Environmental assessment of bioethanol from onshore grown Ulva

Charlotte Pradinaud (1, 2, 3) , J. Champenois (4) , M. Benoit (4) , Doris Brockmann (1, 3) , Arnaud Helias (1)

1 LBE - Laboratoire de Biotechnologie de l'Environnement [Narbonne]
2 Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier
3 ELSA - Pôle ELSA, Environmental Life Cycle and Sustainability Assessment
4 CEVA - Centre d'études et de valorisation des algues

Besides biofuels from microalgae, an emerging interest in using macroalgae as feedstock for biofuel production is observable. Macroalgae have the advantage that they are much easier to harvest than microalgae so that the problem of low feedstock concentration does not arise. The environmental performance of bioethanol from onshore grown green algae is assessed using literature data and initial laboratory scale data. The optimized system model allows for producing an environmentally efficient biofuel in comparison to fossil fuel and bioethanol from sugar cane. Handling the co-product by substitution instead of energy allocation significantly reduced the environmental impacts of the system and resulted in environmental bonuses in several impact categories. Thus, the management of the co-product in the LCA model (energy allocation vs. substitution) is a key step in the LCA, as it highly influences the impact assessment results.

Mots clés: bioethanol; macroalgae; ulva; eco-design; allocation; substitution; biofuel; bioenergy

Mots clés: filière agroalimentaire; macroalgue; biocarburant; bioénergie; analyse du cycle de vie

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Charlotte Pradinaud, J. Champenois, M. Benoit, Doris Brockmann, Arnaud Helias. Environmental assessment of bioethanol from onshore grown Ulva. 9. International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-Food Sector (LCA Food 2014), Oct 2014, San Francisco, United States. pp.1574. ⟨hal-01519313⟩