Page 27 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

Key Issues in Conducting Life Cycle
Assessment of Bio-based Renewable
Energy Sources

Edi Iswanto Wiloso and Reinout Heijungs

Abstract Although there is an ISO-standardized method for conducting life cycle
assessment (LCA) studies, its application to renewable energy sources, in partic-
ular to bio-based renewable energy (bioenergy) involving agricultural chains, is
not straight forward. There are theoretical and practical issues in goal and scope
definition, functional unit, inventory analysis, and impact assessment. The debate
between attributional LCA and consequential LCA is, for bioenergy, even more
crucial than for ordinary products, especially when it comes to either direct or
indirect land-use change. Data are often highly variable, and system boundaries are
quite arbitrary. For bioenergy from biomass residues, allocation and recycling
provide complications. The treatment of biogenic carbon is of particular interest.
The choice of impact categories and the necessity of a regionalized impact
assessment are another problem. This chapter provides a systematic overview of
these topics.

1 Introduction

Our economy has long been dependent on non-renewable energy carriers, espe-
cially on fossil energy. The high dependence on non-renewable energy sources
developed over a relatively short period of time. From the middle of the nineteenth
century, there was a rapid increase in the use of fossil fuels. These non-renewables
replaced wood and soon became the basis of an exponential growth in energy use
associated with a number of novel energy-demanding activities (Sørensen 2002).
Early man was only capable of causing environmental disturbance on a local scale;
however, man has currently achieved a technological level, enabling him to

E. I. Wiloso (&) R. Heijungs
Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University, P.O. Box 9518, 2300 RA
Leiden, The Netherlands
e-mail: wiloso@cml.leidenuniv.nl; ediiswanto@yahoo.com

A. Singh et al. (eds.), Life Cycle Assessment of Renewable Energy Sources, 13
Green Energy and Technology, DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4471-5364-1_2,
Ó Springer-Verlag London 2013