Energy Crops in Regional Biogas Systems: An Integrative Spatial LCA to Assess the Influence of Crop Mix and Location on Cultivation GHG Emissions

Sinéad O’Keeffe and Daniela Thrän
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Sinéad O’Keeffe: Department of Bioenergy, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Daniela Thrän: Department of Bioenergy, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), 04318 Leipzig, Germany

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Anaerobic digestion producing biogas is an important decentralized renewable energy technology used to mitigate climate change. It is dependent on local and regional feedstocks, which determine its sustainability. This has led to discussions on how to alter feedstock for biogas plants without compromising their GHG (Greenhouse gas) saving, one particular issue being the use of Maize silage (MS) as the dominant feedstock. To support this discussion, this paper presents an integrated life cycle assessment of energy crop cultivation for 425 biogas catchments in the region of Central Germany (CG). The simulations for the CG region showed that MS as an effective crop to mitigate GHG emissions per kilowatt hour (GHG culti ) was context dependent. In some cases, GHG culti reductions were supported due to higher yields, and in other cases, this led to increased GHG culti . We show that the often-proposed strategy of substituting one crop for another needs to be adapted for strategies which take into account the crop mixtures fed into biogas plants and how they perform altogether, under the specific regional and locational conditions. Only in this way can the trade-offs for lower GHG culti be identified and managed.

Keywords: biogas; spatial LCA; regional LCA; maize silage; grassland; bioeconomy; GHG; bioenergy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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