The applicability of the renewable energy directive calculation to assess the sustainability of biogas production

Kaisa Manninen, Sirkka Koskela, Anni Nuppunen, Jaana Sorvari, Olli Nevalainen and Sari Siitonen

Energy Policy, 2013, vol. 56, issue C, 549-557

Abstract: Biogas production processes are often multifunctional systems, which also produce fertilizers from digested sludge. The environmental impacts of such systems are usually determined using life cycle assessment (LCA). There are alternative approaches to conduct the LCA, e.g., allocation of emissions based on a product's and co-product's energy content according to the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), or substitution without allocation according to the ISO 14040 standard. We calculated the climate change impacts of biogas production using these two alternative methods, whilst also considering process modifications of the base case biogas production process. The aim was to find out whether the production system achieves the saving targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions set by the RED. Since the RED enables different interpretations of its calculation rules, we created four case studies representing alternative ways to allocate the emissions to the reject water and solid fractions separated from the sludge. Consequently, our emission estimates for the base case vary between 16.9 and 47.7g CO2/MJ, while the emission savings range from 42% to 80%. Most of the case studies achieved the most stringent saving target (60%).

Keywords: Life cycle assessment; Allocation; Greenhouse gas emissions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:56:y:2013:i:c:p:549-557

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.01.040

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