Modeling Corn Ethanol and Climate

A Critical Comparison of the Bess and GREET Models

Dados Bibliográficos

ID19467331
AutoresRichard J Plevin (0000-0003-3919-0836, University of California, Berkeley, autor correspondente)
Ano2009
Volume13
Fascículo4
Páginas495-507
Data de publicação2009-08-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Industrial Ecology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1088-1980 • E-ISSN: 1530-9290
EditoraSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1530-9290.2009.00138.x
OpenAlexW1940199675
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9
Referências citadas10

New fuel regulations based on life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have focused renewed attention on life cycle models of biofuels. The BESS model estimates 25% lower life cycle GHG emissions for corn ethanol than does the well‐known GREET model, which raises questions about which model is more accurate. I develop a life cycle metamodel to compare the GREET and BESS models in detail and to explain why the results from these models diverge. I find two main reasons for the divergence: (1) BESS models a more efficient biorefinery than is modeled in the cases to which its results have been compared, and (2) in several instances BESS fails to properly count upstream emissions. Adjustments to BESS to account for these differences raise the estimated global warming intensity (not including land use change) of the corn ethanol pathway considered in that model from 45 to 61 g CO 2 e MJ −1 . Adjusting GREET to use BESS's biorefinery performance and coproduct credit assumptions reduces the GREET estimate from 64 to 61 g CO 2 e MJ −1 . Although this analysis explains the gap between the two models, both models would be improved with better data on corn production practices and by better treatment of agricultural inputs

Agriculture · Biofuel · Biorefinery · Climate change · Corn ethanol · Econometrics · Economics · Ethanol fuel · Greenhouse gas · Land use, land-use change and forestry · Life-cycle assessment · Waste management · Biofuel production and bioconversion · Computer Science · Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies · Engineering · Environmental Impact and Sustainability · Environmental Science · Mathematics · Ecology