3 Sustainability of Renewable Feedstocks
Typically, renewable raw materials are usually not superior in all environmental
categories and pros and cons have to be considered. Therefore, BASF only uses
sustainable renewable feedstock, which is certified as sustainable according to the
criteria of the Renewable Energy Directive of the EU Commission. Under this
framework several standards (e.g. ISCC, REDcert) comply with principles such as:
(1) Sustainable production of feedstock
(2) Fulfilment of social standards in agriculture
(3) Protection of biodiversity
(4) Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
(5) Minimized interference with local food supply
BASF strives to continuously improve the sustainability profile of purchased
bio-based feedstocks and therefore it is important to keep the share of 1st generation
renewables as low as possible. Thanks to new collections systems and innovative
technologies, the production of renewable feedstocks based on wastes (e.g. kitchen
or other residues) is getting more attractive, and BASF is cooperating with its
suppliers to broaden the sustainable feedstock portfolio.
For the chemical industry, naphtha and natural gas are among the most important
raw materials. BASF has identified certified bio-based comparatives without
technical compromises. By replacing naphtha and natural gas at the beginning of
the value chain at highly optimized Verbund sites, BASF can principally produce
many thousands of biomass balance products, which can be used as drop-in solution for customers in various industries.
4 Implementation in LCA
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an important tool to evaluate quantitatively the
environmental impacts of products [5]. Therefore, BASF implemented the biomass
balance concept into LCA by respecting the appropriate ISO 14040 series.
The calculation for BMB products is conducted in GaBi software on the basis of
the existing model for the fossil-based product. A material flow analysis is used that
enables calculating the feedstock use in the final product.
The respective BMB product is calculated on the basis of the fossil product by
replacing fossil-based naphtha and natural gas with biofeedstock derived naphtha
(= bionaphtha) and biofeedstock derived natural gas (= biogas). In Fig. 3 the calculation principle of the environmental burden B for biomass balance products is
shown, which is the sum of the difference of the bio-based feedstocks and its fossil
comparatives.
104
C. Krüger et al.
Typically, renewable raw materials are usually not superior in all environmental
categories and pros and cons have to be considered. Therefore, BASF only uses
sustainable renewable feedstock, which is certified as sustainable according to the
criteria of the Renewable Energy Directive of the EU Commission. Under this
framework several standards (e.g. ISCC, REDcert) comply with principles such as:
(1) Sustainable production of feedstock
(2) Fulfilment of social standards in agriculture
(3) Protection of biodiversity
(4) Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
(5) Minimized interference with local food supply
BASF strives to continuously improve the sustainability profile of purchased
bio-based feedstocks and therefore it is important to keep the share of 1st generation
renewables as low as possible. Thanks to new collections systems and innovative
technologies, the production of renewable feedstocks based on wastes (e.g. kitchen
or other residues) is getting more attractive, and BASF is cooperating with its
suppliers to broaden the sustainable feedstock portfolio.
For the chemical industry, naphtha and natural gas are among the most important
raw materials. BASF has identified certified bio-based comparatives without
technical compromises. By replacing naphtha and natural gas at the beginning of
the value chain at highly optimized Verbund sites, BASF can principally produce
many thousands of biomass balance products, which can be used as drop-in solution for customers in various industries.
4 Implementation in LCA
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an important tool to evaluate quantitatively the
environmental impacts of products [5]. Therefore, BASF implemented the biomass
balance concept into LCA by respecting the appropriate ISO 14040 series.
The calculation for BMB products is conducted in GaBi software on the basis of
the existing model for the fossil-based product. A material flow analysis is used that
enables calculating the feedstock use in the final product.
The respective BMB product is calculated on the basis of the fossil product by
replacing fossil-based naphtha and natural gas with biofeedstock derived naphtha
(= bionaphtha) and biofeedstock derived natural gas (= biogas). In Fig. 3 the calculation principle of the environmental burden B for biomass balance products is
shown, which is the sum of the difference of the bio-based feedstocks and its fossil
comparatives.
104
C. Krüger et al.