Biofuel Production Methods Based on Icelandic Feedstocks: An Environmental and Economic Comparison

Abstract

Due to rising concerns of energy security and the environmental implications ofusing fossil fuels, there is a need to explore other fuel options. The objective ofthis thesis is to compare different biofuel production methods from anenvironmental and economic perspective and to evaluate potential implicationsfor Iceland. The environmental implications are assessed using a “well-to-tank”(WTT) perspective, meaning in general terms the boundaries extend from thecultivation and harvest, feedstock transport, biofuel production, and finally biofueltransport. Economic implications are assessed using conventional break-evenpoint analysis.Results indicate that when bioethanol is produced from timber employing a biochemicalconversion method, this yields the least impact (7.26 CO2 eq. g/MJ) toenvironmental categories such as global warming potential (GWP), however ifusing the thermal-chemical platform, the utilization of timber to produce Fisher-Tropsch biodiesel (FTD) has the least impact to acidification potential (AP) (01 to.14 SO2 eq. g/MJ). At the same time, FTD had the highest and lowest impact toPOCP, depending on the feedstock (.01 to .09 C2H4 eq. g/MJ). Both types oftechnology reported the same in regard to eutrophication potential (EP) and thatthe application of fertilizer from cultivation had the largest impact. In contrast,when the organic fraction of municipal solid waste is used to make bioethanoland biodiesel from rapeseed this yielded the largest impact to GWP (86 to 80CO2 eq. g/MJ) explained by the high moisture content, transportation and lowlignin content. However, more research is needed to estimate the environmentalimpact in the production of biofuels in Iceland, based on Icelandic circumstances.In conclusion based on quantity estimates of the selected Icelandic feedstocksand assuming that equal hectares of land as already cultivated land, istransformed to producing energy crops and increasing forest cover by 300%,beyond what is already planned, the potential quantity of displaced petroleumproducts in Iceland ranges from <0.1 % (FTD-recycled newspaper) to 68%(second generation bioethanol from wheat).