4. Life Cycle Assessment of Fuel
Ethanol in Brazil
Prof. Dr. Aldo Roberto Ometto
Production Engineering Department
Engineering School of São Carlos
University of São Paulo

5. AGENDA
• Sustainability and Environmental Management in
Agribusiness
• Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) of sugar cane
fuel ethanol in Brazil
• Sustainable Future Strategies for Fuel Ethanol in
Brazil

6. Sustainability Drivers
Social
Sustainability
Environmental Economic
Time Local
Dimension Dimension
Society

7. Environmental Diversity

8. Agribusiness Diversity

9. Premise

10. Environmental Management
Environmental Process and
Features Product Life Cycle
Land Use Planning Inventory Analysis
Environmental Analysis
Monitoring Mitigation
SOUZA (2000)

11. Environmental Analysis
Territorial Analytical
Analysis Tools
Geoinformation Life Cycle
Assessment
Soils
Topography
Hidrography
Geology
Infrastructure
Other variables: land use,
socioeconomic aspects
Potentials and
constraints
Source: www. ean-int.org/agr_food_meat_livestock

12. Monitoring
Internet / Intranet
Open Source
(Geo) Traceability
Monitored Products
Life Cycle Units
Life Cycle Unit
Sensor Input
Processing
IT-Interface Actor Output Source for LCU: TU Berlin, 2004

14. AGENDA
• Brazilian Experience in Fuel Ethanol Production
• Sustainability and Environmental Management in
Agribusiness
• Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) of sugar cane
fuel ethanol in Brazil
• Sustainable Future Strategies for Fuel Ethanol in
Brazil

15. Brazilian Fuel Alcohol
Positive Aspects
 Ethanol: – a renewable fuel (better for global warming);
– less pollutant than fossil fuel during use phase.
 System: high potential biomass energy production.
Negative Aspects
 Environmental impacts and energy losses during
the activities of the life cycle:
– Poor biodiversity; intensive use of
pesticides, water, erosion, burning and others.

16. Ethanol Life Cycle Activities
Soil Preparation
Sugar Cane Plantation
Pesticide Application
Irrigation with Recycled Products
Harvesting
Industrial Alcohol Process
Electrical Cogeneration Plant
Transportation
The use of fuel alcohol

17. Ethanol Life Cycle Activities

18.  Soil Preparation Equipment

20. AMA

21. AMA

23. AMA

24. AMA

27. AMA

30. AMA

31. AMA

32. AMA

33. AMA

34. AMA

35. AMA

36. AMA

37. AMA

38. AMA

39. AMA

40.  Sugar cane milling

41.  Decanter for the juice

42.  Fermentators

43.  Distillation collums

44.  Vinasse Channels for irrigation

45. AMA

48. Electricity Cogenerator
 Boiler  Energy Generator

49. Matrix: Life Cycle Impact Assessment
A) Systems Establishing (Acquisition of Land and Equipment, Civil
and Industrial Projects and Civil and Industrial Buildings)
1) Soil Preparation
2) Sugar Cane Plantation
3) Application of agrochemicals
4) Harvesting
5) Industrial Production of Alcohol
6) Steam and electricity cogeneration
7) Irrigation
8) Ethanol Distribution
9) Use of Alcohol as fuel
B) Decommissioning of installations

50. Environmental System Life Cycle Fuel Ethanol Activities
Environmental Environmental Environmental Raw Material Extraction Industrial Pos Industrial
Sub-system Component Factor
A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 B
Atmospheric Atmospheric Climate - - -+ - + +
Air quality - -+ - - - - - - + +
Soil Quality and - - - - - + +
Terrestrial Physical Erosion
Agricultural - - -
Biological Vegetation - - - -
Fauna - - - -
Land Use - - - - -
Physical- Rivers - - - - - - - - -
Aquatic Chemical- Groundwater - - - - - - - -
Biological
Biodiversity - - - - - - - -
Infrastructure Transport + - - - -
Water use - - -
Demography Habitant - -
Migration - -+ - - - -
Cultural - Economical Agriculture -+ + -+ - - -+ + + -+
Economic - Social Industry + + + - + + - + -+
Business + - + + + +
Life quality Education - - +
Health - - - - - - -
Employment - - - - + + - -
Landscape - Historical - Cultural - - - - +
Political - Institutional -+ -+ -+ - -+ + - - + -

51. Matrix Results
Most harmful activities:
1. Harvesting – burning:
 Air emissions; health problems; erosion;
 Losses of organic matter,
microorganisms, vegetation, industrial
productivity and energy
2. Conventional Soil Conservation; Plantation
and Pesticide Application:
 High toxicity: health problems, water and soil
contamination
3. Manufacturing:
 High water consumption and
vinasse production

52. EDIP Method
Main Assumptions
 The functional unit of this study is 10000
kilometers.
Considering a mean consumption of 8 km/l, the
reference flow is 1000 kg of ethanol.
The results are calculated assuming the average
sugar cane and ethanol productivity from 2001 to
2008, which are 72t sugar cane/ha and 85 l ethanol/ t
sugar cane, according to the primary data.
For the reference flow (1t of ethanol), the sugar
cane plantation area is 0,20 ha, which is the needed
land-use for this one-year crop cultivation.

53. Fuel Ethanol Product System

54. Life Cycle Impact Assessment
EDIP
Environmental Impact Categories
(Impact Potentials)
• Global Warming
• Ozone Formation
• Acidification
• Nutrient Enrichment
• Ecotoxicity
• Human Toxicity

55. Global Warming

56. Photochemical Ozone Formation

57. Acidification

58. Nutrient Enrichment

59. Nutrient Enrichment

60. Ecotoxicity in Soil

61. Ecotoxicity in Water (Chronic)

62. Human Toxicity via Air

63. Human Toxicity via Soil

64. Human Toxicity via Water

65. Life Cycle Impact Assessment
Thermodynamic Analysis
Exergy: work potential that can be obtained as the
system changes from the given state to a state of
equilibrium with the environment (dead state) while
exchanging heat solely with the environment
ex straw = B (LHV + hw Zw) + exw Zw (1)
ZH 2 ZO 2  ZH 2 

1.0412 0.2160 0.2499 10.7884
ZC ZC  ZC   2
 palha
ZO 2
10.3035
ZC

66. Life Cycle Impact Assessment
Exergy Results
• The specific exergy of sugarcane
straw is calculated as 17,761.53 kJ/kg
• Bagasse has a specific exergy of
10,259.335 kJ/kg

67. Life Cycle Assessment
• Social
• Costs

68. AGENDA
• Brazilian Experience in Fuel Ethanol Production
• Sustainability and Environmental Management in
Agribusiness
• Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) of sugar cane
fuel ethanol in Brazil
• Sustainable Future Strategies for Fuel Ethanol in
Brazil

69. Sustainable Future Directions
 No Burning
 Electricity production from straw
 Less pesticides
 Less internal transportation
 Less fossil fuel use
 Less water consumption in industry
 Species diversity mantaining natural vegetation
 Ethanol combustion otimization in vehicles
 Economic, Social and Environmental integrated
system

70. GERIPA: Ethanol and Food Production

71. Thank you
Prof. Dr. Aldo Roberto Ometto
E-mail: aometto@sc.usp.br
Tel. +55 (16) 3373-8608