sander

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2014.08.099

Cited by 37 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…As shown in the sensitivity analyses, biogas-only scenarios are preferred only in extreme cases where polymer replacement ratio or consumption of energy during PHA production are set to extreme values, i.e., very low RR and very high process energy consumption for PHA. Another area of uncertainty is N 2 O emissions after digestate application, which have also been shown to be highly uncertain in several LCAs [42][43][44]. N 2 O emissions were shown to have the potential to induce impacts for all scenarios, though the ranking of PHA-biogas in relation to biogas-only was not affected.…”

Section: Or-evenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maximizing Environmental Impact Savings Potential Through Innovative Biorefinery Alternatives: An Application of the TM-LCA Framework for Regional Scale Impact Assessment

et al. 2019

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In order to compare the maximum potential environmental impact savings that may result from the implementation of innovative biorefinery alternatives at a regional scale, the Territorial Metabolism-Life Cycle Assessment (TM-LCA) framework is implemented. With the goal of examining environmental impacts arising from technology-to-region (territory) compatibility, the framework is applied to two biorefinery alternatives, treating a mixture of cow manure and grape marc. The biorefineries produce either biogas alone or biogas and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), a naturally occurring polymer. The production of PHA substitutes either polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or biosourced polylactide (PLA) production. The assessment is performed for two regions, one in Southern France and the other in Oregon, USA. Changing energy systems are taken into account via multiple dynamic energy provision scenarios. Territorial scale impacts are quantified using both LCA midpoint impact categories and single score indicators derived through multi-criteria decision assessment (MCDA). It is determined that in all probable future scenarios, a biorefinery with PHA-biogas co-production is preferable to a biorefinery only producing biogas. The TM-LCA framework facilitates the capture of technology and regionally specific impacts, such as impacts caused by local energy provision and potential impacts due to limitations in the availability of the defined feedstock leading to additional transport.Sustainability 2019, 11, 3836 2 of 22 transition into a sustainable bioeconomy, as they allow for prospective studies. LCA of production systems/technologies, such as various agricultural productions, e.g., wine, cereal, and meat, can benefit from applying some of the new developments, since the large inputs and outputs to these systems, most likely, will have great environmental implications when changes to the production are implemented.By applying the TM-LCA framework, as used in this study, it is possible to assess said systems in the specific context of the region, i.e., taking into consideration the region's infrastructure, feedstock availability and accessibility, and the technical feasibility of technology implementation. Assessing large systems, as mentioned above, can be approached by defining the geographical boundaries in terms of a "producer territory" [4] so that the LCA can be applied for assessment of a delimited "territory", e.g., wine-producing areas, within a broadly defined region, e.g., Southern France. The producer territory is thus defined as the area of interaction between the aggregated producers and other systems within the region. The TM-LCA framework reduces data demand by aggregating individual areas of the production of, for example, a specific product, supply chain or waste treatment technology, while ignoring unchanging background systems, i.e., only changes to the region interacting with the producer territory are assessed. At the same time, representativeness is increased by merging local inventory data from individual pr...

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Section: Or-evenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maximizing Environmental Impact Savings Potential Through Innovative Biorefinery Alternatives: An Application of the TM-LCA Framework for Regional Scale Impact Assessment

et al. 2019

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“…The development of the bioeconomy is critical in attaining several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 ( United Nations, 2015 ), including SDG7 (renewable energy), SDG8 (good jobs and economic growth) and SDG13 (climate action), as well as achieving 20% energy production in Europe from renewable sources by 2020 ( Vega et al, 2014 ). In this context harvesting valuable bioproducts from various waste streams becomes a necessary element for the growth of a sustainable bioeconomy worldwide ( Werner et al, 2011 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, there has been a considerable increase in energy crops usage in the biogas industry ( Vega et al, 2014 ) with corn representing one of the favorite feedstocks. However, using such crops for energy production is directly competing with other industries ( Ranum et al, 2014 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking Microbial Community Structure and Function During the Acidified Anaerobic Digestion of Grass

et al. 2018

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Harvesting valuable bioproducts from various renewable feedstocks is necessary for the critical development of a sustainable bioeconomy. Anaerobic digestion is a well-established technology for the conversion of wastewater and solid feedstocks to energy with the additional potential for production of process intermediates of high market values (e.g., carboxylates). In recent years, first-generation biofuels typically derived from food crops have been widely utilized as a renewable source of energy. The environmental and socioeconomic limitations of such strategy, however, have led to the development of second-generation biofuels utilizing, amongst other feedstocks, lignocellulosic biomass. In this context, the anaerobic digestion of perennial grass holds great promise for the conversion of sustainable renewable feedstock to energy and other process intermediates. The advancement of this technology however, and its implementation for industrial applications, relies on a greater understanding of the microbiome underpinning the process. To this end, microbial communities recovered from replicated anaerobic bioreactors digesting grass were analyzed. The bioreactors leachates were not buffered and acidic pH (between 5.5 and 6.3) prevailed at the time of sampling as a result of microbial activities. Community composition and transcriptionally active taxa were examined using 16S rRNA sequencing and microbial functions were investigated using metaproteomics. Bioreactor fraction, i.e., grass or leachate, was found to be the main discriminator of community analysis across the three molecular level of investigation (DNA, RNA, and proteins). Six taxa, namely Bacteroidia, Betaproteobacteria, Clostridia, Gammaproteobacteria, Methanomicrobia, and Negativicutes accounted for the large majority of the three datasets. The initial stages of grass hydrolysis were carried out by Bacteroidia, Gammaproteobacteria, and Negativicutes in the grass biofilms, in addition to Clostridia in the bioreactor leachates. Numerous glycolytic enzymes and carbohydrate transporters were detected throughout the bioreactors in addition to proteins involved in butanol and lactate production. Finally, evidence of the prevalence of stressful conditions within the bioreactors and particularly impacting Clostridia was observed in the metaproteomes. Taken together, this study highlights the functional importance of Clostridia during the anaerobic digestion of grass and thus research avenues allowing members of this taxon to thrive should be explored.

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“…During livestock breeding, especially in the case of intensive livestock production, huge amounts of manures are created. Contrary to Western Europe biogas plant where slurry in an agricultural installations is very often the basic substrate of the fermentation mixture [Vega et al, 2014]. Animal excrements are the source of the bacteria necessary for the anaerobic digestion process and is used as an inoculum source in the fermentation chamber.…”

Section: Substrates Used In Biogas Installations Agricultural Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Trends in Substrates and Biogas Systems in Poland

Marks¹,

Dach²,

Fernández-Morales³

et al. 2020

J. Ecol. Eng.

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The amendment to the Polish Renewable Energy Act creates great opportunities for the development of the biogas market in Poland. Years of experience in biogas production in Western Europe and the development of biogas installations in Poland indicate the requirement to look for alternative substrates to those produced from dedicated crop production (mainly maize silage). Feasible solutions include the use of biodegradable waste from agriculture or industry as well as municipal landfill sites. The usage of these substrates in the methane fermentation process offers low cost, high biogas production and the safe management of biowaste. The arguments for using them in biogas installations are persuasive. This article presents new approaches of biogas plant installation solutions which allows for the effective fermentation of biowaste from animal and vegetable production, from the agro-food industry and from municipal waste.

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Choosing co-substrates to supplement biogas production from animal slurry – A life cycle assessment of the environmental consequences

Cited by 37 publications

References 22 publications

Maximizing Environmental Impact Savings Potential Through Innovative Biorefinery Alternatives: An Application of the TM-LCA Framework for Regional Scale Impact Assessment

Maximizing Environmental Impact Savings Potential Through Innovative Biorefinery Alternatives: An Application of the TM-LCA Framework for Regional Scale Impact Assessment

Linking Microbial Community Structure and Function During the Acidified Anaerobic Digestion of Grass

New Trends in Substrates and Biogas Systems in Poland

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