Comparison of allocation approaches in soybean biodiesel life cycle assessment

This work shows the influence of using different allocation approaches when modelling the inventory analysis in a soybean biodiesel life cycle assessment (LCA). Results obtained using mass, energy and economic based allocations are compared, focusing on the following aspects: normalised potential environmental impact (PEI) categories, total PEI and relative contributions to the total PEI from each life cycle stage and environmental impact category. Similar results are obtained either using economic and energy based allocations. However, different results are obtained when mass based allocation is used when compared with the other two. This study also illustrates that using different allocation approaches in biodiesel LCA may influence the final conclusions, especially in comparative assertions, emphasising the need to perform a sensitivity analysis in the LCA interpretation step

Life cycle assessment of soybean biodiesel and LPG as automotive fuels in Portugal

This study aims to compare soy methyl esters (biodiesel) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as automotive fuels in Portugal using LCA. The potential environmental impacts (PEl) associated with their life cycles are compared for twelve impact categories. As a general conclusion biodiesel has a lower total PEl than LPG. Nonetheless biodiesel shows higher values of some individual impact categories such as acidification, photooxidant formation, terrestrial eutrophication, and land use. This study results can be used to support decision making and recommendations about the environmentally preferable fuel to be used in Portugal, which should be complemented with economic and societal considerations

Biofixation of CO2 emissions from natural gas combined cycle power plant

6th International Conference on Energy and Environment Research, ICEERThe growing impacts of climate change mainly due to the increasing emissions of GHG, especially carbon dioxide, has led to the development and implementation of specific strategies and policies to reduce them. Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) is currently seen as a good option, as it contributes to reduce the net carbon emissions and fulfil the goals of the Paris Agreement. This work analyses the economic potential of CO2 biofixation by microalgae from the exhaust gas of a Portuguese Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) power plant. Literature and real operational data are used, collected from reports of Portuguese power generation companies. A preliminary design and economic analysis of the carbon biofixation system was done. Results show that, although requiring a very large investment, the process is economically viable. In further studies a more in depth approach and detailed project combined with a sensitivity analysis, and a comparison with the chemical based CO2 fixation will be done.This research was funded by: project IF/01093/2014/CP1249/CT0003 and research grants IF/01093/2014 and SFRH/BPD/112003/2015 funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES, Portugal, and project UID/EQU/00305/2013 – Center for Innovation in Engineering and Industrial Technology – CIETI. This work was financially supported by: project UID/EQU/00511/2019 – Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy – LEPABE funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC), Portugal; Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006939 (Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy — LEPABE, UID/EQU/00511/2013) funded by FEDER through COMPETE2020-POCI and by national funds through FCT; Project “LEPABE-2-ECO-INNOVATION”-NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000005, funded by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020) , under PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evaluation of Areca palm renewable options to replace disposable plastic containers using life cycle assessment methodology

In spite of raising awareness of the environmental impacts associated to the production and utilization of plastics, in many situations, the use of plastics is advantageous, and options are still unavailable or under development, representing an opportunity to develop more sustainable options, such as less energy intensive solutions. In this work, the LCA methodology is used to evaluate the environmental impacts of boxes, bowls and plates produced using Areca palm (Areca catechu) sheath, a waste material common in southern India. The inventory is a combination of primary data from a company in India, complemented with secondary data from the Ecoinvent v2.1 (Simapro V7.3). Results show that the main contributors to the potential environmental impact categories and the most energy intensive life cycle steps, are transportation, shipping and electricity generation. Carbon footprints of 1180, 1033 and 1090 kg CO2eq/ton were obtained for Areca boxes, plates and bowls, respectively. Plates made from Areca palm sheath have lower environmental impacts than plastic plates, except in the ozone layer depletion and terrestrial toxicity impact categories.This work was funded by: project IF/01093/2014/CP1249/CT0003 and research grants IF/01093/2014 and SFRH/BPD/112003/2015 funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES, Portugal, and project UID/EQU/00305/2013 - Center for Innovation in Engineering and Industrial Technology - CIETI, Portugal. This work was financially supported by : project UID/EQU/00511/2019 - Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy - LEPABE funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC); Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006939 (Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy - LEPABE, UID/EQU/00511/2013) funded by FEDER, Portugal through COMPETE2020-POCI and by national funds through FCT; Project “LEPABE-2-ECO-INNOVATION” - NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000005, funded by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Properties and Sustainability of Biodiesel from Animal Fats and Fish Oil

This work presents and analyses the fat and fuel properties and the methyl ester profile of biodiesel from animal fats and fish oil (beef tallow, pork lard, chicken fat and sardine oil). Also, their sustainability is evaluated in comparison with rapeseed biodiesel and fossil diesel, currently the dominant liquid fuels for transportation in Europe. Results show that from a technological point of view it is possible to use animal fats and fish oil as feedstock for biodiesel production. From the sustainability perspective, beef tallow biodiesel seems to be the most sustainable one, as its contribution to global warming has the same value of fossil diesel and in terms of energy efficiency it has the best value of the biodiesels under consideration. Although biodiesel is not so energy efficient as fossil diesel there is room to improve it, for example, by replacing the fossil energy used in the process with renewable energy generated using co-products (e.g. straw, biomass cake, glycerine)

New trends in energy production and utilization

Energy has been the engine of nations’ development, and this has driven mankind towards growing energy needs, in particular for transportation, agricultural and industrial activities and buildings. Energy for transportation is based on oil derived fuel, whereas energy in buildings consists mainly of electricity, which is produced from fossil fuels, nuclear power and/or from renewable energy sources, such as hydro and solar. Agricultural and industrial activities use a combination of fossil fuels and electric energy. To increase the sustainability of energy production and efficient energy use, it is urgent that better monitoring and control systems are used, and increase the energy production from renewable sources. This drives the energy sector towards the need for Life Cycle Analysis of energy processes to support the selection and implementation of more sustainable energy systems, as well as to develop better and more intelligent electric energy grids, where storage energy systems plays an essential role. These questions will be briefly discussed in this paper, focusing in the current situation, existing problems and potential solutions, and expected developments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sustainability Evaluation of Biodiesel Produced from Microalgae Chlamydomonas sp Grown in Brewery Wastewater

This study performs a sustainability evaluation of biodiesel from microalga Chlamydomonas sp. grown in 20 % (v/v) of brewery’s wastewater, blended with pentose sugars (xylose, arabinose or ribose resulting from the hydrolysis of brewer’s spent grains (BSG). The life cycle steps considered for the study are: microalgae cultivation, biomass processing and lipids extraction at the brewery site, and its conversion to biodiesel at a dedicated external biofuel’s plant. Three sustainability indicators (LCEE, FER and GW) were considered and calculated using experimental data. Literature data was used, whenever necessary, to complement life cycle data, thus allowing a more accurate sustainability evaluation. A comparative analysis of the biodiesel life cycle steps was also conducted, with the main goal of identifying which steps need to be improved. Results show that biomass processing, especially cell harvesting, microalgae cultivation, and lipids extraction are the main process bottlenecks. It is also analysed the influence on the microalgae biodiesel sustainability of adding each pentose sugar to the cultivation media, concluding that it strongly influences the biomass and lipid productivity. In particular, the addition of xylose is preferable in terms of lipid productivity, but from a sustainability point of view, ribose is the best, though the difference from xylose is not significant. Nevertheless, culture without pentose addition presents the best sustainability results

Spent coffee grounds for biodiesel production and other applications

This work evaluates the possibility of using spent coffee grounds (SCG) for biodiesel production and other applications. An experimental study was conducted with different solvents showing that lipid content up to 6 wt% can be obtained from SCG. Results also show that besides biodiesel production, SCG can be used as fertilizer as it is rich in nitrogen, and as solid fuel with higher heating value (HHV) equivalent to some agriculture and wood residues. The extracted lipids were characterized for their properties of acid value, density at 15 °C, viscosity at 40 °C, iodine number, and HHV, which are negatively influenced by water content and solvents used in lipid extraction. Results suggest that for lipids with high free fatty acids (FFA), the best procedure for conversion to biodiesel would be a two-step process of acid esterification followed by alkaline transesterification, instead of a sole step of direct transesterification with acid catalyst. Biodiesel was characterized for its properties of iodine number, acid value, and ester content. Although these quality parameters were not within the limits of NP EN 14214:2009 standard, SCG lipids can be used for biodiesel, blended with higher-quality vegetable oils before transesterification, or the biodiesel produced from SCG can be blended with higher-quality biodiesel or even with fossil diesel, in order to meet the standard requirements

Ultrafast crystallization of Ce0.9Zr0.1O2-y epitaxial films on flexible technical substrates by pulsed laser irradiation of chemical solution derived precursor layers

© 2015 American Chemical Society. The epitaxial growth of Ce0.9Zr0.1O2-y (CZO) thin-films on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) (001) single crystal and YSZ (001)/stainless steel (YSZ/SS) technological substrates is investigated by pulsed laser irradiation of solution-derived cerium-zirconium precursor layers using a UV Nd:YAG laser source at atmospheric conditions. The influence of laser processing parameters on the morphological and structural properties of the obtained films is studied by atomic force and transmission electron microscopies, as well as X-ray diffractometry. The analyses performed demonstrate that laser treatments enable the epitaxial growth of tens of nanometers thick CZO films with a crystallization kinetic process several orders of magnitude faster than that of conventional thermal annealing. Fully epitaxial films are attained using stainless steel (SS) flexible tapes as a substrate. Even though photochemical mechanisms are not fully discarded, it is concluded that photothermal processes are the main contribution responsible for the fast epitaxial crystallization.This work was financed by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the projects MAT2011-28874-C02-01, MAT2014-51778-C2-1-R and Consolider Nanoselect CSD2007-00041, by Generalitat de Catalunya (2009 SGR 770, 2014 SGR 753 and Xarmae) and by the Spanish National Research Council under the Contract No. 200960I015. AQ and MdlM are also grateful for JAE-Predoc fellowship and European Social Fund program. We acknowledge Bruker Corporation for the supply of the technical substrates through the NMP3-LA-2012-280432 project.Peer Reviewe