Comparative life-cycle assessment of fossil diesel and biodiesel
- Flemish Institute for Technological Research, Mol (Belgium)
Complementary to the VITO demonstration project on the use of biodiesel as engine fuel, a comparative life-cycle assessment has been made for rapeseed methyl ester (RME) and fossil diesel fuel. The study covers: (1) a description of the LCA methodology used; (2) an inventory of the consumption of energy and materials and the discharges to the environment; (3) a comparative impact assessment. The life-cycle of the biodiesel covers the cultivation of winter rapeseed in Belgium (including fertilizer production and application), oil extraction and processing, transesterification, combustion of RME in a diesel engine and the different transportation steps during the whole life-cycle. Data on fossil diesel production cover the following aspects: extraction of crude oil, refining, combustion in a diesel engine and several transportation steps. Emission data of the combustion of both RME and fossil diesel fuel in a diesel engine are based upon VITO measurements. Sensitivity analyses on the most important parameters has been carried out as e.g. type of fertilizer, allocation method, data source.
- OSTI ID:
- 478372
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-961119--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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