A Parameterized Life Cycle Model for Rapid Quantification of Bioenergy Sustainability Metrics
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method for assessing all environmental impacts associated with provisioning a good or service. A life cycle encompasses the system which directly produces a good, as well as all systems and processes on which that system is dependent. The objective of this work is to develop a flexible, parameterized model representing a superstructure of life cycles for advanced biofuel production. Parameterizing the model allows users to define a variety of biofuel production scenarios and assess key sustainability metrics, without needing to acquire additional data or perform separate life cycle assessments. Within the model, parameters will include feedstock species and phenotype, a range of farming and harvest practices, feedstock pre-processing, and operating conditions within the biomass conversion process. The model will be used to identify major impact drivers within bioenergy life cycles and aid CBI researchers and leadership in targeting areas where additional R&D efforts will have the most beneficial impacts.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 1467174
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/PO-6A20-71647
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Presented at the Center for Bioenergy Innovation Annual Meeting, 4-7 June 2018, Asheville, North Carolina
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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