Review of Methodological Decisions in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Biorefinery Systems Across Feedstock Categories

Authors

James Gaffey, School of Engineering and AMBER, University of Limerick, Limerick, V94 T9PX, Ireland; Circular Bioeconomy Research Group, Shannon Applied Biotechnology Centre, Munster Technological University, Tralee, V92 CX88, IrelandFollow
Maurice N. Collins, School of Engineering and AMBER, University of Limerick, Limerick, V94 T9PX, Ireland
David Styles, University of Galway, University Road, Galway, H91 REW4, Ireland

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2272-6921

Document Type

Article

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Disciplines

Engineering

Publication Details

Journal of Environmental Management, vol. 358. © 2024 The Authors.

Abstract

The application of life cycle assessment (LCA) to biorefineries is a necessary step to estimate their environmental sustainability. This review explores contemporary LCA biorefinery studies, across different feedstock categories, to understand approaches in dealing with key methodological decisions which arise, including system boundaries, consequential or attributional approach, allocation, inventory data, land use changes, product end-of-life (EOL), biogenic carbon storage, impact assessment and use of uncertainty analysis. From an initial collection of 81 studies, 59 were included within the final analysis, comprising 22 studies which involved dedicated feedstocks, 34 which involved residue feedstocks (including by-products and wastes), and a further 3 studies which involved multiple feedstocks derived from both dedicated and secondary sources. Many studies do not provide a comprehensive LCA assessment, often lacking detail on decisions taken, omitting key parts of the value chain, using generic data without uncertainty analyses, or omitting important impact categories. Only 28% of studies included some level of primary data, while 39% of studies did not undertake an uncertainty or sensitivity analysis. Just 8% of studies included data related to dLUC with a further 8% including iLUC, and only 14% of studies considering product end of life within their scope. The authors recommend more transparency in biorefinery LCA, with justification of key methodological decisions. A full value-chain approach should be adopted, to fully assess burdens and opportunities for biogenic carbon storage. We also propose a more prospective approach, taking into account future use of renewable energy sources, and opportunities for increasing circularity within bio-based value chains.

Recommended Citation

James Gaffey, Maurice N. Collins, David Styles, Review of methodological decisions in life cycle assessment (LCA) of biorefinery systems across feedstock categories, Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 358, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120813.