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Attributional life cycle assessment (ALCA) of polyitaconic acid production from northeast US softwood biomass

  • LCA OF CHEMICALS
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

Shifting the resource base for chemical and energy production from fossil feed stocks to renewable raw materials is seen by many as one of the key strategies towards sustainable development. The objective of this study is to assess the environmental burdens of producing polyitaconic acid (PIA), a water-soluble polymer derived from itaconic acid identified by the US Department of Energy as one of the top 12 value added chemicals from northeast (NE) US softwood biomass. Results are compared to corn-derived PIA and fossil-based poly acrylic acid (PAA) on the basis of 1 kg of polymer at the factory gate.

Methods

This study uses attributional life cycle assessment to quantify global warming potential (GWP), fossil energy demand (CED), acidification, eutrophication, water use, and land occupation of the polymer production routes. This includes feedstock growth and harvest, sugar extraction, fermentation, itaconic acid recovery, and subsequent polymerization. Foreground data for softwood-derived PIA comes from lab- and pilot plant runs undertaken by Itaconix LLC.

Results and discussion

Results indicate that the use of softwood-based PIA may be advantageous in terms of GWP, CED, and acidification when compared to both, the integrated corn biorefinery and fossil-based PAA production. When looking at impacts to eutrophication and water use, the use of softwood leads to lower potential impacts compared to its corn-based counterpart but to higher impacts when compared to fossil-based PAA. Land occupation, to a large extent, due to lower yields and longer growth cycles associated with softwood growth in the NE, is highest for softwood-derived PIA and lowest for fossil-based PAA. Environmental impacts are mainly the results of onsite electricity use, inputs of activated carbon and sodium hydroxide, as well as water use during sugar extraction and fermentation. Assumptions with regards to allocation, activated carbon inputs, and electricity mixes to processes of the foreground system are tested in a sensitivity analysis.

Conclusions

Wood-derived PIA production may be an interesting alternative to current fossil-based pathways and could contribute to a future biobased economy. However, currently, land occupation, water use, and eutrophication are high when compared to traditional PAA production. The use of short rotation crops or waste feedstocks and optimization with regards to water requirements and reuse should be investigated to further lower system-wide impacts.

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Notes

  1. www.itaconix.com

  2. Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont

  3. In reality, the corn-based biorefinery would likely be located in the Midwestern USA in close proximity to the corn belt. However, since the goal and scope of this paper is to compare the biorefinery process using wood to the use of corn, we choose similar electricity mixes for all processes of the foreground system.

  4. The process “Pulpwood, softwood, US NE-NC” is used.

  5. NAI represents the average annual volume over a reference period of gross increment less natural losses and hence represents a good estimate for the required forest land area for biomass provision.

  6. This includes pulp-grade wood, lignin, and mycelium.

  7. This price is simply based on currently existing commercial IA production pathways and does not imply the production cost or target price for Itaconix LLC.

  8. Given a radius of 70 m, the transportation distance was calculated as follows:

    $$ {{1} \left/ {{\sqrt {2} \cdot 70\;{\mathrm{miles} = 49}.5\;{\mathrm{miles}}.}} \right.} $$

  9. The CED indicator encompasses nonrenewable fossil (i.e., coal, oil, etc.) and nuclear (i.e., uranium) energy demand.

  10. Includes fossil feedstock energy.

  11. According to Oneil et al. (2010), fertilization is used by a few large private landowners but it is overall not a common practice in the NE region.

  12. From −0.13 to −0.36 kg CO2-eq if the carbon temporarily sequestered in the PIA is included.

  13. From 0.74 to 0.53 kg CO2-eq if the carbon temporarily sequestered in the PIA is included.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Yvon Durant and staff at Itaconix LLC for providing process data and assisting with the LCI analysis. We also would like to thank DOE-USDA (grant no. 2009-10006-06046) for funding the LCA task of the project and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Research Group, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    Philip Nuss & Kevin H. Gardner

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  1. Philip Nuss
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  2. Kevin H. Gardner
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Correspondence to Philip Nuss.

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Responsible editor: Ivan Muñoz

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Nuss, P., Gardner, K.H. Attributional life cycle assessment (ALCA) of polyitaconic acid production from northeast US softwood biomass. Int J Life Cycle Assess 18, 603–612 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-012-0511-y

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