Life Cycle Analysis of Dedicated Energy Crops for Fuel Production in the United States

Journal Article · Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 UTC 2026 · Biomass & Bioenergy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2026.109329 · OSTI ID:3363114

Kwon, Hoyoung; Langholtz, M; Liu, Xinyu; Clark, Robin; Taheripour, Farzad; Cai, Hao; Wang, Michael

Dedicated energy crops are promising feedstocks to make biofuels including jet fuels. This study applies life cycle analysis (LCA) to estimate direct well-to-wake (WTW) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (g CO2e/MJ) for jet fuel derived from five energy crops-biomass sorghum, miscanthus, switchgrass, poplar, and willow-via Fischer-Tropsch-to-Jet (FTJ) and Ethanol-to-Jet (ETJ) pathways. The WTW boundary includes direct emissions from biomass production, fuel production, and fuel combustion. The R&D GREET model is expanded to conduct the LCA, using national average biomass yields and farming inputs from the 2023 Billion-Ton Study. In addition, this study estimates emissions from market-mediated effects, including induced land-use change, induced other crop (non-feedstock) production changes, and induced livestock production changes using global economic and emissions factor models. On a per-dry U.S. ton basis, cultivation and harvest emissions are lowest for willow (51,565 g CO2e) and highest for biomass sorghum (104,488 g CO2e). Per-acre results show similarly high emissions for sorghum and lowest values for poplar and willow. Direct WTW emissions are substantially lower for FTJ (biomass sorghum: 5.5; miscanthus: 10.3; switchgrass: 11.7; poplar: 11.9; and willow: 8.7 g CO2e/MJ) than ETJ (33.2; 33.8; 34.8; 36.2; and 31.7 g CO2e/MJ, respectively). When market-mediated emissions are included, miscanthus exhibits the lowest total emissions across energy crop pathways. Although results are sensitive to modeling assumptions, they indicate that high-yielding perennial and woody crops, particularly when planted on marginal land, could significantly reduce WTW emissions for bio-jet fuels by combining low direct emissions with soil carbon gains and favorable market-mediated effects.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy; USDOE Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 3363114
• Journal Information: Biomass & Bioenergy, Journal Name: Biomass & Bioenergy Vol. 212; ISSN 0961-9534
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English