Life Cycle Associates, LLC successfully developed two cellulosic ethanol pathways for Abengoa Bioenergy under the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The California Air Resources Board has approved both fuel pathways under the CA LCFS and posted the pathways to the LCFS Website.
One pathway is for corn stover to ethanol and the other for wheat straw to ethanol. Life Cycle Associates conducted life cycle analyses that calculate the carbon intensity (CI) resulting from the production of ethanol from corn stover and wheat straw from Abengoa Bioenergy’s cellulosic ethanol plant. The carbon intensity of Abengoa Bioenergy’s cellulosic ethanol was calculated by considering all the incremental emissions that occur from farming through the production of ethanol, including the GHG emissions associated with the nutrients that must be applied to fields from which stover and straw have been removed to make up for the nutrients lost when residues are removed. Life Cycle Associates followed the LCFS procedure and coordinated the registration process with the California Air Resources Board. With approval of its cellulosic ethanol pathways, Abengoa Bioenergy is now registered to sell fuel in California.
Corn stover, the feedstock for the ethanol produced under the first pathway is a residue of the corn plant left in the field after corn harvest and is made up of the plant’s stalks, leaves, and cob. Collection steps include windrowing, baling, stacking and loading on transport trucks. Wheat straw is the dried stalk of the wheat crop after the grain and chaff have been removed. Click here, to see the full pathway report.
Life Cycle Associates calculated the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions associated with ethanol production from molasses using the CA_GREET model. The CA-GREET model is a California-specific version of Argonne National Laboratory’s GREET life cycle model. Life Cycle Associates develops custom overlays to the CA-GREET model that allow for the preparation of fuel pathway calculations for the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
About Abengoa
Abengoa (MCE:ABG.B/P SM) (Nasdaq:ABGB) applies innovative technology solutions for sustainability in the energy and environment sectors, generating electricity from renewable resources, converting biomass into biofuels and producing drinking water from seawater. (www.abengoa.com)