Analysis of Life-Cycle Energy Use and GHG Emissions of the Biomass-to-Ethanol Pathway of the Coskata Process under Chinese Conditions
- 1 Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
- 2 Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China;China Automotive Energy Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
- 3 Laboratory of Low Carbon Energy, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
- 4 Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China;China Automotive Energy Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
- 5 Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China;China Automotive Energy Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
- 6 Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China;China Automotive Energy Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Abstract
Life-cycle analyses of energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were carried out for three scenarios of the Coskata biomass-to-ethanol (EtOH) process under Chinese conditions using the original Tsinghua China Automotive Energy LCA Model in conjunction with a module developed particularly for the Coskata process. The results show that 1) the Coskata pathway has good performance in terms of life-cycle fossil energy use and GHG emissions; 2) the electricity used in the biomass-to-EtOH process has the most significant effect on life-cycle fossil-energy use, natural gas as boiler fuel has the second-greatest effect, while fuel used in feedstock transportation has the third; and 3) different energy resources for boilers in the biomass-to-EtOH factory provide different life-cycle results: coal is the least favorable while biomass is the most favorable. We conclude that 1) the Coskata pathway has the dual merits of fossil energy-savings and lower GHG emissions compared with all other bio-EtOH pathways and conventional gasoline in China; and 2) shifting from coal as the fuel for factory boilers to biomass will strengthen the advantages.
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