I'm going to develop a comparative LCA for two different types of typical Brazilian forest biomass. They were burned in the laboratory in order to compare their combustion characteristics and pollutant emissions.
My doubt is:
How do I define the functional unit for each type of biomass? Should I compare them in terms of mass of biomass or calorific value?
Hello Fionnuala,
Thank you for your help. I'll read your paper!
I believe with you that the calorifc value seems to be more logic in this case because the function here is: "to provide energy".
Afterthat, I'll also to compare results with nonrenewable energy resources, such as diesel, heavy fuel coal and other renewable resources, sucha as ethanol from sugarcane bagasse, etc...
Hi all,
My article deals with LCA of forest biomass including the environmental impact/benefit of the growth in the forest and final wood disposal. See https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258334892_Quantifying_the_environmental_impact_of_an_integrated_humanindustrial-natural_system_using_life_cycle_assessment_a_case_study_on_a_forest_and_wood_processing_chain. I agree with the choice of calorific value as a functional unit since you want to compare a service and not a product, if i understood well. Emission of PM during burning and removal of it in the forest, might be relevant to consider besides CO2.
regards
Article Quantifying the Environmental Impact of an Integrated Human/...
Thank you Thomas!
I'll also see your paper as well.
Actually, I'll consider all these emissions (e.g. PM, CO,...) because I have these data. It is good to see that there are recent papers on the topic. Maybe I can compare results with yours when I finish my work.
Hi Diogo,
If you want compare energy sources commonly functional unit is GJ. In that way you could compare your result with other assessments available, as in ecoinvent. It could be interesting to use a common boundaries system...
Hi Diogo,
we did the evaluation of the embodied material, energy and emergy of eucalyptus biomass in Brazil, which may help you on getting data from field. It was both evaluated in volume and energy as functional unit. Links are attached below.
A PhD student of mine is evaluating the biomass options to mitigate GHG emission from fossil liquid fuels in terms of exergy because our goal is to evaluate in terms of useful energy to determine the quality of carbon (energy supply + global warming) instead of quantity (just avoiding global warming).
Best regards,
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1415-43662010000800015&script=sci_arttext
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/saf/fs/2008/00000054/00000002/art00012
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Geoscience
- Atmospheric Sciences
- Atmosphere
- Air