Background, Aim and Scope:
A well-to-wheels analysis has been conducted to assess ethanol from cane molasses in Thailand. The work considers the potentials of molasses-based gasohol E10 for energy savings and environmental improvements upon substituting for conventional gasoline (CG).
Materials and Methods:
The LCA procedure carried out follows three interrelated phases: inventory analysis, characterization and interpretation. The functional unit for the comparison between E10 and gasoline is one litre gasoline equivalent consumed by a new passenger car to travel a specific distance.
Results:
The results of the study show that molasses-based ethanol (MoE) in the form of E10, along its whole life cycle, consumes less fossil energy (5.0%), less petroleum (8%) and produces less severe impacts on acidification (2.4%) and nutrient enrichment (3.1%) than gasoline. The fuel, however, has inferior performance in global warming potential and photochemical ozone creation potential, indicated by increased impacts over gasoline.
Discussion:
Measures to improve the overall life cycle energy use and environmental impacts of MoE are: 1) Capturing CH4 from distillery spent wash and using it as an energy source, 2) Substituting biomass for fossil fuels in ethanol conversion, and 3) Utilizing cane trash for energy instead of open burning in fields.
Conclusions:
Molasses-based ethanol performs better than conventional gasoline in terms of fossil energy use, acidification and nutrient enrichment whereas it is worse in terms of global warming and photochemical ozone creation potential.
Recommendations and
Perspectives:
The LCA helps to identify the key areas in the ethanol production cycle where changes are necessary to improve the fuel’s environmental performance whilst minimizing adverse effects.
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