Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions impacts of the adoption of the EU Directive on biofuels in Spain. Effect of the import of raw materials and land use changes

• Published in: Biomass & bioenergy 2011-06, Vol.35 (6), p.2374-2384
• Main Authors: Lechon, Y., Cabal, H., Sáez, R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air pollution caused by fuel industries; Alternative fuels. Production and utilization; Applied sciences; Biomass; Energy; Energy economics; Energy policy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Ethanol; Exact sciences and technology; FAME; Fuels; General, economic and professional studies; Greenhouse gas emissions; Helianthus; Indirect land use change; Land availability; Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); Metering. Control; Natural energy
• ISSN: 0961-9534; 1873-2909
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biombioe.2011.01.036

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions impacts of the use of different alternative biofuels in passenger vehicles in Spain in order to meet EU biofuel goals. Different crop production alternatives are analysed, including the possible import of some raw materials. Availability of land for national production of the raw materials is analysed and indirect land use changes and associated GHG emissions are quantified. There are important differences in GHG emissions of biofuels depending on the raw material used and whether this is domestically produced or imported. Ethanol production using imported cereals and FAME production using domestic rapeseed have the highest GHG emissions per kilometre driven. Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) production from sunflower has shown the lowest emissions. When taking into account the results of GHG emissions savings per hectare, these findings are somehow reversed. Production of ethanol and around 12% of FAME can be done domestically. The rest will need to be imported and will cause indirect land use change (ILUC). Therefore, ethanol production will not displace any land, whereas FAME production will displace some amounts of land. Calculated ILUC factors are 29%–34%. The additional GHG emissions due to these indirect land use changes are significant (67%–344% of life cycle GHG emissions). Standalone, the EU biofuel targets can have important benefits for Spain in terms of global warming emissions avoided. However, when considering the impact of land use change effects, these benefits are significantly reduced and can even be negative. ► Biofuel greenhouse gas emissions in Spain using domestic and imported raw materials. ► Availability of land, indirect land use changes (ILUC) and GHG emissions quantified. ► Important differences in biofuels GHG emissions depending on the raw material found. ► All ethanol and 12% FAME can be produced domestically with ILUC factors of 29–34%. ► Additional GHG emissions of ILUC are significant: 67%–344% of total GHG emissions.