A joint initiative of the

ETH domain and Swiss

Federal Offices

2nd International ecoinvent Meeting

Lausanne, March 14, 2008

Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
Inventories
A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

bioenergy and biomaterials:

biofuels

Niels Jungbluth, ESU-services Ltd., www.esu-services.ch

2 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Topics
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
• Goal and scope of the project “Life cycle inventories of Inventories

bioenergy” A joint initiative of the

ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

• Allocation methodology
• Specific regional problems
– Soy beans
– Plant oils
– Sugar cane
• Results of LCIA study
• Conclusions for inventories of biofuels

3 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Problem setting
“Ökobilanz von Energieprodukten”
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
• Diverging results for bioenergy and biofuels in separate studies Inventories

• ecoinvent data v1.3 covered only a small part of bioenergy A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

chains. No common database

• Aims to fully cover the most important bioenergy chains
• Main issue biofuels in Switzerland or imported
• Support for energy policy (fuel tax reductions)
• Examination for GHG reduction potential
• Investigation of several environmental aspects of “biofuels”
supply chains

4 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Participating organisations
Swiss Centre
• Project leader: Niels Jungbluth, ESU-services Ltd. For Life Cycle
Inventories
• Financing: A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
– Swiss Federal Offices for Energy (BFE), Agriculture (BLW) and Federal Offices

Environment, Forests and Landscape (SAEFL)

– Erdöl-Vereinigung, Zurich; Alcosuisse, Berne; Entsorgung und
Recycling Zürich
• Inventory experts:
– Carbotech AG, Basel
– Chudacoff Oekoscience, Zürich
– Doka Ökobilanzen
– ENERS Energy Concept, Lausanne
– INFRAS, Bern
– Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETHZ)
• ecoinvent manager: Rolf Frischknecht, ecoinvent Centre
5 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Goal and Scope

Swiss Centre
• Time frame 2005 or new future technologies For Life Cycle
Inventories

• Investigation from well to Swiss wheel (cradle-to-grave) A joint initiative of the

ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

• Products from multi-output processes are investigated with

allocation factors that can be varied by the data user
• All direct co-products are included in the analysis
• Consistent investigation of energy, food, fodder and material
products from biomass
• Clear differentiation of fossil and organic carbon
• Publication with ecoinvent data v2.0 late 2007
(www.ecoinvent.org)

6 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Possible classifications of fuels

Swiss Centre
• Chemical classification of energy carrier For Life Cycle
Inventories
– methane, ethanol, methanol, hydrogen, oils, methyl ester, liquids A joint initiative of the

(petrol, diesel), ETBE, MTBE ETH domain and Swiss

Federal Offices

• Resources used
– Non-renewable: crude oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear
– Renewable: energy crops (edible, non-edible), algae, forest wood,
biomass residues, sun, wind
• Type of conversion process
– mechanical, chemical reaction, thermal treatment, fermentation,
anaerobic digestion, gasification, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis,
biotechnical
• Marketing:
– Sunfuel, Sundiesel, Ökodiesel, Biodiesel, Naturgas, 1st, 2nd, 3rd
generation

7 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Resources, conversion techniques and

“bioenergy” products investigated
Swiss Centre
biomass ressources (crops, wood, residues) For Life Cycle
Inventories
A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

wood pellets wood chips biogas plant oils synthetic gas

ethanol

fatty acid
hydrogen BTL-fuels methanol
methyl ester

combined heat and

filling station
power plant

transport
heating electricity
devices

8 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Data contributions
Eners / LASEN
•Synthetic fuels
•Plant oils Swiss Centre
•Methyl ethers (XME) For Life Cycle
ESU-services •Ethanol Carbotech Inventories
A joint initiative of the
•Project organisation •Agriculture ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices
•Methodology •Biogas
•Clear cutting
•Gas upgrading
and distribution
•Validation
PSI
Data base
Infras v1.3 •Transports

•Transports

ETH
Doka •Biogas
•Waste Chudacoff •Chemicals
•Agriculture
management
•Chemicals •Ethanol

9 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Harmonization of data collection

Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
• Clear definition of product properties Inventories
A joint initiative of the

• Guidelines for allocation ETH domain and Swiss

Federal Offices

• Standard assumptions for prices in allocation

• Standard distances for biomass transports
• Standard data for regional storage
• Carbon balance for biogenic fuels has been
corrected in allocation according to product
properties

10 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Investigated biofuels

Methanol XME Swiss Centre

For Life Cycle
waste wood Waste cooking oil Inventories

Industrial wood Rape seed CH/RER A joint initiative of the

ETH domain and Swiss

soya oil US / BR
Federal Offices

palm oil MY
Ethanol 99.7%
wood
grass
Methane 96%
potatoes
agriculture
sugar beets
biowaste
whey
sludge
sugar cane BR
whey
maize
grass
rye DE / RER
wood
11 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Structuring of life cycles stages

Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
• Mix of different inputs, e.g. Inventories

– Rape seeds IP and organic used in oil pressing A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

– Different biogas processes used as input to grid

– Mix of different ethanol pathways used as filling for car
• Modelling of average cases
• Data can be easily disaggregated if singe pathways are of
interest
• Change of market situation must be considered in each study
using the data

12 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Transport services investigated in
this project
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
• Passenger cars Inventories

– Compressed natural gas A joint initiative of the

ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

– Methane 96%
– Ethanol 5%
– Methanol 100%
– Plant oil methyl ester 5%
– ETBE 15%
– EURO 3, 4, 5 for petrol and diesel
• Trucks
– Rape seed methyl ester 100%

13 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Allocation
Swiss Centre
• Multi-output processes are stored in the database – BEFORE allocation For Life Cycle
Inventories
• Input- and output-specific allocation factors, i.e. A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
individual allocation factor allowed per pollutant and input Federal Offices

• Allocation executed after import of dataset into database

-> calculation of allocated unit processes
-> matrix becomes invertible
• NO system expansion,
NO credits
• All products included: fuel, electricity, heat, material, fertilizer,
waste management, fodder, food, etc.
• Cut-off applied for outputs without economic value and wastes for
recycling

14 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Allocation: Example Biogas
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
organic waste, to biogas plant Inventories

(1 kg) A joint initiative of the

ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

biogas plant

biogas use, digested matter disposal, organic waste

(0.1 Nm3) (0.71 kg) (1 kg)

cleaning, agriculture
filling station
15 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Raw data biogas

disposal, digested
Location

biowaste, to biogas, from

biowaste,Swiss
to Centrematter,
Unit

Name anaerobic biowaste, at For Lifeapplication

Cycle
anaerobic in
digestion storage Inventories
digestion agriculture
A joint initiative of the
Location 0 0 CH CH CH ETH domain and SwissCH
Federal Offices
InfrastructureProcess 0 0 0 - - -
Unit 0 0 kg Nm3 kg kg
biogas, from biowaste, at storage CH Nm3 1.00E-1 100.00 - -
disposal, biowaste, to anaerobic digestion CH kg 1.00E+0 - 100.00 -
digested matter, application in agriculture CH kg 7.12E-1 - - 100.00
heat, natural gas, at boiler condensing modulating
RER MJ 5.94E-1 18.24 81.76 -
>100kW
electricity, low voltage, at grid CH kWh 4.00E-2 18.24 81.76 -
disposal, municipal solid waste, 22.9% water, to
CH kg 1.00E-2 18.24 81.76 -
municipal incineration
diesel, burned in building machine GLO MJ 1.80E-2 - - 100.00
transport, lorry 16t CH tkm 1.50E-2 - 50.00 50.00
solid manure loading and spreading, by hydraulic
CH kg 1.00E+0 - 50.00 50.00
loader and spreader
Carbon dioxide, in air - kg 5.95E-1 55.00 - 45.00
Carbon dioxide, biogenic - kg 7.05E-1 18.26 81.79 - 0.05
Methane, biogenic - kg 8.53E-3 18.24 81.76 -
16 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU
 Soybean production and land
transformation
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
Inventories
A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

17 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Soybean (ecological scarcity 2006)

9'000 Metolachlor
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
8'000 Copper Inventories
A joint initiative of the
2,4-D
ecological scarcity 2006 points per kg

ETH domain and Swiss

7'000 Federal Offices

6'000
Phosphorus

Phosphate
5'000

Fires during clear cutting Nitrate

4'000
Particulates, < 2.5 um
3'000
Dinitrogen monoxide
2'000
Benzene
1'000
Occupation, arable, non-
- irrigated
soybeans BR soybeans US Soy beans, Soy beans organic, Remaining substances
-1'000 integrated CH
production, CH

Important differences in environmental profile

¾ 18 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU
 Plant oil production
Swiss Centre
4.5
kg CO2-eq per kg oil at plant For Life Cycle
Inventories
4 A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices
3.5

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
rape oil CH rape oil RER palm oil MY palm kernel oil soybean oil BR soybean oil US Soya oil RER
MY

fossil,fossil,
non-CO2
non-CO2 CH4, biogenicCH4, biogenic
CO2 CO2, land
CO2trans
19 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Production of sugar cane

Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
Inventories
agriculture A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

Harvest
manual/
machinery

Sugar
/Ethanol
production
20 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU
 Sugar production
7.00E-07
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
6.00E-07 Inventories
A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
5.00E-07 Federal Offices
DALY/kg

4.00E-07

3.00E-07

2.00E-07

1.00E-07

0.00E+00
sugar, from sugar beet CH sugar, from sugarcane BR

Remaining substances Nitrogen oxides

Ammonia Sulfur dioxide
Particulates, > 2.5 um, and < 10um Particulates, < 2.5 um

Respiratory effects, inorganic,Eco-indicator 99, (H,A)

¾ 21 due toNiels
Presentation: burning of residues
Jungbluth ESU

Sugar production
100% Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
90% Inventories
80% A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices
70%

60%
DALY/kg

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
sugar, from sugar beet, at sugar refinery/kg/CH U sugar, from sugarcane, at sugar refinery/kg/BR U

Remaining substances kg C2H4 Toluene Air kg C2H4 Ethene Air kg C2H4

Hexane Air kg C2H4 Propane Air kg C2H4 Ethane Air kg C2H4
Butane Air kg C2H4 Pentane Air kg C2H4 Carbon monoxide, biogenic Air kg C2H4
Methane, fossil Air kg C2H4 Carbon monoxide, fossil Air kg C2H4 Sulfur dioxide Air kg C2H4

Respiratory effects, organic, Eco-indicator 99, (H,A)

¾ 22 due to burning
Presentation: of residues
Niels Jungbluth ESU
 100% Rape M E CH

100% Rape M E RER

100% P almo il M E M Y GWP-Reduction of

Biodiesel

Biofuels
100% So y M E US
100% So y M E B R
100% Recycled plant o il M E CH

100% Recycled plant o il M E FR

Swiss Centre
M ethano l fixed bed CH
For Life Cycle
M ethano l fluidized bed CH
Inventories
Ethano l grass CH Conclusions:
A joint initiative of the
Ethano l po tato es CH
• 13 of 26 investigated biofuels reduce
ETH domain and Swiss
Alcohol

Ethano l sugar beets CH Federal Offices

Ethano l whey CH
the GWP significant (>50%)
Ethano l wo o d CH
• 5 of them are from waste
Ethano l sweet so rghum CN
Ethano l rye RER • Worst biofuel: Brazilian soya oil with
Ethano l co rn US more GWP than fossil reference
Ethano l sugar cane B R
(transformation of rainforest into
M ethane grass bio refinery
agriculture)
Methane

M ethane manure
Infrastructure
M ethane manure+co substrate Cultivation
M ethane manure, o ptimized
Production
M ethane manure+co substrate, o ptimized

M ethane bio waste

Transport
M ethane sewage sludge Operation
M ethane wo o d
Fossil

Diesel, lo w sulphur EURO3

P etro l, lo w sulphur EURO3

Natural gas, EURO3

ESU
-0.05 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25
Zah et al., 2007
23 CO2-eq. [kg/pkm ] Presentation: Niels Jungbluth

100% Rape M E CH

100% Rape M E RER

Environmental
Biodiesel

100% P almo il M E M Y

impacts (UBP 06)

100% So y M E US

Maximal reduction: 40% 100% So y M E B R

100% Recycled plant o il M E CH

Conclusion:
100% Recycled plant o il M E FR

M ethano l fixed bed CH Swiss Centre

For Life Cycle
M ethano l fluidized bed CH
• Most important aspect of
Inventories
Ethano l grass CH

Ethano l po tato es CH biofuels: cultivation

A joint initiative of the
Alcohol

ETH domain and Swiss

• About 40% of environmental
Ethano l sugar beets CH
Federal Offices
Ethano l whey CH
Ethano l wo o d CH impacts of transport services
are infrastructure-related
Ethano l sweet so rghum CN

Ethano l rye RER

Ethano l co rn US
• Maximal reduction has XME
Ethano l sugar cane B R

M ethane grass bio refinery from recycled plant oil: 40%

Methane

Infrastructure
• Or with other words: driving a
M ethane manure

M ethane manure+co substrate Cultivation

M ethane manure, o ptimized
Production
car with XME from recycled
plant oil still cause 60% of
M ethane manure+co substrate, o ptimized
M ethane bio waste Transport
M ethane sewage sludge Operation environmental impacts.
M ethane wo o d
Fossil

Diesel, lo w sulphur EURO3

P etro l, lo w sulphur EURO3

Natural gas, EURO3

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000

Zah et al., 2007

24
UBP [Pt/pkm ]
Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU
 Biofuels comparison
GWP UBP 06 Eco-indicator 9
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% 0% 100% 200% 300% 400% 500% 0% 100% 200% 300

Methane manure, optimized

Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
Methane manure+cosubstrate, optimized
100% Recycled plant oil ME FR
Ethanol w hey CH
Inventories
100% Recycled plant oil ME CH
A joint initiative of the
Methanol fixed bed CH ETH domain and Swiss
Methane w ood Federal Offices
Methanol fluidized bed CH

Ethanol sugar cane BR

Ethanol grass CH
Ethanol w ood CH

Ethanol sw eet sorghum CN

Ethanol sugar beets CH

Methane sew age sludge

Methane grass biorefinery
100% Soy ME US

Methane biow aste

100% Palmoil ME MY

100% Rape ME CH
Methane manure+cosubstrate
Methane manure
100% Rape ME RER
Ethanol corn US
Ethanol rye RER
Ethanol potatoes CH
100% Soy ME BR

Natural gas, EURO3

Diesel, low sulphur EURO3
Zah et al. 2007
Petrol, low sulphur EURO3

Tax exemption if 40% lower GWP and not higher environmental

¾ 25 Presentation: Niels impacts
Jungbluth than gasoline ESU

Trade-off of environmental impacts

Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
Inventories
A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

(Zah et al. 2007)

26 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Conclusion from biofuels study
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
• A broad variety of investigated biofuels have a Inventories
A joint initiative of the

significant GWP-reducing potential ETH domain and Swiss

Federal Offices

• Overall impact is lower in biofuels from waste. -

> Step of cultivation is the most important one
• Transport-related impacts can‘t be neglected
• Many biofuels with agricultural biomass have
higher overall impacts than fossil fuels

27 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Limits of investigation
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
• Emerging technologies with status 2005 Inventories
A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss

• Different degree of development status Federal Offices

• No consequential LCA e.g. influence on food

and fodder production
• No limits due to potentials of biomass
production

28 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Conclusions for inventory data
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
• Products show environmental “Achilles’ tendon” in Inventories

different areas A joint initiative of the

ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

=> Focus of investigation depends on product

analysed
• “Biofuels” example:
- burning of residues
- CO2 emissions due to land transformation
=> acknowledge and model regional differences
• ecoinvent data provide the necessary information

29 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Conclusions (2)
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
• Environmental impacts of biofuel pathways are Inventories

dependent on the raw material

A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

• No good or bad types of products

• Differences of biomass origin, type and processing
must be taken into account
• ecoinvent data must be reworked if used in another
context
• Data base provides good basis for such assessments

30 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Outlook
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
• Full LCA based on investigated data published in the Inventories

framework of the project (http://www.esu- A joint initiative of the

ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

services.ch/bioenergy.htm)
• Life cycle inventories of BTL-fuels are published in
EcoSpold format in a European project (www.esu-
services.ch/renew.htm)
• Ongoing discussion on guidelines for tax exemption
will further increase the need for reliable LCI data
• Shift of focus from fuel to fuel consumption

31 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

A joint initiative of the

ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices
 GWP is one environmental effect…
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
… others serious effects are: All effects can be aggregated: Inventories
• eco-indicator 99 A joint initiative of the
• photochemical oxidation ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices
• UBP’06
• acidification german: UmweltBelastungsPunkte,
• eutrophication english: Ecological Scarcity Point

• ozone layer depletion

• human toxicity
• fresh water toxicity
• marine aquatic toxicity
• land competition
• abiotic depletion

33 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Increase of agricultural area

Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
Inventories
A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

This area was cleared by soybean farmers in Novo Progreso.

Brazilian Government figures show that the rate of clearing has
increased.
34 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU
Annual forest loss in Brazilian Amazon
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
Inventories
A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

nearly 20‘000km2
= 600m2 per second

http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/deforestation_calculations.html
35 http://sitemaker.umich.edu/section2group3/results_and_discussion
Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Clear cutting of primary forests

Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
• Agricultural area is increased by clear cutting Inventories

• Land transformation leads to CO2 emissions from soil and A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

biomass
• Burning of residues with further emissions
• Loss of biodiversity
• CO2 from land transformation accounts for about 90% of Brazil
CO2 emissions
• Particles from residue burning are an important problem in
South-East Asia

36 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

 Principle of investigation
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
• What is the increase in agricultural area for the Inventories

production in the reference year?

A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices

• What is emitted per m2 of clear cut land?

• Allocation of emissions between wood and stubbed
land
• Stubbed land is the main driver
• New elementary flow „CO2, land transformation“ as
used by IPCC for different possibilities of analysis

37 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Inventory Clear Cutting

Swiss Centre
Infrastructu

round wood,
For Life Cycle
reProcess
Location

Inventories provision,
clear-cutting, primary forest,
Unit

Name stubbed
primary forest clear-cutting,
A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swissland
at forest Federal
roadOffices
Location BR BR BR
InfrastructureProcess 0 0 0
Unit ha m3 m2
round wood, primary forest, clear-cutting, at
BR 0 m3 5.21E+1 100 -
forest road
provision, stubbed land BR 0 m2 1.00E+4 - 100
Wood, primary forest, standing - - m3 1.82E+2 29 71
Transformation, from tropical rain forest - - m2 1.00E+4 - 100
Transformation, to forest, intensive, clear-
- - m2 1.00E+4 - 100
cutting
power sawing, without catalytic converter RER 0 h 1.24E+1 100 -
Carbon dioxide, land transformation - - kg 1.20E+5 - 100
Carbon monoxide, fossil - - kg 7.84E+3 - 100
Methane, fossil - - kg 5.14E+2 - 100
38 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU
 Inventory agricultural product
Swiss Centre
For Life Cycle
Inventories

Locati
A joint initiative of the
soybeans,
ETH domain and Swiss at

Unit
on
Name Federal Offices

farm
Location BR
InfrastructureProcess 0
Unit kg
Occupation, arable, non-irrigated m2a 1.97E+0
Transformation, to arable, non-irrigated m2 3.93E+0
Transformation, from forest, intensive, clear-cutting m2 6.22E-2
Transformation, from arable, non-irrigated m2 3.77E+0
Transformation, from shrub land, sclerophyllous m2 1.03E-1
provision, stubbed land BR m2 6.22E-2

39 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU

Soybean greenhouse gasses

Swiss Centre
1.8
kg CO2-eq per kg at field For Life Cycle
Inventories
1.6 A joint initiative of the
ETH domain and Swiss
Federal Offices
1.4

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
soybeans BR soybeans US Soy beans, integrated Soy beans organic, CH
production, CH

fossil,fossil,
non-CO2
non-CO2 CH4, biogenicCH4, biogenic
CO2 CO2, land
CO2trans
40 Presentation: Niels Jungbluth ESU