Avaliação do ciclo de vida na produção de biodiesel de dendê

Abstract

This work aims to compare the energy use and the gaseous emissions from the production of palm oil biodiesel through the methyl and ethyl routes. For this purpose, it used the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which is a management tool that allows the identification and determination of the impacts caused by a process or a product from the acquisition of raw material to the final destination of the product (analysis of the “Cradle-to-grave "). In this sense, the life cycle of biodiesel from palm oil began with agricultural activity and ended with the stage of biofuel distribution. The process included the production, transportation, refining and distribuition stages of biodiesel based on the conditions under which biodiesel is marketed in Brazil (a mixture of 8% biodiesel and 92% diesel). The choice of the raw material was the oil palm because it presents great advantage in terms of oil yield in tons per hectare when compared to other oil crops and because it is able to develop in low fertility soils. Renewability and energy efficiency factors have shown that the B8 blend of biofuel cannot be considered a measure of environmental impact minimization because it did not meet the minimum requirements (FER and NER> 1). Pure biodiesel (B100) met the fuel renewal requirement, but it was left to be desired in terms of efficiency, so some modifications to the process are necessary to ensure its energy viability. The present study concluded that more detailed data is needed and that the transportation sector is the major negative environmental impact during the whole life cycle of this product.