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Life‐cycle greenhouse gas emissions of corn kernel fiber ethanol
Author(s) -
Qin Zhangcai,
Li Qianfeng,
Wang Michael,
Han Jeongwoo,
Dunn Jennifer B.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
biofuels, bioproducts and biorefining
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.931
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1932-1031
pISSN - 1932-104X
DOI - 10.1002/bbb.1916
Subject(s) - greenhouse gas , biofuel , cellulosic ethanol , corn ethanol , ethanol fuel , life cycle assessment , gasoline , ethanol , environmental science , pulp and paper industry , waste management , chemistry , cellulose , engineering , economics , production (economics) , ecology , biology , macroeconomics , organic chemistry
Corn kernel fiber ethanol that can be produced concurrently with corn starch ethanol has recently been approved as cellulosic biofuel in the USA, suggesting that fiber ethanol could be eligible for a higher credit price than conventional starch ethanol due to its anticipated lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A life‐cycle analysis was conducted to quantify ethanol's GHG emissions. Here we show that fiber ethanol's life‐cycle GHG emissions (36–39 g CO 2 e MJ −1 ) are close to meeting the US cellulosic biofuel's legislative mandate of 60% GHG emissions reduction relative to gasoline (~94 g CO 2 e MJ −1 ), with slightly lower emissions under the nth plant mature fiber technology than under the state of technology (SOT). The co‐product, distiller's grain with solubles (DGS), can notably affect fiber ethanol's GHG emissions, and this impact may need to be further examined when evidence of DGS market impacts becomes available. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd