Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Production in the United States
Abstract
This study presents a life-cycle analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester) and renewable diesel (RD, or hydroprocessed easters and fatty acids) production from oilseed crops, distillers corn oil, used cooking oil, and tallow. Updated data for biofuel production and waste fat rendering were collected through industry surveys. Life-cycle GHG emissions reductions for producing biodiesel and RD from soybean, canola, and carinata oils range from 40% to 69% after considering land-use change estimations, compared with petroleum diesel. Converting tallow, used cooking oil, and distillers corn oil to biodiesel and RD could achieve higher GHG reductions of 79% to 86% lower than petroleum diesel. The biodiesel route has lower GHG emissions for oilseed-based pathways than the RD route because transesterification is less energy-intensive than hydro-processing. In contrast, processing feedstocks with high free fatty acid such as tallow via the biodiesel route results in slightly higher GHG emissions than the RD route, mainly due to higher energy use for pretreatment. Besides land-use change and allocation methods, key factors driving biodiesel and RD life-cycle GHG emissions include fertilizer use and nitrous oxide emissions for crop farming, energy use for grease rendering, and energy and chemicals input for biofuelmore »
- Authors:
-
[1];
[1];
- Energy Systems and Infrastructure Analysis Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Vehicle Technologies Office
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1867914
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1873374; OSTI ID: 1905074
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Environmental Science and Technology
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Environmental Science and Technology Journal Volume: 56 Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 0013-936X
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 09 BIOMASS FUELS; biodiesel; renewable diesel; greenhouse gas emissions; carbon intensity; life cycle analysis; biofuels; energy; fossil fuels; lipids; plant derived food
Citation Formats
Xu, Hui, Ou, Longwen, Li, Yuan, Hawkins, Troy R., and Wang, Michael. Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Production in the United States. United States: N. p., 2022.
Web. doi:10.1021/acs.est.2c00289.
Xu, Hui, Ou, Longwen, Li, Yuan, Hawkins, Troy R., & Wang, Michael. Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Production in the United States. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c00289
Xu, Hui, Ou, Longwen, Li, Yuan, Hawkins, Troy R., and Wang, Michael. Mon .
"Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Production in the United States". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c00289.
@article{osti_1867914,
title = {Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Production in the United States},
author = {Xu, Hui and Ou, Longwen and Li, Yuan and Hawkins, Troy R. and Wang, Michael},
abstractNote = {This study presents a life-cycle analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester) and renewable diesel (RD, or hydroprocessed easters and fatty acids) production from oilseed crops, distillers corn oil, used cooking oil, and tallow. Updated data for biofuel production and waste fat rendering were collected through industry surveys. Life-cycle GHG emissions reductions for producing biodiesel and RD from soybean, canola, and carinata oils range from 40% to 69% after considering land-use change estimations, compared with petroleum diesel. Converting tallow, used cooking oil, and distillers corn oil to biodiesel and RD could achieve higher GHG reductions of 79% to 86% lower than petroleum diesel. The biodiesel route has lower GHG emissions for oilseed-based pathways than the RD route because transesterification is less energy-intensive than hydro-processing. In contrast, processing feedstocks with high free fatty acid such as tallow via the biodiesel route results in slightly higher GHG emissions than the RD route, mainly due to higher energy use for pretreatment. Besides land-use change and allocation methods, key factors driving biodiesel and RD life-cycle GHG emissions include fertilizer use and nitrous oxide emissions for crop farming, energy use for grease rendering, and energy and chemicals input for biofuel conversion.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.est.2c00289},
journal = {Environmental Science and Technology},
number = 12,
volume = 56,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon May 16 00:00:00 EDT 2022},
month = {Mon May 16 00:00:00 EDT 2022}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c00289
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c00289
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