32
J. Chen et al.
engine fuel is basically the same as the diesel fuel. The starting performance of the
internal combustion engine is good and the operation is stable; the exhaust emissions
are close to each other.
The life cycle assessment (LCA) method is applied to study the biodiesel project
from soybean, including soybean planting, bean power generation, soybean oil refining, biodiesel production, various transportation and biodiesel combustion emissions.
The six subprocesses were analyzed in a list and their energy consumption and environmental impact were calculated separately. The results showed that the total impact
load on biodiesel per kg of soybean oil was 9.69 milli-equivalents; the impact of
biodiesel production on environmental impact was mainly CO 2 emissions, and the
impact of global warming took the lead; it absorbs 22.264 kg of CO 2 and releases
22.527 kg of CO 2 to the environment. Biodiesel projects can play an active role
in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiesel is an environmentally friendly
project compared to diesel. Yao et al. and others conducted a net energy life cycle
assessment of biodiesel from waste oil. The study showed that the energy output of the
biodiesel production system has an energy surplus compared with the fossil energy
input, and the NaOH catalyst is 20.7 g MJ kg
−1 . The concentrated H 2 SO 4 is 24.71 g
MJ kg
−1 . Hu et al. established a life cycle energy consumption and emission assessment model for biodiesel from soybean, rapeseed, light-skinned tree and jatropha,
and evaluated life cycle energy consumption and emissions. Compared with petrochemical diesel, the overall energy consumption of soybean and rapeseed biodiesel
life cycle is basically the same as that of petrochemical diesel; the overall energy
consumption of the life cycle of light skin tree and jatropha biodiesel is about 10%
lower than that of petrochemical diesel; biodiesel life cycle fossil energy consumption is significantly reduced, life cycle of HC, CO, PM10, SO 2 and CO 2 emissions are
reduced, and NO 2 emissions are increasing. Xing et al. applied the life cycle assessment method to the process of preparing biodiesel from rapeseed oil, jatropha oil and
waste oil as raw materials, and applied subprocesses such as raw material planting,
collection and transportation, raw material pretreatment, biodiesel production and
product distribution. Resource occupancy, water resources and energy consumption
were calculated, and parameter sensitivity analysis was performed on energy consumption. The results show that the land resources of the three raw materials for
the production of 1 t biodiesel are 13132 m
2 , 3333 m
2 and 5 m
2 , respectively. The
water consumption is 9063.55 m
3 , 12306.62 m
3 and 1.97 m
3 , respectively. The fossil
energy consumption is 0.9 MJ, 0.67 MJ and 0.25 MJ. Since water consumption and
land occupation are mainly from planting links, energy consumption mainly occurs
in planting and transformation. In China, it is suitable to produce biodiesel from
waste oil and jatropha oil. The development of drought-tolerant, high-yield, highoil-bearing oil plant varieties and new high-efficiency transesterification catalysts
and optimized reaction processes are effective measures to reduce the biodiesel life
cycle resource consumption and energy consumption.
China’s “Medium and Long-term Science and Technology Development Plan”
states that biodiesel production in 2010 was 2 million tons, and production in 2020
was 12 million tons. Under the guidance of this plan, the base of biodiesel raw
materials based on woody oils such as Jatropha curcas, Pistacia chinensis, Wenguan
J. Chen et al.
engine fuel is basically the same as the diesel fuel. The starting performance of the
internal combustion engine is good and the operation is stable; the exhaust emissions
are close to each other.
The life cycle assessment (LCA) method is applied to study the biodiesel project
from soybean, including soybean planting, bean power generation, soybean oil refining, biodiesel production, various transportation and biodiesel combustion emissions.
The six subprocesses were analyzed in a list and their energy consumption and environmental impact were calculated separately. The results showed that the total impact
load on biodiesel per kg of soybean oil was 9.69 milli-equivalents; the impact of
biodiesel production on environmental impact was mainly CO 2 emissions, and the
impact of global warming took the lead; it absorbs 22.264 kg of CO 2 and releases
22.527 kg of CO 2 to the environment. Biodiesel projects can play an active role
in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiesel is an environmentally friendly
project compared to diesel. Yao et al. and others conducted a net energy life cycle
assessment of biodiesel from waste oil. The study showed that the energy output of the
biodiesel production system has an energy surplus compared with the fossil energy
input, and the NaOH catalyst is 20.7 g MJ kg
−1 . The concentrated H 2 SO 4 is 24.71 g
MJ kg
−1 . Hu et al. established a life cycle energy consumption and emission assessment model for biodiesel from soybean, rapeseed, light-skinned tree and jatropha,
and evaluated life cycle energy consumption and emissions. Compared with petrochemical diesel, the overall energy consumption of soybean and rapeseed biodiesel
life cycle is basically the same as that of petrochemical diesel; the overall energy
consumption of the life cycle of light skin tree and jatropha biodiesel is about 10%
lower than that of petrochemical diesel; biodiesel life cycle fossil energy consumption is significantly reduced, life cycle of HC, CO, PM10, SO 2 and CO 2 emissions are
reduced, and NO 2 emissions are increasing. Xing et al. applied the life cycle assessment method to the process of preparing biodiesel from rapeseed oil, jatropha oil and
waste oil as raw materials, and applied subprocesses such as raw material planting,
collection and transportation, raw material pretreatment, biodiesel production and
product distribution. Resource occupancy, water resources and energy consumption
were calculated, and parameter sensitivity analysis was performed on energy consumption. The results show that the land resources of the three raw materials for
the production of 1 t biodiesel are 13132 m
2 , 3333 m
2 and 5 m
2 , respectively. The
water consumption is 9063.55 m
3 , 12306.62 m
3 and 1.97 m
3 , respectively. The fossil
energy consumption is 0.9 MJ, 0.67 MJ and 0.25 MJ. Since water consumption and
land occupation are mainly from planting links, energy consumption mainly occurs
in planting and transformation. In China, it is suitable to produce biodiesel from
waste oil and jatropha oil. The development of drought-tolerant, high-yield, highoil-bearing oil plant varieties and new high-efficiency transesterification catalysts
and optimized reaction processes are effective measures to reduce the biodiesel life
cycle resource consumption and energy consumption.
China’s “Medium and Long-term Science and Technology Development Plan”
states that biodiesel production in 2010 was 2 million tons, and production in 2020
was 12 million tons. Under the guidance of this plan, the base of biodiesel raw
materials based on woody oils such as Jatropha curcas, Pistacia chinensis, Wenguan