Lifecycle Analysis for the Production of Bioethanol in Colombia Using OpenLCA

Abstract

The present study shows the lifecycle analysis (LCA) for the production chain of bioethanol as a fuel (E100) in Colombia, using the OpenLCA free software. Data from bibliographic references and emissions stock from the Ecoinvent V2.2 database was used in order to carry out the emissions stock for the present study. The Global Warming Potential (GWP) was quantified using the IPCC 2007 impact methodology, and the demand of non-renewable energy was quantified using the cumulative energy demand (CAE) method. The activity that represents the greatest contribution to GWP is the production of fertilizers and its release to the environment as they are used in agriculture. As for the CAE, the process with greatest demand corresponds to the preparation of land and the production of fertilizers