Life Cycle Assessment of Biofuels

ESU-services Ltd. has been founded in 1998. Its core objectives are research, consulting, review and training in the fields of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the sectors energy, basic minerals, materials, food and lifestyles and of Substance Flow Analysis (SFA).

They have published case studies about the life cycle impact of biomass energy systems:

• Life cycle based approaches for the assessment of innovative energy technologies by Frischknecht R.
• Life Cycle Assessment of Agrofuels: Summary of different case studies and conclusions for private mobility by Niels Jungbluth
• Life Cycle Assessment of Different Pathways of BtL-Fuels from Wood, Straw and Miscanthus by N. Jungbluth

How far can a person get with fuel from 0.5 ha (a soccer field)?

• Depending on the car: 5’000 – 30’000 km per soccer field
• By bicycle and food: 12’500 km (veal), 65‘000 km (wine), 400‘000 km (wheat), 600’000 km (potatoes)

Ecoinvent Database

The ecoinvent database offered by ESU Services contains life cycle inventory data of energy (electricity, oil, coal, natural gas, biomass, biofuels, bioenergy, hydro power, nuclear power, photovoltaics, wind power, biogas), materials (chemicals, metals, minerals, plastics, paper, biomass, biomaterials), waste management (incineration, landfill, waste water treatment), transports (road, rail, air, ship), agricultural products and processes, electronics, metals processing, and building ventilation.