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2015 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

Biofuel Lifecycle Energy and Environmental Impacts: The Challenges of Co-product Allocation

Authors : Valerie M. Thomas, Dong Gu Choi, Dexin Luo

Published in: Handbook of Bioenergy

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

Calculations of energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental impacts from biofuel production often allocate impacts between biofuel and its co-products by calculating that co-products substitute for other products. We illustrate the issues of co-product allocation with a case study of corn-derived ethanol, and show that the choice of allocation procedure and parameters can significantly influence the results. This is an open issue in environmental lifecycle assessment methodology; there are research opportunities to determine co-product allocation values by using data that relate co-product utilization to land use or market changes.

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previous chapter Biofuel Supply Chain Design and the Impacts on Transportation Systems and Infrastructure

next chapter Life-Cycle Assessment of Bio-Fuel Production Using Syngas from Biomass

1 MJ = 10⁶ Joules.

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Title: Biofuel Lifecycle Energy and Environmental Impacts: The Challenges of Co-product Allocation
Authors: Valerie M. Thomas
Dong Gu Choi
Dexin Luo
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: Handbook of Bioenergy
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-20091-0

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-20092-7

Copyright Year: 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20092-7_11

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