BIOENERGY FOR EUROPE: WHICH ONES FIT BEST?

Contents
Executive summary.............................................................................................................................1
1 Goals, target groups and general information............................................................................9
2 Biofuels under Study .................................................................................................................13
2.1 Biofuels investigated by the participating countries............................................................13
2.2 Principles of the biofuel-fossil fuel comparisons ................................................................14
2.3 Life cycles of solid biofuels ...............................................................................................16
2.3.1 Triticale (whole crops)...........................................................................................16
2.3.2 Short rotation willow coppice ................................................................................17
2.3.3 Miscanthus............................................................................................................18
2.4 Life cycles of liquid biofuels..............................................................................................19
2.4.1 Rape seed oil methyl ester (RME) .........................................................................19
2.4.2 Sunflower oil methyl ester (SME)..........................................................................20
2.4.3 ETBE from sugar beet ...........................................................................................21
2.5 Life cycles of biofuels from residues..................................................................................22
2.5.1 Traditional firewood..............................................................................................22
2.5.2 Wheat straw ..........................................................................................................23
2.5.3 Biogas from swine excrements ..............................................................................24
2.6 Novel production line: electricity from hemp .....................................................................25
3 Life cycle assessment of biofuels: methods and tools ................................................................27
3.1 Life cycle assessment – an overview ..................................................................................27
3.2 Scope definition of the investigated biofuels ......................................................................29
3.2.1 Functions of the production systems ......................................................................29
3.2.2 Functional and reference units ...............................................................................30
3.2.3 System boundaries and unit processes....................................................................30
3.2.4 Treatment of by-products and allocation procedures ..............................................32
3.2.5 Data specifications ................................................................................................33
3.2.6 Assumptions, limitations and review......................................................................34
3.3 Inventory analysis..............................................................................................................34
3.3.1 Data acquisition and quality...................................................................................34
3.3.2 Data format ...........................................................................................................36
3.3.3 Calculation tools....................................................................................................36
3.3.4 Completeness, consistency and sensitivity analysis ................................................37
3.4 Impact assessment .............................................................................................................38
3.4.1 Selection of the impact assessment categories........................................................38
3.4.2 Description of the impact categories ......................................................................40
3.4.3 Parameters and coefficients used ...........................................................................42
3.4.4 Normalisation – a preparation for interpretation.....................................................42