Abstract
Biodiesel is an alternative to tackle global warming, especially for reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions when replacing fossil fuels. However, it can compete for land with food production. Brazil is a global player on soybeans farming and most of the biodiesel produced in the country comes from it. This work proposes a new approach to evaluate its impact, associating land use change (LUC) analysis with life cycle assessment (LCA) in a representative Brazilian soybeans farming zone. LUC assessment used Landsat satellite imagery analysis from the years 1993 and 2013, and intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) guidelines to estimate GHG emissions. LCA was based on field data collection processed with SimaPro®. Results show that the increment on annual GHG emissions per hectare, derived from the apportioning total emissions for the period studied, was 50.16 kg CO2 eq ha−1 y−1. From this increment, 97.1 % come from LUC, being the largest share from converting pastures to soybeans farming (81.2 % of the total emissions). However, in the area, a large share of converted pastures are degraded, acting as source of emissions, not as sink as considered by IPCC. At the same time, practices like no-tillage make soybeans a carbon sink. Therefore, results could change if alternative approaches were to be adopted, being a challenge for future work. Therefore, when considering biodiesel from soybeans, a close regard to local land use dynamics is essential to evaluate impacts. Besides, promoting more efficient use of land already cleared with the goal to avoid deforestation can turn biodiesel into a sustainable renewable energy source.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ABIOVE—Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (2015) Monthly statistics from the soybeans complex—October 2015 (in Portuguese). www.abiove.org.br/site/index.php?page=estatistica&area=NC0yLTE. Accessed 15 Feb 2016
Albarelli JQ, Santos DT, Holanda MR (2011) Energetic and economic evaluation of waste glycerol cogeneration. Braz J Chem Eng 28(4):691–698. doi:10.1590/S0104-66322011000400014
ANP—Brazilian National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (2015) Biodiesel Production (in Portuguese). www.anp.gov.br/?dw=8740. Accessed 24 Feb 2015
ANP—Brazilian National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (2016) Biodiesel monthly report—January, 2016 (in Portuguese). www.anp.gov.br/?dw=79407. Accessed 05 Feb 2016
APROSOJA/MS—Mato Grosso do Sul Soybean Producers Association (2014) SIGA-WEB Technique Circular n 56—April 2014 (in Portuguese). www.sigaweb.org/ms/sistema/modulos/publicacoes/arquivos/14082015_090331_56_-_circular_acompanhamento_56_prod_soja.pdf. Accessed 26 Oct 2015
Brazil (2014) Law Nº 13.033, from 24th September 2014. www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_Ato2011-2014/2014/Lei/L13033.htm. Accessed 13 Oct 2015
Bringezu S, O’Brien M, Schütz H (2012) Beyond biofuels: assessing global land use for domestic consumption of biomass: a conceptual and empirical contribution to sustainable management of global resources. Land Use Policy 29:224–232. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.06.010
Brondani M, Hoffman R, Mayer-Dias F, Schmidt-Kleinert J (2014) Environmental and energy analysis of biodiesel production in Rio Grande do Sul Brazil. Clean Technol Environ Policy 17(1):129–143. doi:10.1007/s10098-014-0768-x
Castanheira EG, Freire F (2013) Greenhouse gas assessment of soybean production: implications of land use change and different cultivation systems. J Clean Prod 54:49–60. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.05.026
Castanheira EG, Grisoli R, Coelho S, Silva GA, Freire F (2015) Life-cycle assessment of soybean-based biodiesel in Europe: comparing grain, oil and biodiesel import from Brazil. J Clean Prod 102:188–201. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.04.036
Cavalett O, Ortega E (2010) Integrated environmental assessment of biodiesel production from soybean in Brazil. J Clean Prod 18:55–70. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2009.09.008
Cavalett O, Junqueira T, Dias M, Jesus C, Mantelatto P, Cunha M, Franco H, Cardoso T, Filho R, Rossell C, Bonomi A (2012) Environmental and economic assessment of sugarcane first generation biorefineries in Brazil. Clean Technol Environ Policy 14:399–410. doi:10.1007/s10098-011-0424-7
Chouinard-Dussault P, Bradt L, Ponce-Ortega JM, El-Halwagi MM (2010) Incorporation of process integration into life cycle analysis for the production of biofuels. Clean Technol Environ Policy 13:673–685. doi:10.1007/s10098-010-0339-8
CONAB—Brazilian National Supply Company (2014) Brazilian grains harvest monitoring V.1, SAFRA 2013/14, N. 12, Twelfth Report. September 2014 (in Portuguese). www.conab.gov.br/OlalaCMS/uploads/arquivos/14_09_10_14_35_09_boletim_graos_setembro_2014.pdf. Accessed 18 Aug 2015
CRCPBAF—Family farms Reference Center for Biofuel Production (2015) www.biomercado.com.br. Accessed 05 Mar 2015 (in Portuguese)
Delgado GC (2001) Expansion and modernization of the agricultural sector after the war: a study of agrarian reflection (in Portuguese). Estudos Avançados 15(43):157–172. doi:10.1590/S0103-40142001000300013
Earth Explorer (2015) www.earthexplorer.usgs.gov/. Accessed 19 Oct 2015
EC (2009) European Commission Decision Directive 2009/28/EC of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC. Official Journal of the European Union. L140/16 of 5.6.2009
EC (2010) European Commission Decision of 10 June 2010 on guidelines for the calculation of land carbon stocks for the purpose of Annex V to Directive 2009/28/EC. Official Journal of the European Union. L151/19 of 17.6.2010
Fehrenbach H, Giegrich J, Gartner S, Reinhardt G, Rettenmaier N (2007) Greenhouse gas balances for the German biofuels quota legislation. Methodological guidance and default values. Prepared for the Federal Environmental Agency Germany, Draft, Heidelberg
Gollnow F, Lakes T (2014) Policy change, land use, and agriculture: the case of soy production and cattle ranching in Brazil, 2001–2012. J Appl Geogr 55:203–211. doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2014.09.003
Hausman C (2012) Biofuels and land use change: sugarcane and soybean acreage response in Brazil. J Environ Resour Econ 51:163–187. doi:10.1007/s10640-011-9493-7
Hill J, Nelson E, Tilman D, Polasky S, Tiffany D (2006) Environmental, economic, and energetic costs and benefits of biodiesel and ethanol biofuels. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:11206–11210. doi:10.1073/pnas.0604600103
Hou J, Zhang P, Yuan X, Zheng Y (2011) Life cycle assessment of biodiesel from soybean, jatropha and microalgae in China conditions. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 15(9):5081–5091. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2011.07.048
Hu Z, Tan P, Yan X, Lou D (2008) Life cycle energy, environment and economic assessment of soybean-based biodiesel as an alternative automotive fuel in China. Energy 33:1654–1658. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2008.06.004
IBGE—Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (2015) www.cidades.ibge.gov.br/download/mapa_e_municipios.php?uf=ms. Accessed 14 Jul 2015
INPE—National Institute For Space Research (2015) Series View®, Environment for time series visualization for land use change and land cover analysis. www.dsr.inpe.br/laf/series/. Accessed 22 Sep 2015 (in Portuguese)
IPCC (2006) Intergovernamental Panel on Climate Change. Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
IPCC (2007) Intergovernamental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC fourth assessment report: climate change 2007
Macombe C, Leskinen P, Feschet P, Antikainen R (2013) Social life cycle assessment of biodiesel production at three levels: a literature review and development needs. J Clean Prod 52:205–216. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.03.026
Mata TM, Martins AA, Sikdar SK, Costa CAV (2011) Sustainability considerations of biodiesel based on supply chain analysis. Clean Technol Environ Policy 13:655–671. doi:10.1007/s10098-010-0346-9
Miller S, Landis A, Theis T, Reich R (2007) A comparative life cycle assessment of petroleum and soybean-based lubricants. Environ Sci Technol 41:4143–4149. doi:10.1021/es062727e
MME (2014) Monthly report of renewable fuels. Ed. 81, October, 2014 (in Portuguese). www.mme.gov.br/documents/10584/1992928/Boletim_DCR_nx_81-_outubro_de_2014.pdf/bb77bfc1-3d6f-4a80-919a-a20c9d6e5cda. Accessed 26 Oct 2015
Morais S, Mata TM, Ferreira EC (2010) Life cycle assessment of soybean biodiesel and LPG as automotive fuels in Portugal. Chem Eng Trans 19:267–272. doi:10.3303/CET1019044
Mourad AL, Walter A (2011) The energy balance of soybean biodiesel in Brazil: a case study. Biofuel Bioprod Biorefin 5:185–197. doi:10.1002/bbb.278
Panichelli L, Dauriat A, Gnansounou E (2009) Life cycle assessment of soybean-based biodiesel in Argentina for export. Int J Life Cycle Assess 14:144–159. doi:10.1007/s11367-008-0050-8
Piroli EL, Becker ELS, Bolfe EL, Pereira RS (2002) Land use analysis in Arroio do Meio Watershed—Santa Maria—RS, for geographic information system and satellite view. Ciênc Rural 32(3):407–413. doi:10.1590/S0103-84782002000300007. (In Portuguese)
Pradhan A, Shrestha DS, McAloon A, Yee W, Haas M, Duffi JA (2011) Energy life-cycle assessment of soybean biodiesel revisited. Trans ASABE 54(3):1031–1039. doi:10.13031/2013.37088
Pre-sustainability (2015) SimaPro 8. Database and methods library. www.pre-sustainability.com/simapro-database-and-methods-library. Accessed 11 Jun 2015
Rajaeifar MA, Ghobadian B, Safa M, Heidari MD (2014) Energy life-cycle assessment and CO2 emissions analysis of soybean-based biodiesel: a case study. J Clean Prod 66:233–241. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.10.041
Rocha MH, Capaz RS, Lora EES, Nogueira LAH, Leme MMV, Renó MLG, del Olmo OA (2014) Life cycle assessment (LCA) for biofuels in Brazilian conditions: a meta-analysis. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 37:435–459. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2014.05.036
Sherman GE, Sutton T, Blazek R, Holl S, Dassau O, Morely B, Mitchell T and Luthman L (2013) Quantum GIS user guide—version 2.0 “Wroclaw”. www.qgis.org/downloads/. Accessed 04 Jan 2015
Tan KT, Lee KT, Mohamed AR, Bhatia S (2009) Palm oil: addressing issues and towards sustainable development. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 13(2):420–427. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2007.10.001
Van Dam J, Faaij APC, Hilbert J, Petruzzi H, Turkenburg WC (2009) Large-scale bioenergy production from soybeans and switchgrass in Argentina Part B. Environmental and socio-economic impacts on a regional level. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 13:1679–1709. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2009.03.012
Vasconcelos IM, Campello CC, Oliveira JTA, Carvalho AFU, De Sousa DOB, Maia FMM (2006) Brazilian soybean Glycine max (L.) Merr. cultivars adapted to low latitude regions: seed composition and content of bioactive proteins. Brazilian. J Bot 29(4):617–625. doi:10.1590/S0100-84042006000400012
Vasile AJ, Andreea IR, Popescu GH, Elvira N, Marian Z (2016) Implications of agricultural bioenergy crop production and prices in changing the land use paradigm—the case of Romania. Land Use Policy 50:399–407. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.10.011
Acknowledgments
The authors kindly acknowledge PRH41/ANP and CNPq.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Esteves, V.P.P., Esteves, E.M.M., Bungenstab, D.J. et al. Land use change (LUC) analysis and life cycle assessment (LCA) of Brazilian soybean biodiesel. Clean Techn Environ Policy 18, 1655–1673 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-016-1161-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-016-1161-8