LCA of bioenergy products

A funded basis for tax exemption of renewable and environmentally friendly biofuels

ESU-services conducted several studies investigating the environmental impacts of energy from biomass.

List of projects on bioenergy

Water footprint of Bioethanol

ESU services conducted different studies investigating the environmental impacts of bio-based feedstocks such as ethanol.

Biogas production and certification

ESU-services compared an LCA on the biogas production from non-waste substrates such as maize silage, sugar beets, fodder beets, beet residues, molasses and glycerine from rape oil with the biogas production from waste substrates such as sewage sludge, slurry and biowaste. Furthermore, we compared the electricity produced from burning this type of biogas with conventional electricity.

Environmental impacts of Biomass combustion

ESU performed an LCA on the combustion of different biomass substrates. It assessed the impacts and benefits of direct combustion of biomass waste.

LCA of Biofuels

ESU-services was the project leader for the BFE/BAFU project “Ökobilanz von Energieprodukten”. LCA of biofuels. This project was one of the first starting the worldwide reflection on the current biofuel boom. Results from this project form the basis for the national legislation on tax reduction for biofuels.

Life cycle inventories of Bioenergy

The Swiss Federal authorities BFE, BLW and BUWAL have initiated a project to investigate life cycle inventory data for several energy products from biomass. The project investigated the production and use of ethanol, methanol, biogas, BTL-fuels (biomass to liquid) and plant oils.

Impact Assessment for biofuels

We compared different options for the use of bioenergy in a second part of the project “Ökobilanz von Energieprodukten” . The life cycle impact assessment and interpretation part of the study was elaborated by different institutions under the project lead of Niels Jungbluth.

BTL-fuel production

Renewable Fuels for Advanced Powertrains (RENEW): Integrated Project in the 6th framework program including major European automobile manufacturers (DaimlerChrysler, Renault, Volkswagen, Volvo). Funded by the European commission with an EC financial contribution of 10 Mio. EUR. ESU-services acts as the central data manager. ESU elaborated the LCA of all technologies developed in the course of the project. A life cycle assessment (LCA) investigated the production of biofuels by gasification of biomass followed by a synthesis process (BtL-fuels). We considered the use of different types of biomass (wheat straw, miscanthus and short-rotation wood). The LCA has been reviewed according to ISO 14040ff.

BTL-fuel use

This study elaborates a life cycle assessment of using of BTL-fuels (biomass-to-liquid). This type of fuel is produced in synthesis process from e.g. wood, straw or other biomass.