NDLI: Measuring ecological impact of water consumption by bioethanol using life cycle impact assessment

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Chiu, Yi Wen Suh, Sangwon Pfister, Stephan Hellweg, Stefanie Koehler, Annette
Copyright Year	2011
Abstract	Though the development of biofuel has attracted numerous studies for quantifying potential water demand applying life cycle thinking, the impacts of biofuel water consumption still remain unknown. In this study, we aimed to quantify ecological impact associated with corn-based bioethanol water consumption in Minnesota in responding to different refinery expansion scenarios by applying a life cycle impact assessment method.This ecological damage assessment method for quantifying water consumption impacts was proposed by Pfister et al. in 2009 (Environ Sci Technol 43: 4098–4104, 2009) using an impact characterization factor integrating terrestrial net primary production and precipitation. In this study, we derived the spatially explicit eco-damage characterization factors for 81 watersheds in Minnesota and compiled location-specific water consumption data for all current and planned bioethanol production facilities and feedstock production. The ecological damage caused by bioethanol production (ΔEQ$_{EtOH}$ in m$^{2}$⋅yr) was then calculated on both watershed and refinery-plant levels. Additional refinery expansion scenarios were established for testing the effectiveness in changing ΔEQ$_{EtOH}$.The results show that ecological impact ΔEQ$_{EtOH}$ varied by more than a factor of 3 between watersheds. Minnesota consumed 40 billion liters of water to produce 2.3 billion liters of ethanol as of 2007 (17 L water per liter of ethanol). The geographical distribution of ΔEQ$_{EtOH}$ was shown to be uneven with a cluster of high-impact regions around the center of the state. The planned refinery expansion is expected to increase the state’s corn ethanol production capacity by 75% and ΔEQ$_{EtOH}$ by 65%. However, strategically locating the planned expansion in the low-impact areas is expected to minimize the increases in ΔEQ$_{EtOH}$ down to 19% from 65%.The scenario analysis shows that strategically sourcing corn from low-impact regions can result in significantly less water use impact compared to a baseline scenario. The results indicate that employing the water consumption impact assessment can provide additional insights in policy making. The environmental impacts related to the change of plant infrastructure and agricultural practices associated with the development of the renewable energy industry should be considered as well for identifying the most sustainable alternatives.
Starting Page	16
Ending Page	24
Page Count	9
File Format	PDF
ISSN	09483349
Journal	The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
Volume Number	17
Issue Number	1
e-ISSN	16147502
Language	English
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Publisher Date	2011-08-25
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Biofuel Ethanol Water use impact Water consumption Watershed Environmental Economics Environment
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Environmental Science

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Life cycle assessment of switchgrass-derived ethanol as transport fuel

Correlation analysis of life cycle impact assessment indicators measuring resource use

Life cycle assessment of fuel ethanol from sugarcane in Argentina

Biodiversity impacts from water consumption on a global scale for use in life cycle assessment

The environmental relevance of freshwater consumption in global power production

Life cycle assessment of lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment methods in biofuel production

Comparative attributional life cycle assessment of European cellulase enzyme production for use in second-generation lignocellulosic bioethanol production

Life Cycle assessment of bio-ethanol derived from cellulose

Life cycle assessment of palm oil microemulsion-based biofuel

Measuring ecological impact of water consumption by bioethanol using life cycle impact assessment

Similar Documents

Life cycle assessment of switchgrass-derived ethanol as transport fuel

Correlation analysis of life cycle impact assessment indicators measuring resource use

Life cycle assessment of fuel ethanol from sugarcane in Argentina

Biodiversity impacts from water consumption on a global scale for use in life cycle assessment

The environmental relevance of freshwater consumption in global power production

Life cycle assessment of lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment methods in biofuel production

Comparative attributional life cycle assessment of European cellulase enzyme production for use in second-generation lignocellulosic bioethanol production

Life Cycle assessment of bio-ethanol derived from cellulose

Life cycle assessment of palm oil microemulsion-based biofuel

Measuring ecological impact of water consumption by bioethanol using life cycle impact assessment