IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v15y2011i6p2621-2628.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Biofuels and fossil fuels: Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) optimisation through productive resources maximisation

Author

Listed:
  • Sobrino, Fernando Hernández
  • Monroy, Carlos Rodríguez
  • Pérez, José Luís Hernández

Abstract

Life Cycle Analyses (LCA) are used to compare biofuels to fossil fuels. These analyses are made according to the ISO 14040-43 standards, which using a defined unit compare mass and energy balances for two or more comparison objects. In Spain, the Spanish government Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, CIEMAT, has performed two LCA's in order to compare ethanol and ethanol mixtures with unleaded gasoline and biodiesel and biodiesel mixtures with fuel-oil according to these standards. Both LCA's conclude that biofuels require less primary energy than fossil fuels to be processed and that CO2 emissions are lower when using biofuels instead of fossil fuels. However, these LCA's have been strongly criticized for several reasons. This report presents a new LCA model which allows the comparison of biofuels and fossil fuels based on the maximisation and optimisation of production resources avoiding the disadvantages of the traditional LCA model based on the ISO 14040-43 standards.

Suggested Citation

  • Sobrino, Fernando Hernández & Monroy, Carlos Rodríguez & Pérez, José Luís Hernández, 2011. "Biofuels and fossil fuels: Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) optimisation through productive resources maximisation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 2621-2628, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:15:y:2011:i:6:p:2621-2628
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032111001109
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sobrino, Fernando Hernández & Monroy, Carlos Rodríguez & Pérez, José Luís Hernández, 2010. "Critical analysis on hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels and biofuels for vehicles in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 772-780, February.
    2. Smith, Adam, 2008. "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations: A Selected Edition," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199535927 edited by Sutherland, Kathryn, Decembrie.
    3. Sobrino, Fernando Hernández & Monroy, Carlos Rodríguez, 2009. "Critical analysis of the European Union directive which regulates the use of biofuels: An approach to the Spanish case," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(9), pages 2675-2681, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yaoyang, Xu & Boeing, Wiebke J., 2013. "Mapping biofuel field: A bibliometric evaluation of research output," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 82-91.
    2. Borrion, Aiduan Li & McManus, Marcelle C. & Hammond, Geoffrey P., 2012. "Environmental life cycle assessment of lignocellulosic conversion to ethanol: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 4638-4650.
    3. Lu, Lu & Jiang, Dong & Fu, Jingying & Zhuang, Dafang & Huang, Yaohuan & Hao, Mengmeng, 2014. "Evaluating energy benefit of Pistacia chinensis based biodiesel in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 258-264.
    4. Connolly, D. & Mathiesen, B.V. & Ridjan, I., 2014. "A comparison between renewable transport fuels that can supplement or replace biofuels in a 100% renewable energy system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 110-125.
    5. Salvi, B.L. & Subramanian, K.A. & Panwar, N.L., 2013. "Alternative fuels for transportation vehicles: A technical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 404-419.
    6. Wang, Jiangjiang & Yang, Ying & Mao, Tianzhi & Sui, Jun & Jin, Hongguang, 2015. "Life cycle assessment (LCA) optimization of solar-assisted hybrid CCHP system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 38-52.
    7. Pradhan, Anup & Mbohwa, Charles, 2014. "Development of biofuels in South Africa: Challenges and opportunities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1089-1100.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ribeiro, Barbara Esteves, 2013. "Beyond commonplace biofuels: Social aspects of ethanol," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 355-362.
    2. Salvi, B.L. & Subramanian, K.A. & Panwar, N.L., 2013. "Alternative fuels for transportation vehicles: A technical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 404-419.
    3. Ledenyov, Dimitri O. & Ledenyov, Viktor O., 2016. "Precise measurement of macroeconomic variables in time domain using three dimensional wave diagrams," MPRA Paper 69576, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Sobrino, Fernando Hernández & Monroy, Carlos Rodríguez & Pérez, José Luís Hernández, 2010. "Critical analysis on hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels and biofuels for vehicles in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 772-780, February.
    5. Johann Graf Lambsdorff, 2011. "Economic Approaches to Anticorruption," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 9(2), pages 25-30, 07.
    6. Aytav, Emre & Kocar, Günnur, 2013. "Biodiesel from the perspective of Turkey: Past, present and future," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 335-350.
    7. Abdul Karim Aldohni, 2017. "The UK New Regulatory Framework of High-Cost Short-Term Credit: Is There a Shift Towards a More “Law and Society” Based Approach?," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 321-345, September.
    8. Štager Vesna, 2018. "Changes in Tax Legislation and Social Responsibility of Taxpayers and Legislative Institutions," Naše gospodarstvo/Our economy, Sciendo, vol. 64(1), pages 48-57, March.
    9. Mehrdad Vahabi, 2011. "Appropriation, violent enforcement, and transaction costs: a critical survey," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 227-253, April.
    10. William C. Strange, 2009. "Viewpoint: Agglomeration research in the age of disaggregation," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 42(1), pages 1-27, February.
    11. Viktor O. Ledenyov & Dimitri O. Ledenyov, 2012. "Shaping the international financial system in century of globalization," Papers 1206.2022, arXiv.org.
    12. Ledenyov, Dimitri O. & Ledenyov, Viktor O., 2015. "Quantum strategy creation by interlocking interconnecting directors in boards of directors in modern organizations at time of globalization," MPRA Paper 68404, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Ledenyov, Dimitri O. & Ledenyov, Viktor O., 2015. "Wave function in economics," MPRA Paper 66577, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Erhard Glötzl & Florentin Glötzl & Oliver Richters, 2019. "From constrained optimization to constrained dynamics: extending analogies between economics and mechanics," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 14(3), pages 623-642, September.
    15. Jose-Luis Godos-Díez & Roberto Fernández-Gago & Laura Cabeza-García, 2015. "Business Education and Idealism as Determinants of Stakeholder Orientation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(2), pages 439-452, October.
    16. Kumar, Lalit & Jain, Shailendra, 2014. "Electric propulsion system for electric vehicular technology: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 924-940.
    17. Miguel Ángel Mendoza-González & Alberto Mejía-Reyes & Luis Quintana-Romero, 2017. "Deseconomías de aglomeración, contaminación y sus efectos en la salud de la Zona Metropolitana del Valle de México. Un análisis con econometría espacial," Economic Analysis Working Papers (2002-2010). Atlantic Review of Economics (2011-2016), Colexio de Economistas de A Coruña, Spain and Fundación Una Galicia Moderna, vol. 1, pages 1-1, December.
    18. Federico Frattini, 2011. "Mature Systems in Global Markets: The Need for an Institutional Division of Labour," Working Papers 201109, University of Ferrara, Department of Economics.
    19. Meacci, Ferdinando, 2011. "From bounties on exportation to the natural and market price of labour: Smith versus Ricardo," MPRA Paper 31153, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Ledenyov, Dimitri O. & Ledenyov, Viktor O., 2015. "Quantum money," MPRA Paper 67982, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:15:y:2011:i:6:p:2621-2628. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.