Unintended consequences of bioethanol feedstock choice in China.
Economic, energy, and environmental impacts of 11 types of bioethanol feedstock in China were evaluated using a mixed-unit input-output life cycle assessment model. Corn grain and wheat grain had higher negative economic, energy, and environmental impacts. Sweet sorghum, cassava, sugar beet, and sugarcane showed better economic performance but increasing negative energy and environmental impacts. Cellulose-based feedstocks in general showed positive economic, energy, and environmental performance; but may lead to increasing negative impacts on freshwater use, global warming, toxicity, and aquatic ecotoxicity. Sugarcane-based bioethanol had the potential to provide positive economic, energy, and environmental impacts in China. Scrap paper-derived ethanol could also become promising under significant government support.
School of Environment, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. liangsai09@gmail.com
Sai
S
Liang
Ming
M
Xu
Tianzhu
T
Zhang
D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D002681:China; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004777:Environment; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism*; D017752:Greenhouse Effect / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010944:Plants / Q000382:microbiology*
D000431:Ethanol