Energy Balance and Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Biofuel (Jatropha curcas L) in Nicaragua A Case of Study

• Main Authors: Ditmara Cerrato Mairena, 笛妮崔
• Other Authors: Shu-San Hsiau
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/90159012140341285679

碩士 === 國立中央大學 === 國際永續發展碩士在職專班 === 101 === In the context of policy concerns of energy security, rural development, and climate change, globally biofuel production is expanding rapidly; many governments see biofuels as a means of tackling interconnected these concerns in their policies. The Nicaraguan’s government has set up reduce 15% in the year 2020 the national consumption of petroleum derivatives in the transport sector, being biodiesel from Jatropha curcas Linnaeus (JCL) partial option for substitution of diesel fuel. Conforming to the aforementioned, the research evaluates the energy balance and environmental sustainability of the biodiesel (JCL) by applying the internationally standardized life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology of ISO 14040-14044, accomplished through the elaboration of life cycle inventory and the assessment of the environmental impacts categories of two different cultivation systems using professional software of LCA SimaPro, adopting Eco-indicator 99, IMPACT 2002+, IPCC 2007 and CED as impacts assessment methods. The results show that the production and the use of biodiesel (JCL) trigger non-renewable energy reduction of 63-97%, (Net Energy Gain, NEG =59.39 MJ) and (Net Energy Ratio, NER=4.28), GWPs saving of 40-73%, ozone layer depletion reduction of 87-99%, acidification and eutrophication reduction of 0.03-49.9%. However, there is increase in the land use of 960%in comparison with the reference system The research found that biofuel (JCL) has better performance in terms of GWPs, ODP, acidification-eutrophication and energy efficiency, if the by-products are recycled efficiently; however, show negative environmental impacts to the ecosystem quality.