A multi-years analysis of the energy balance, green gas emissions, and production costs of first and second generation bioethanol.
Journal
International Journal of Green Energy
Journal Volume
12
Pages
168-184
Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
Abstract
Contemporary reports on the energy and environmental benefits of bioethanol have suggested that the cellulosic ethanol is significantly more efficient. To understand the development potential of energy crops in Taiwan, the present study has assessed the resources and cost inputs for the planning, harvesting, transporting, and storing procedures of the first generation energy crops during 2007-2010 with the perspective of LCA. In addition, a field investigation focusing on rice straw, the largest agricultural waste in Taiwan, has been conducted since 2010 to obtain fundamental data.This study further analyzes the first and second-generation feedstocks from the perspective of LCA based on field investigated data. Taiwan has not yet established an ethanol plant; therefore, this study established production data by simulating the production efficiency of an economical scale using parameters obtained through production trials, and proposed an evaluation model for the energy input, GHG, and production costs of bioethanol in Taiwan. The results of this study were cross-compared with foreign literature to explore the development potential of bioethanol in Taiwan. The results indicate that based on the current cellulosic ethanol technology in Taiwan, regarding the energy balance, GHG, and production costs, is less efficient than that of the first generation bioethanol. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Other Subjects
Agricultural robots; Agricultural wastes; Bioethanol; Cellulosic ethanol; Costs; Crops; Energy balance; Ethanol; Gas emissions; Greenhouse gases; Life cycle; Cost analysis; Development potential; Environmental benefits; Evaluation modeling; Field investigation; Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); Production efficiency; Second generation bioethanol; Cost benefit analysis; alternative energy; biofuel; cost-benefit analysis; emission inventory; energy balance; energy crop; ethanol; greenhouse gas; life cycle analysis; parameterization; renewable resource; Taiwan
Type
journal article