The National Energy Strategy and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) provided the motivation for developing alternative transportation fuels as well as oxygenates for use as reformulated gasoline components. The U.S. Department of Energy has chosen ethanol from biomass as a high-priority option for developing technology to meet future fuel needs. To evaluate this technology choice, a study was performed to quantify the chemical and energy inputs and outputs of the ethanol from biomass fuel cycle. In the analysis, this technology was characterized for two future time frames. Municipal solid waste is the feedstock for producing ethanol that is used as E-10 in the year 2000, and energy crops for producing ethanol that is used as E-95 in the year 2010. The benchmark for comparison is reformulated gasoline from crude oil as defined by the CAAA. Each fuel cycle was developed as five stages: feedstock production, feedstock transport, fuel production, fuel transport, and fuel end use. The air emissions evaluated were carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and carbon dioxide. A total energy balance was completed for each fuel cycle. The fuel end use stage for both the biomass to ethanol and the crude oil to reformulated gasoline fuel cycles contributed a major portion of the air emissions. The air emissions from E-95 were less than, or equal to, reformulated gasoline for nitrogen oxides and for non-biogenic volatile organic compounds. Ethanol from biomass offers a major advantage in reducing sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and fossil energy input per unit of product energy output compared to reformulated gasoline.
Total fuel cycle and emissions analysis of biomass to ethanol production
Vollständiger Kraftstoffzyklus und Emissionsanalyse von Biomassen für Äthanolproduktion
1993
11 Seiten, 13 Bilder, 2 Quellen
Conference paper
English
Total fuel cycle and emissions analysis of biomass to ethanol production
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