Life cycle assesment of soybean

Orientador: Enrique Ortega RodriguezTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia de AlimentosResumo: O objetivo deste trabalho de pesquisa é avaliar o ciclo de vida da soja para quantificar as contribuições ambientais e econômicas necessárias em cada etapa de produção, transporte e processamento de soja e seus principais produtos. Para tanto, foram utilizadas a análise de energia incorporada, a análise de intensidade de materiais e a análise emergética, além de indicadores econômicos e sociais. Os resultados mostram que produção agrícola da soja é a etapa que utiliza maior quantidade de recursos no ciclo de vida dos produtos considerados: farelo de soja exportado para a Europa, biodiesel e óleo de soja refinado. Por isso, esta é a etapa agrícola é aquela que requer mais atenção dos tomadores de decisões em políticas publicas para um ciclo de vida da soja mais sustentável. Os resultados mostram que a produção de biodiesel de soja convencional não é uma alternativa sustentável (renovabilidade = 31%) para fornecimento de energia para a sociedade e também que os fluxos de farelo de soja exportados para a Europa são responsáveis por grandes impactos ambientais (índice de carga ambiental = 2,83). Entretanto, os resultados obtidos mostram que a soja pode ser produzida em sistemas alternativos mais sustentáveis de forma a reduzir estes impactos negativosAbstract: The objective of this study is to assess the soybean life cycle to quantify the environmental and economic contributions at each stage of soybean and soybean products production, transport and processing phases. In order of that, it were used the Embodied Energy Analysis, the Material Intensity Analysis and the Emergy Synthesis as well other economic and social indicators. The results showed that agricultural production stage is the phase that uses larger amount of resources in the life cycle of soybean products considered: soy meal exported to Europe, biodiesel and refined soy oil. Therefore, the agricultural phase requires more attention of decision-makers for public policies toward a more sustainable soybean chain. Quantitative indicators showed that biodiesel production from conventional soybean is not a sustainable (renewability = 31%) alternative for energy supply to the society. Also, the soy meal flows exported to Europe are responsible for high environmental damages (environmental loading ratio = 2.83). However, the results showed that soybean can be produced in more sustainable alternative systems in order to reduce these negative impactsDoutoradoDoutor em Engenharia de Alimento

Asserting the climate benefits of the coal-to-gas shift across temporal and spatial scales

Reducing CO2 emissions through a shift from coal to natural gas power plants is a key strategy to support pathways for climate stabilization. However, methane leakage in the natural gas supply chain and emissions of a variety of climate forcers call the net benefits of this transition into question. Here, we integrated a life cycle inventory model with multiple global and regional emission metrics and investigated the impacts of representative coal and gas power plants in China, Germany, India, and the US. We found that the coal-to-gas shift is consistent with climate stabilization objectives for the next 50 to 100 years. Our finding is robust under a range of leakage rates and uncertainties in emission data and metrics. It becomes conditional to the leakage rate in some locations only if we employ a set of metrics that essentially focuses on short-term effects. Our case for the coal-to-gas shift is stronger than previously found, reinforcing the support for coal phase-out

Asserting the climate benefits of the coal-to-gas shift across temporal and spatial scales

Reducing CO2 emissions through a shift from coal to natural gas power plants is a key strategy to support pathways for climate stabilization. However, methane leakage in the natural gas supply chain and emissions of a variety of climate forcers call the net benefits of this transition into question. Here, we integrated a life cycle inventory model with multiple global and regional emission metrics and investigated the impacts of representative coal and gas power plants in China, Germany, India, and the US. We found that the coal-to-gas shift is consistent with climate stabilization objectives for the next 50 to 100 years. Our finding is robust under a range of leakage rates and uncertainties in emission data and metrics. It becomes conditional to the leakage rate in some locations only if we employ a set of metrics that essentially focuses on short-term effects. Our case for the coal-to-gas shift is stronger than previously found, reinforcing the support for coal phase-out

Analise emergetica da piscicultura integrada a criação de suinos e de pesque-pagues

Orientador: Enrique Ortega RodriguezDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia de AlimentosMestrad

Life cycle assessment addressing health effects of particulate matter of mechanical versus manual sugarcane harvesting in Brazil

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11367-017-1334-7

Integrated first and second generation ethanol production from sugarcane

Efficient conversion of biomass into energy resources remains one of the biggest challenges faced by humanity in the search for a sustainable energy future. Bioethanol, the most important biofuel, currently produced from first generation feedstock like sugarcane may also be produced from lignocellulosic materials like sugarcane bagasse and straw, which are not a primary food source. Efficient technologies for production of lignocellulosic (or second generation) ethanol, however, are still under development, and challenges concerning its technical, economic and environmental feasibility remain to be solved. Integration of first and second generation ethanol production processes can be more economical, efficient and present lower environmental impacts than stand-alone second generation; thus, integrated first and second generation ethanol production can improve the feasibility of lignocellulosic ethanol and foster its industrial implementation. In this study the integrated production of first and second generation ethanol from sugarcane, including some of its technical, economic and environmental aspects are discussed. The biochemical route for second generation ethanol production, comprised by feedstock pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis, is taken as an example. Features of both first and second generation processes that are required to promote an adequate integration are discussed, providing guidance for development of experimental works, especially in second generation process37445450CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPsem informaçãoInternational Conference on BioMass (iconBM 2014

Environmental impacts of technology learning curve for cellulosic ethanol in Brazil

This study presents a Life Cycle Assessment of second-generation ethanol production in Brazil considering current and future technologies to represent its technology evolution, compared to the first-generation process. With the start of the learning curve of the cellulosic ethanol production, improvements are expected on both biomass industrial conversion and agricultural production phases. Increased sugarcane yields and gradual introduction of more productive varieties, such as energy cane, are expected, affecting both first- and second-generation ethanol production processes. In environmental impact categories very relevant in the biofuel production debate, such as climate change, fossil depletion and agricultural land occupation, scenarios with second-generation process present lower impacts than first-generation process for the same time horizon. There is a trend of reduction of environmental impacts over time, reflecting the environmental advantages due to advances on the learning curve of second-generation ethanol technology and on biomass production system. The contribution of second-generation ethanol production will be extremely relevant to help Brazil to meet its targets in the international environmental agreements.1063139FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP2010/17139-3; 2011/51902-