Under the Microscope: Understanding the economics and environmental impacts of bioenergy and steps toward carbon footprint certification

A blog post by Dr. Farid Bensebaa, Team Leader for the National Research Council of Canada

To dial back the threat of climate change, investors, technology developers and policy-makers are working round the clock to invent disruptive, cleaner technologies while addressing challenges related to waste and residues management. Their success depends on how well they understand not only the costs of new technologies at scale, but also their carbon footprint. To identify the most promising solutions and quantify gaps in current science, technology and policy, they need an integrated framework of databases and multiple assessment tools.

My team and I are working to get this information, which will soon be at their fingertips. We are about to launch the world’s first integrated online platform for assessing economics and carbon intensity of biomass supply chains and biomass conversion processes with and without carbon capture. This cloud-based techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle analysis (LCA) platform was developed in partnership with Canadian and international research organizations.

A number of partners have shared their knowledge and expertise about different aspects of biomass supply chain and methodology assessments. We are also working with Ressources naturelles Canada (RNCan) , Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada/ Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada , CanmetENERGY in Varennes , Canadian universities ( 加拿大女王大学 and the The University of British Columbia ), and industry partners (Fibre Pontiac, Forespect inc. , Abritech and Biomass Supply Chain Consulting) to generate and organize data sets required to assess several emerging biomass conversion technologies to produce heat, electricity and renewable liquid/gas fuel. This knowledge includes upstream and downstream processing, LCA methodology and databases that are critical to building an integrated LCA/TEA framework. I am convinced that our collaboration will help align the right tools to create synergy and facilitate global adoption of bioenergy solutions.

Three recent publications provide examples of how the platform can be used. The first publication modelled cost and carbon footprint impact of the upstream supply of wood biomass. The second one used artificial intelligence to fill in data gaps needed to make accurate predictions about greenhouse gas emissions of biofuel. The third one modelled the upstream and downstream supply chain of waste to energy in the context of Canadian rural and urban areas.

More recently, life cycle inventory (LCI) datasets have been developed for different bio-products. LCI is a critical step towards deployment of prescriptive life cycle assessment (LCA), including generation?of carbon credit for climate change solutions. Please visit our online platform for a quick tour: Collaboration Platform for Open Life Cycle Analysis (nrc-cnrc.gc.ca)

If you are interested in learning more about this, register in our upcoming Webinar !?

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