A5040148242- Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- Biofuel production and bioconversion
- Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies
- Climate Change Policy and Economics
- Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
- Bioenergy crop production and management
- Global Energy and Sustainability Research
- Vehicle emissions and performance
- Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies
- Forest Management and Policy
- Energy and Environment Impacts
- Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure
- Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy
- thermodynamics and calorimetric analyses
- Genetically Modified Organisms Research
- Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Coffee research and impacts
- Scientific Computing and Data Management
- Economic and Environmental Valuation
- Oil Palm Production and Sustainability
- Model-Driven Software Engineering Techniques
- Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics
- Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production
- Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies
- Advanced Control Systems Optimization
University of Portland
2022
University of California, Berkeley
2006-2020
University of California, Davis
2008-2017
Stanford University
2008-2010
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
2008-2010
University of California System
2007
To study the potential effects of increased biofuel use, we evaluated six representative analyses fuel ethanol. Studies that reported negative net energy incorrectly ignored coproducts and used some obsolete data. All studies indicated current corn ethanol technologies are much less petroleum-intensive than gasoline but have greenhouse gas emissions similar to those gasoline. However, many important environmental production poorly understood. New metrics measure specific resource inputs...
Abstract Bioenergy deployment offers significant potential for climate change mitigation, but also carries considerable risks. In this review, we bring together perspectives of various communities involved in the research and regulation bioenergy context mitigation: Land‐use energy experts, land‐use integrated assessment modelers, human geographers, ecosystem researchers, scientists two different strands life‐cycle experts. We summarize technological options, outline state‐of‐the‐art...
Abstract The social cost of carbon dioxide (SC-CO 2 ) measures the monetized value damages to society caused by an incremental metric tonne CO emissions and is a key informing climate policy. Used governments other decision-makers in benefit–cost analysis for over decade, SC-CO estimates draw on science, economics, demography disciplines. However, 2017 report US National Academies Sciences, Engineering, Medicine 1 (NASEM) highlighted that current no longer reflect latest research. provided...
Releases of greenhouse gases (GHG) from indirect land-use change triggered by crop-based biofuels have taken center stage in the debate over role climate policy and energy security. This article analyzes these releases for maize ethanol produced United States. Factoring market-mediated responses by-product use into our analysis reduces cropland conversion 72% land used feedstock. Consequently, associated GHG release estimated framework is 800 grams carbon dioxide per megajoule (MJ); 27 MJ...
The life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions induced by increased biofuel consumption are highly uncertain: individual estimates vary from each other and has a wide intrinsic error band. Using reduced-form model, we estimated that the bounding range for indirect land-use change (ILUC) US corn ethanol expansion was 10 to 340 g CO2 MJ−1. Considering various probability distributions model parameters, broadest 95% central interval, i.e., between 2.5 97.5%ile values, ranged 21 142 CO2e ILUC...
Summary Life cycle assessment (LCA) is generally described as a tool for environmental decision making. Results from attributional LCA (ALCA), the most commonly used method, often are presented in way that suggests policy decisions based on these results will yield quantitative benefits estimated by ALCA. For example, ALCAs of biofuels routinely to suggest implementation one alternative (say, biofuel) cause an X% change greenhouse gas emissions, compared with baseline (typically gasoline)....
The ecological impact of biofuels is mediated through their effects on land, air, and water. In 2008, about 33.3 million ha were used to produce food-based coproducts. Biofuel production from food crops expected increase 170% by 2020. Economic model estimates for land-use change (LUC) associated with are 67–365 10 −6 l −1 , leading increased greenhouse gas emissions decades compared business as usual. Biodiversity reduced 60% in U.S. corn soybean fields 85% Southeast Asian oil palm...
The global warming intensities of crop-based biofuels and fossil fuels differ not only in amount but also their discharge patterns over time. Early discharges, for example, from market-mediated land use change, will have created more by any time the future than later owing to slow decay atmospheric CO2. A spreadsheet model this process, BTIME, captures important pattern effect using Bern CO2 allow be compared policy decisions on basis real effects with a variety user-supplied parameter...
Few of the numerous published studies emissions from biofuels-induced "indirect" land use change (ILUC) attempt to propagate and quantify uncertainty, those that have done so restricted their analysis a portion modeling systems used. In this study, we pair global, computable general equilibrium model with greenhouse gas land-use parametric uncertainty in paired system's estimates ILUC induced by expanded production three biofuels. We find for fuel examined—US corn ethanol, Brazilian sugar...
Major models should make trade-offs more transparent
Summary New fuel regulations based on life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have focused renewed attention models of biofuels. The BESS model estimates 25% lower GHG for corn ethanol than does the well‐known GREET model, which raises questions about is more accurate. I develop a metamodel to compare and in detail explain why results from these diverge. find two main reasons divergence: (1) efficient biorefinery modeled cases its been compared, (2) several instances fails properly count...
Few integrated analysis models examine significant U.S. transportation greenhouse gas emission reductions within an energy system. Our analysis, using a bottom-up MARKet ALocation (MARKAL) model, found that stringent system-wide CO2 reduction targets will be required to achieve from the sector. Mitigating can result in changes personal vehicle technologies, increases fuel efficiency, and decreases overall use. We analyze policy-oriented mitigation strategies suggest policies should informed...
Summary Estimates of the climate‐change mitigation benefits biofuels are varied and controversial. Some analysts rely on attributional life cycle assessment (ALCA), limiting analytic scope to direct supply chain, whereas others supplement an ALCA result with estimate land‐use change (LUC) emissions intensity. Other have used consequential (CLCA), methods ranging from static market assessments identify likely marginal product supplier, running partial general equilibrium models changes in...
To explore the effect of CO 2 price on effective cost ethanol production we have developed a model that integrates financial and emissions accounting for dry-mill corn plants.Three policy options are modeled: (1) charge per unit life cycle emissions, (2) direct biorefinery only, (3) low carbon fuel standard (LCFS).A increases costs by between $0.005 $0.008 l -1 $10 Mg increment, across all modeled plant energy systems, with under somewhat lower in cases.In contrast, LCFS selected systems...
Biomass can help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by displacing petroleum in the transportation sector, fossil-based electricity, and sequestering atmospheric carbon. Which use mitigates most depends on market regulatory contexts outside scope of attributional life cycle assessments. We show that bioelectricity's advantage over liquid biofuels GHG intensity electricity displaced. Bioelectricity displaces coal-fired could emissions, but bioelectricity wind increase emissions. The...
We thank the authors of three letters (Hertwich 2014; Brandão et al. Dale and Kim 2014) for taking time to respond our article (Plevin 2014). Although raised numerous interesting issues worthy discussion, we found that many critical comments addressed outside scope article. Rather than exhausting limited space arguing against what did not write, focus here on discussed in leave it as an exercise reader (and perhaps letter writers) compare original claims made letters. The attributional...