The net greenhouse warming forcing of methanol produced from biomass

• Autores: R. T. Ellington, M. Meo, D. A. El-Sayed
• Localización: Biomass and bioenergy, ISSN 0961-9534, Vol. 4, Nº 6, 1993, pág. 405
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Recent national and international actions regarding atmosphere warming mitigation, clean technology, and technology transfer have emphasized the need for a method for unambiguous greenhouse gas emissions analysis for comparing technologies, documentation of application of the method, and proof of applicability. We have developed and applied such an approach to production of methanol fuel from woody biomass. The entire approach is detailed, whereby the system was defined, its emissions for its entire lifetime delineated, and the atmospheric warming forcing calculated for that lifetime plus after effects. The results are presented with material and energy balances including ancillary equipment, external energy subsidies and invested quantities. These extend the analysis considerably beyond those possible using the global warming potential (GWP). For wood input of 283 mg day−1, 70 mg of methanol are produced. System carbon dioxide emissions are 3.18 tonne/tonne methanol produced, with another 1.37 mg emitted when that tonne methanol is burned in a vehicle. System energy usage efficiency was 41.2%, and 41.1% with inclusion of energy to construct the system. In essence, more than two Joules of carbon must be produced in wood for every Joule burned in the vehicle.