title: Energy intensity, life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, and economic assessment of liquid biofuel pipelines.
abstract: Petroleum fuels are predominantly transported domestically by pipelines, whereas biofuels are almost exclusively transported by rail, barge, and truck. As biofuel production increases, new pipelines may become economically attractive. Location-specific variables impacting pipeline viability include construction costs, availability and costs of alternative transportation modes, electricity prices and emissions (if priced), throughput, and subsurface temperature. When transporting alcohol or diesel-like fuels, pipelines have a lower direct energy intensity than rail, barge, and trucks if fluid velocity is under 1 m/s for 4-inch diameter pipelines and 2 m/s for 8-inch or larger pipelines. Across multiple hypothetical state-specific scenarios, profit-maximizing design velocities range from 1.2 to 1.9 m/s. In costs and GHG emissions, optimized pipelines outperform trucks in each state and rail and barge in most states, if projected throughput exceeds four billion liters/year. If emissions are priced, optimum design diameters typically increase to reduce pumping energy demands, increasing the cost-effectiveness of pipeline projects.
authors.affiliation: Energy Biosciences Institute, 2151 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA. Electronic address: bret@ce.berkeley.edu.
authors.forename: Bret
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Strogen
authors.forename: Arpad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Horvath
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zilberman
mesh_terms: D000397:Air Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D056804:Biofuels / Q000191:economics*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004560:Electricity; D000431:Ethanol / Q000191:economics / Q000378:metabolism; D017752:Greenhouse Effect / Q000191:economics*; D057766:Policy; D013696:Temperature; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014186:Transportation; D035501:Uncertainty; D001335:Vehicle Emissions / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D001335:Vehicle Emissions; D000431:Ethanol
keywords: Alternative fuel; Climate policy; Freight transportation; Life-cycle assessment; Systems analysis