GHG emission factors for bioelectricity, biomethane, and bioethanol quantified for 24 biomass substrates with consequential life-cycle assessment
Open accessAbstract
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission savings from biofuels dramatically depend upon the source of energy displaced and the effects induced outside the energy sector, for instance land-use changes (LUC). Using consequential life-cycle assessment and including LUC effects, this study provides GHG emission factors (EFs) for bioelectricity, biomethane, and bioethanol produced from twenty-four biomasses (from dedicated crops to residues of different origin) under a fossil and a non-fossil energy system. Accounting for numerous variations in the pathways, a total of 554 GHG EFs were quantified. The results showed that, important GHG savings were obtained with residues and seaweed, both under fossil and non-fossil energy systems. For high-yield perennial crops (e.g. willow and Miscanthus), GHG savings were achieved only under fossil energy systems. Biofuels from annual crops and residues that are today used in the feed sector should be discouraged, as LUC GHG emissions exceeded any GHG savings from displacing conventional energy sources.
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- Authors
- Tonini, D., Hamelin, L., Alvarado-Morales, M., & Astrup, T. F.
- Affiliations
- Technical University of Denmark (DK)
- University of Southern Denmark (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Tonini, Davide
- Venue
- Bioresource Technology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-05
- Volume
- 208
- Pages
- 123-133
- ISSN
- 0960-8524 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2284254942
- Cited by
- 118
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 10
- FWCI
- 6.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- orbit.dtu.dk
- Licence
- Locations
- Bioresource Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (publishedVersion)
- Technical University of Denmark, DTU Orbit (Technical University of Denmark, DTU) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Danish Council for Strategic Research
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Bioenergy crop production and management
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Biofuel production and bioconversion
- Keywords
- greenhouse gas emission factors, bioelectricity, biomethane, bioethanol, biomass substrates, land use change, consequential life cycle assessment, biofuels, agricultural residues, seaweed, willow, Miscanthus, perennial crops, annual crops, feedstock selection
- MeSH terms
- Ethanol, Energy-Generating Resources, Poaceae, Methane, Greenhouse Effect, Biomass, Crops, Agricultural, Biofuels
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