IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/inecol/v13y2009i4p514-531.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Life Cycle Assessment of Second Generation Bioethanols Produced From Scandinavian Boreal Forest Resources

Author

Listed:
  • Ryan M. Bright
  • Anders Hammer Strømman

Abstract

The boreal forests of Scandinavia offer a considerable resource base, and use of the resource for the production of less carbon‐intensive alternative transport fuel is one strategy being considered in Norway. Here, we quantify the resource potential and investigate the environmental implications of wood‐based transportation relative to a fossil reference system for a specific region in Norway. We apply a well‐to‐wheel life cycle assessment to evaluate four E85 production system designs based on two distinct wood‐to‐ethanol conversion technologies. We form best and worst case scenarios to assess the sensitivity of impact results through the adjustment of key parameters, such as biomass‐to‐ethanol conversion efficiency and upstream biomass transport distance. Depending on the system design, global warming emission reductions of 46% to 68% per‐MJ‐gasoline avoided can be realized in the region, along with reductions in most of the other environmental impact categories considered. We find that the region's surplus forest‐bioenergy resources are vast; use for the production of bioethanol today would have resulted in the displacement of 55% to 68% of the region's gasoline‐based global warming emission—or 6% to 8% of Norway's total global warming emissions associated with road transportation.

Suggested Citation

  • Ryan M. Bright & Anders Hammer Strømman, 2009. "Life Cycle Assessment of Second Generation Bioethanols Produced From Scandinavian Boreal Forest Resources," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 13(4), pages 514-531, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:13:y:2009:i:4:p:514-531
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-9290.2009.00149.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-9290.2009.00149.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1530-9290.2009.00149.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lars Wietschel & Lukas Messmann & Andrea Thorenz & Axel Tuma, 2021. "Environmental benefits of large‐scale second‐generation bioethanol production in the EU: An integrated supply chain network optimization and life cycle assessment approach," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(3), pages 677-692, June.
    2. Wiloso, Edi Iswanto & Heijungs, Reinout & de Snoo, Geert R., 2012. "LCA of second generation bioethanol: A review and some issues to be resolved for good LCA practice," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 5295-5308.
    3. Cambero, Claudia & Sowlati, Taraneh, 2014. "Assessment and optimization of forest biomass supply chains from economic, social and environmental perspectives – A review of literature," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 62-73.
    4. Wang, H. & Bi, X. & Clift, R., 2021. "Utilization of forestry waste materials in British Columbia: Options and strategies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    5. Wang, Haoqi & Zhang, Siduo & Bi, Xiaotao & Clift, Roland, 2020. "Greenhouse gas emission reduction potential and cost of bioenergy in British Columbia, Canada," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:13:y:2009:i:4:p:514-531. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1088-1980 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.