Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment as a tool for Virtual Sugarcane Biorefinery

• Grant number: 12/15359-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: October 01, 2012
• End date: March 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Maria Francisco Luiz Jose Bonomi
• Grantee: Marcos Djun Barbosa Watanabe
• Host Institution: Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM). Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brasil). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 12/23175-8 - Integrating life cycle assessment and input-output analysis for the assessment of ethanol production technologies in Brazil, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The increasing ethanol production in Brazil is deeply related to the global demand for alternative energy sources which can both decrease the reliance of economic sectors on non-renewable energy and drive global energy production towards a more sustainable situation. Simultaneously, it is important to improve techniques that allow the assessment of environmental impacts from different scenarios of biofuel production, aiming to improve its sustainability. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is recognized as a powerful methodology that provides detailed information about the environmental impacts related to agricultural production, industrial stage and consumption phase of sugarcane-based products and co-products. However, LCA has some limitations regarding the definition of system boundaries and also requires huge effort during the data collection for Life Cycle Inventory. In this sense, a different LCA technique such as the Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) emerges as an alternative to perform LCA in a more agile way. This approach is based on the country's input-output matrix, which allows calculating the direct and indirect impacts related to all production sectors of a country. During this project, the EIO-LCA approach will be used to simulate the environmental impacts related to different technological scenarios of bioethanol production in the Virtual Sugarcane Biorefinery (VSB), under development by the Brazilian Bioethanol Science and Technology Laboratory (CTBE).

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

WATANABE, MARCOS D. B.; CHAGAS, MATEUS F.; CAVALETT, OTAVIO; GUILHOTO, JOAQUIM J. M.; GRIFFIN, W. MICHAEL; CUNHA, MARCELO P.; BONOMI, ANTONIO. Hybrid Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment of First- and Second-Generation Ethanol Production Technologies in Brazil. JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY, v. 20, n. 4, p. 764-774, AUG 2016. (10/17139-3, 12/15359-1, 12/23175-8)

CARDOSO, T. F.; WATANABE, M. D. B.; SOUZA, A.; CHAGAS, M. F.; CAVALETT, O.; MORAIS, E. R.; NOGUEIRA, L. A. H.; LEAL, M. R. L. V.; BRAUNBECK, O. A.; CORTEZ, L. A. B.; et al. A regional approach to determine economic, environmental and social impacts of different sugarcane production systems in Brazil. BIOMASS & BIOENERGY, v. 120, p. 9-20, JAN 2019. (12/00282-3, 12/15359-1)

SOUZA, ALEXANDRE; WATANABE, MARCOS D. B.; CAVALETT, OTAVIO; CUNHA, MARCELO; UGAYA, CASSIA M. L.; BONOMI, ANTONIO. A novel social life cycle assessment method for determining workers' human development: a case study of the sugarcane biorefineries in Brazil. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT, v. 26, n. 10, OCT 2021. (12/15359-1)