An anticipatory life cycle assessment of the use of biochar from sugarcane residues as a greenhouse gas removal technology

David Lefebvre; Adrian Williams; Guy J.D. Kirk; Jeroen Meersmans; Saran Sohi; Pietro Goglio; Pete Smith

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127764

An anticipatory life cycle assessment of the use of biochar from sugarcane residues as a greenhouse gas removal technology

David Lefebvre^*
, Adrian Williams
, Guy J.D. Kirk
, Jeroen Meersmans
, Saran Sohi
, Pietro Goglio
, Pete Smith

^*Corresponding author for this work

Cranfield University
University of Liege
University of Edinburgh
Wageningen University & Research

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

60 Citations (Scopus)

18 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Greenhouse gas removal technologies are needed to reach the targets of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement. Among existing technologies, the use of biochar is considered promising, particularly biochar derived from the large quantities of sugarcane residues available in South America and elsewhere. However, the net greenhouse gas removal potential of sugarcane biochar has not been assessed hitherto. We use a scenario-based anticipatory life cycle assessment to investigate the emissions associated with a change from the combustion of sugarcane residues in a combined heat and power plant to the pyrolysis of these residues for biochar production and field application in São Paulo State, Brazil. We define scenarios based on different mean marginal electricity production and biochar production share. The results indicate that emissions from covering the electricity deficit generated by partial combustion of biomass during biochar production is the main emitting process. Overall, the processes associated with biochar production lower the net greenhouse gas benefits of the biochar by around 25%. Our analysis suggests that allocating 100% of the available sugarcane residues to biochar production could sequester 6.3 ± 0.5 t CO2eq ha−1 yr−1 of sugarcane in São Paulo State. Scaled up to the entire State, the practice could lead to the removal of 23% of the total amount of GHGs emitted by the State in 2016.

Original language	English
Article number	127764
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Cleaner Production
Volume	312
Early online date	2 Jun 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127764
Publication status	Published - 20 Aug 2021

Funding

We thank Dr Ond\u0159ej Ma\u0161ek from the University of Edinburgh and Dr Bernardo M.M.N. Borges from the University of S\u00E3o Paulo for their insights and advices on pyrolysis technologies and sugarcane management. We acknowledge funding through the UP-Green-LCA ( NE/P019668/1 ) and Soils-R-GGREAT ( NE/P019498/1 ) projects of the greenhouse gas removal (GGR) programme. The GGR programme is financed by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) , Economic and Social Science Research Council (ESRC) and the UK department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) . We thank Dr Ond?ej Ma?ek from the University of Edinburgh and Dr Bernardo M.M.N. Borges from the University of S?o Paulo for their insights and advices on pyrolysis technologies and sugarcane management. We acknowledge funding through the UP-Green-LCA (NE/P019668/1) and Soils-R-GGREAT (NE/P019498/1) projects of the greenhouse gas removal (GGR) programme. The GGR programme is financed by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC), Economic and Social Science Research Council (ESRC) and the UK department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production

Keywords

Greenhouse gas removal technology (GGRT)
Negative emissions technology (NET)
Sugarcane
Saccharum officinarum L.
LCA
General Environmental Science
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Strategy and Management
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

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Lefebvre_etal_an_anticipatory_lify_VOR
This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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Cite this

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title = "An anticipatory life cycle assessment of the use of biochar from sugarcane residues as a greenhouse gas removal technology",

abstract = "Greenhouse gas removal technologies are needed to reach the targets of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement. Among existing technologies, the use of biochar is considered promising, particularly biochar derived from the large quantities of sugarcane residues available in South America and elsewhere. However, the net greenhouse gas removal potential of sugarcane biochar has not been assessed hitherto. We use a scenario-based anticipatory life cycle assessment to investigate the emissions associated with a change from the combustion of sugarcane residues in a combined heat and power plant to the pyrolysis of these residues for biochar production and field application in S{\~a}o Paulo State, Brazil. We define scenarios based on different mean marginal electricity production and biochar production share. The results indicate that emissions from covering the electricity deficit generated by partial combustion of biomass during biochar production is the main emitting process. Overall, the processes associated with biochar production lower the net greenhouse gas benefits of the biochar by around 25\%. Our analysis suggests that allocating 100\% of the available sugarcane residues to biochar production could sequester 6.3 ± 0.5 t CO2eq ha−1 yr−1 of sugarcane in S{\~a}o Paulo State. Scaled up to the entire State, the practice could lead to the removal of 23\% of the total amount of GHGs emitted by the State in 2016.",

keywords = "Greenhouse gas removal technology (GGRT), Negative emissions technology (NET), Sugarcane, Saccharum officinarum L., LCA, General Environmental Science, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Strategy and Management, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment",

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AU - Lefebvre, David

AU - Williams, Adrian

AU - Kirk, Guy J.D.

AU - Meersmans, Jeroen

AU - Sohi, Saran

AU - Goglio, Pietro

AU - Smith, Pete

PY - 2021/8/20

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N2 - Greenhouse gas removal technologies are needed to reach the targets of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement. Among existing technologies, the use of biochar is considered promising, particularly biochar derived from the large quantities of sugarcane residues available in South America and elsewhere. However, the net greenhouse gas removal potential of sugarcane biochar has not been assessed hitherto. We use a scenario-based anticipatory life cycle assessment to investigate the emissions associated with a change from the combustion of sugarcane residues in a combined heat and power plant to the pyrolysis of these residues for biochar production and field application in São Paulo State, Brazil. We define scenarios based on different mean marginal electricity production and biochar production share. The results indicate that emissions from covering the electricity deficit generated by partial combustion of biomass during biochar production is the main emitting process. Overall, the processes associated with biochar production lower the net greenhouse gas benefits of the biochar by around 25%. Our analysis suggests that allocating 100% of the available sugarcane residues to biochar production could sequester 6.3 ± 0.5 t CO2eq ha−1 yr−1 of sugarcane in São Paulo State. Scaled up to the entire State, the practice could lead to the removal of 23% of the total amount of GHGs emitted by the State in 2016.

AB - Greenhouse gas removal technologies are needed to reach the targets of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement. Among existing technologies, the use of biochar is considered promising, particularly biochar derived from the large quantities of sugarcane residues available in South America and elsewhere. However, the net greenhouse gas removal potential of sugarcane biochar has not been assessed hitherto. We use a scenario-based anticipatory life cycle assessment to investigate the emissions associated with a change from the combustion of sugarcane residues in a combined heat and power plant to the pyrolysis of these residues for biochar production and field application in São Paulo State, Brazil. We define scenarios based on different mean marginal electricity production and biochar production share. The results indicate that emissions from covering the electricity deficit generated by partial combustion of biomass during biochar production is the main emitting process. Overall, the processes associated with biochar production lower the net greenhouse gas benefits of the biochar by around 25%. Our analysis suggests that allocating 100% of the available sugarcane residues to biochar production could sequester 6.3 ± 0.5 t CO2eq ha−1 yr−1 of sugarcane in São Paulo State. Scaled up to the entire State, the practice could lead to the removal of 23% of the total amount of GHGs emitted by the State in 2016.

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KW - Negative emissions technology (NET)

KW - Sugarcane

KW - Saccharum officinarum L.

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KW - Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

KW - Strategy and Management

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JF - Journal of Cleaner Production

M1 - 127764

ER -

An anticipatory life cycle assessment of the use of biochar from sugarcane residues as a greenhouse gas removal technology

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

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