Fossil energy savings and GHG mitigation potentials of ethanol as a gasoline substitute in Thailand

Nguyen, Thu Lan T.; Gheewala, Shabbir H.; Garivait, Savitri

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2007.04.038

Cited by 49 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The values for CG serve as references and are hence set at 1. The 'gasoline-equivalent unit of ethanol' was derived based on fuel economy of E10 and gasoline cars in Thailand (Nguyen et al 2007). The figure shows clearly that molasses ethanol under base case (MoE-a) has inferior energy and environmental performance to gasoline.…”

Section: Breakdown Of Results: Comparison Between Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment of fuel ethanol from cane molasses in Thailand

Nguyen

Gheewala

2008

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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104

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Background, aim and scope After China and India, Thailand is considered another emerging market for fuel ethanol in Asia. At present, ethanol in the country is mainly a fermentation/distillery product of cane molasses, although cassava and cane juice are considered other potential raw materials for the fuel. This study aims to evaluate the environmental impacts of substituting conventional gasoline (CG) with molasses-based gasohol in Thailand. Materials and methodsThe life cycle assessment (LCA) procedure carried out follows three interrelated phases: inventory analysis, characterization and interpretation. The functional unit for the comparison is 1 l gasoline equivalent consumed by a new passenger car to travel a specific distance. ResultsThe results of the study show that molasses-based ethanol (MoE) in the form of 10% blend with gasoline (E10), along its whole life cycle, consumes less fossil energy (5.3%), less petroleum (8.1%) and provides a similar impact on acidification compared to CG. The fuel, however, has inferior performance in other categories (e.g. global warming potential, nutrient enrichment and photochemical ozone creation potential) indicated by increased impacts over CG. Discussion In most cases, higher impacts from the upstream of molasses-based ethanol tend to govern its net life cycle impacts relative to CG. This makes the fuel blend less environmentally friendly than CG for the specific conditions considered. However, as discussed later, this situation can be improved by appropriate changes in energy carriers.Conclusions The LCA procedure helps identify the key areas in the MoE production cycle where changes are required to improve environmental performance. Specifically, they are: (1) use of coal as energy source for ethanol conversion, (2) discharge of distillery spent wash into an anaerobic pond, and (3) open burning of cane trash in sugar cane production. Recommendations and perspectives Measures to improve the overall life cycle energy and environmental impacts of MoE are: (1) substituting biomass for fossil fuels in ethanol conversion, (2) capturing CH 4 from distillery spent wash and using it as an energy supply, and (3) utilizing cane trash for energy instead of open burning in fields.

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Section: Breakdown Of Results: Comparison Between Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment of fuel ethanol from cane molasses in Thailand

Nguyen

Gheewala

2008

Int J Life Cycle Assess

Self Cite

104

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“…5 [23,25,34]. A case of assessing life cycle GHG emissions without considering LUC impact (base case) can lead to under-estimation of GHG emissions of cassava ethanol.…”

Section: Land Occupation and Ghg Emissionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, after the consequential scenarios (scenarios 1-6 as mentioned before) are included in the analysis as in CE_S-1 to CE_S-6, the results show that LUC is an important factor contributing to GHG emissions of cassava ethanol. From the study of Nguyen et al [34], the gasoline fuel-cycle GHG emissions (excluding CH 4 and N 2 O emissions from use phase) were about 2918 g CO 2 -eq/l and the substitution ratio between ethanol (in E10 form) and gasoline in a motor vehicle engine is 1:0.89. The comparison results between gasoline and cassava ethanol after combining the LUC impacts as mentioned before show that for only two scenarios, i.e.…”

Section: Land Occupation and Ghg Emissionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These variations and their effect on GHG emission results need to be considered be- [34]; [24] EF-N-fert (Ammonium Nitrate) t CO 2 -eq t N À1 7.1 6.72 7.11 [28], [37], [37] EF-P-fert (Triple super sulphate) t CO 2 -eq t P À1 0.5 0.35 1.08 [28], [37], [37] EF-K-fert (Potassium chloride) t CO 2 -eq t K À1 0.4 -- [28], [37], [37] [36] cause the uncertainties in analysed results stem from these information ranges. A sensitivity analysis has been performed for individual parameters related to cassava plantation and the mechanisms in LUC to identify the sensitive parameters when estimating LUC and GHG emissions.…”

Section: Uncertainties In Land Use Changes and Ghg Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impacts of Thai bio-ethanol policy target on land use and greenhouse gas emissions

2009

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“…Globally, bioethanol production grew from 17,000 to 65 . Although bioethanol has a lower energy content than conventional gasoline, but its high-octane value results in higher compression ratios and efficient thermodynamic operation in internal-combustion engines (Nguyen et al, 2007). Energy balance investigation of bioethanol from sugarcane in Mexico showed an energy ratio of 4.8 GJEthanol/ GJFossil.…”

Section: Bioethanolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Key issues in estimating energy and greenhouse gas savings of biofuels: challenges and perspectives

Rathore

Nizami²,

Singh

et al. 2016

BRJ

138

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HIGHLIGHTSLand-use and land-use changes may overestimate the biofuel sustainability.Environmental and social acceptability is essential in making biofuel-support policies. Keywords:Energy balance Greenhouse gas (GHG) balance Biofuels Sustainability Life cycle assessment (LCA)The increasing demand for biofuels has encouraged the researchers and policy makers worldwide to find sustainable biofuel production systems in accordance with the regional conditions and needs. The sustainability of a biofuel production system includes energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) saving along with environmental and social acceptability. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an internationally recognized tool for determining the sustainability of biofuels. LCA includes goal and scope, life cycle inventory, life cycle impact assessment, and interpretation as major steps. LCA results vary significantly, if there are any variations in performing these steps. For instance, biofuel producing feedstocks have different environmental values that lead to different GHG emission savings and energy balances. Similarly, land-use and land-use changes may overestimate biofuel sustainability. This study aims to examine various biofuel production systems for their GHG savings and energy balances, relative to conventional fossil fuels with an ambition to address the challenges and to offer future directions for LCA based biofuel studies. Environmental and social acceptability of biofuel production is the key factor in developing biofuel support policies. Higher GHG emission saving and energy balance of biofuel can be achieved, if biomass yield is high, and ecologically sustainable biomass or non-food biomass is converted into biofuel and used efficiently.

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Fossil energy savings and GHG mitigation potentials of ethanol as a gasoline substitute in Thailand

Cited by 49 publications

References 6 publications

Life cycle assessment of fuel ethanol from cane molasses in Thailand

Life cycle assessment of fuel ethanol from cane molasses in Thailand

Impacts of Thai bio-ethanol policy target on land use and greenhouse gas emissions

Key issues in estimating energy and greenhouse gas savings of biofuels: challenges and perspectives

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