Comparative review of three approaches to biofuel production from energy crops as feedstock in a developing country

• DOI: 10.1016/j.biteb.2020.100412
• Publication Date: 2020-03-09T09:20:05Z
• Authors: Amin Nikkhah; Mamdouh El Haj Assad; Kurt A. Rosentrater; Sami Ghnimi; Sam Van Haute
• Keywords: Agriculture and Food Sciences; Renewable energy; Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering; 330; Energy crop; Biogas; Agriculture; Bioethanol; and Energy; 02 engineering and technology; Oil; 7. Clean energy; 12. Responsible consumption; Sustainability; Gas; 13. Climate action; [SDV.IDA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Food engineering; 0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering; [SPI.GPROC]Engineering Sciences [physics]/Chemical and Process Engineering; Biodiesel; [SDV.AEN]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Food and Nutrition

Abstract This study is a comparative evaluation of three approaches to biofuel production from energy crops including biogas, bioethanol and biodiesel to ascertain which one is the most effective and more energy-efficient than the others. Moreover, the potential of biofuel production from the best option was studied. For this purpose, biogas generation from corn silage, bioethanol generation from corn, and biodiesel production from peanuts in Iran (as a case study) were studied. The results revealed that 10,683.36 m3 of biogas, 2.53 m3 of bioethanol and 0.70 m3 of biodiesel could be produced per each hectare of energy crops. The total greenhouse gas emissions for each MJ energy generation of biogas, bioethanol and biodiesel were 0.01, 0.04 and 0.03 kgCO2eq, respectively. Accordingly, the total annual biogas potential from corn silage (as the best option) in Iran is 3953.74 million m3, which is equivalent to 1515.94 million barrels of oil.