Risks of indirect land use impacts and greenhouse gas consequences: an assessment of Thailand's bioethanol policy
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Author list: Prapaspongsa T., Gheewala S.H.
Publisher: Elsevier
Publication year: 2016
Journal: Journal of Cleaner Production (0959-6526)
Volume number: 134
Issue number: Part B
Start page: 563
End page: 573
Number of pages: 11
ISSN: 0959-6526
Languages: English-Great Britain (EN-GB)
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Abstract
This study aimed to assess indirect land use change (iLUC) and greenhouse gas (GHG) consequences of Thailand's bioethanol policy by using consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA) and a systematic iLUC model based on global land market. The results indicated the risk that life cycle GHG emissions of cassava- and molasses-based bioethanol systems may outweigh those from their fossil fuel counterparts both with and without the iLUC effects. The iLUC emissions from bioethanol were around 39%–76% (±8–15%) of the gasoline GHG emission baseline. Inclusion of relevant suppliers for the use of fully utilised by-products which are renewable energy sources (i.e. molasses and bagasse) highly affected the GHG consequences. Various controlled conditions such as non-fully utilised molasses and bagasse potentially lead to significant GHG reductions. The additional molasses and bagasse production dedicated specifically for bioethanol production potentially contribute to substantial GHG reductions. Further studies are required to determine other environmental impacts from bioethanol and to consider other iLUC modelling choices and emerging research development. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd
Keywords
Attributional LCA, Consequential LCA, Indirect land use change
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