11 March 2014 Environmental & Process Systems Engineering · Petrie and H von Blottnitz; Mineral...

Environmental & Process Systems Engineering 11 March 2014

Preamble

I assume that the audience knows what LCA is

No definitions given

Environmental & Process Systems Engineering 2

E&PSE’s LCA history

Back in the mists of time

The biofuel years

Hosting the world

(Preparing to study all of) South Africa’s E&D problems

Some work on water

Towards building a national centre


When SETAC defined LCA…

Environmental & Process System Engineering 4

From process design to the centrality of energy

von Blottnitz, H (MSc) Development and Assessment of a Hydrometallurgical Process to Treat Steel Plant Dusts, 1994

Forbes, P (MSc) The Use of Life Cycle Assessment in the Evaluation of Environmental Performance in the Base Metals Industry, 1999

Rwodzi, B (MSc) An Environmental Assessment Of Technology Options For The Recycling Of Used Lubricating Oil In South Africa 2000

Stewart, M (PhD) Environmental Life Cycle Considerations for Design-related Decision Making in Mineral Processing, 2000

Notten, P (PhD) Life Cycle Inventory Uncertainty in Resource-Based Industries - A Focus on Coal-Based Power Generation, 2001


2001-2011


Early work with the SA sugar industry

Theka, E (MSc) A Life Cycle Assessment of Ethanol Produced from Sugarcane Molasses, 2002

Botha, T (MSc) The Application of Recent Advances in Process Systems Design to Energetic Utilisation of Biomass, 2003


The bioenergy life-cycle

Stage A: Production of Inputs

Stage B: Agriculture

& harvesting

Stage C: Transport

Stage D: Conversion

Process

Cs = carbon fixed during biomass growth

Ca - Cd, C’e = carbon input from fossil energy

Eb Ec

Ed

Enet

Xa – Xe, X’e = emissions to the environment

Xc Xd

Cb

Cc Cd

Xb

Eint

Ea

Es

Solar energy input

Xa Ca

Ecop

Stage E: Combustion at

consumer

Ce= carbon released from combustion

E’e

Xe X’e

Ea - Ed, E’e = fossil energy input C’e

Tracking the (ecological) sustainability analysis of biofuel systems

An evolving story

In 2005, more than 400 published LCAs on biodiesel (soybean, rapeseed)

fuel ethanol (from cane, maize, grapes)

export of electricity from processing plant

Reviews attempting to consolidate (e.g. Quirin et al., 2005; von Blottnitz & Curran, 2007)

2008: Systematic Accounting errors! (dLUC, iLUC)

2007

“… These LCAs typically report that bio-ethanol results in reductions in resource use and global warming; however, impacts on acidification, human toxicity and ecological toxicity, occurring mainly during the growing and processing of biomass, were more often unfavourable than favourable. It is in this area that further work is needed.”

System expansion: Bio-H2 or bio-ethanol, and what do with it? Melamu, R. and H. von Blottnitz, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 34, pp. 1126-1134, 2009

Best results here for most impact categories: coal-based electricity is replaced, by more efficient value chain!

More ‘biofuel-LCA’ theses

Melamu, R: “Hydrogen as an Energy Product from Agriculturally Produced Sugars and Starches in South Africa”; MSc, June 2008

Letete, T: “Multiobjective modelling of biofuel supply systems”, MSc, 2009.


But the biofuel story continues…

Nasterlack, T: “Environmental and Social Dimensions of Fuel Ethanol Production in Cradock, South Africa, in the Context of the Wider Biofuels Debate”; MSc (co-supervised), 2013

Masilela, P: “A life cycle sustainability investigation of clean development opportunities arising from waste-based bio-hydrogen generation” (ongoing PhD)


Dec 2011

LCSA = LCA+SLCA+LCC ?

LCM 2009


An I/O LCA to capture South Africa’s environment & development problem and to help set priorities for LCA research


Environmental & Process Systems Engineering Research Group

19th International Sustainable Development Research Conference 1 July 2013

Allocation of South Africa's greenhouse gas emission to different income groups and its evolution under

different economic growth and income distribution scenarios

Steve Piaget and Harro von Blottnitz

Scope

‘energy’ GHG emissions only

20 Environmental & Process Systems Engineering | S. Piaget & H. von Blottnitz

South Africa

production

South Africa

final demand

Import to South Africa

Exports

from

South Africa

Rest of the World

Total impact

due to

South Africa

Impact in

South Africa

for the World

Total

impact in

South Africa

Impact in

South Africa

for South

Africa

Data

Supply and Use Table 2005/2006

171 sectors by 104 products

Energy Balance 2005/6 (Subramoney et al., 2010) only GHG from combusting fuels

Income and Expenditure Survey (2005/6)

But 10th decile split up into 5 groups, to accentuate inequality effects

Environmental & Process Systems Engineering | S. Piaget & H. von Blottnitz 21

Overview

22

Total GHG emission

Exports Households consumption

General government consumption

Capital formation

Changes in inventories

Total final

Demand MtCO2e/a 110 285 23 44 4 467

% 24 61 5 9 1 100

‘Food’

MtCO2e/a 5 50 - 0.3 0.1 55

Of final demand (%) 5 17 0.0 0.6 3.2 11.8 Of 'Food’ (%) 10 89 0.0 0.5 0.3 100.0

Environmental & Process Systems Engineering | S. Piaget & H. von Blottnitz

Methodology

23

Supply-Table

Diff.

modifications

Supply-Table

Diff.

modifications

! "#!!"#$%"

! "#$%#&'( "

Use-Table

correction by

Energy Balance

Energy Balance

diff.

modifications

Energy Balance

correction by

IES

IO-Table

GHG emission

per Income

decile

Forecast

GHG emission

Energy Balance

diff.

modifications

Energy Balance Use-Table Supply-Table

GHG intensity

per sector

Environmentally

extended IO-

Tables

Income &

Expenditure

Survey


Patterns of GHG intensity of household expenditure

24


Total direct and indirect consumption-induced GHG emission per household and income decile

25

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

GH

G e

mis

sio

n (

tCO

2e/a

)

Household Income Decile

Total GHG emission per Household Total GHG emission Quintile top Decile Average GHG emission per Household


But no “water footprints”


Industrial topics

Ras, C: “Interventions in Large Inland Industrial Complexes to Improve Environmental Sustainability”, MSc, 2011

Kunene, M: “LCA of xanthate production and its use in acid-preventative processing of sulphide tailings”; MSc ongoing.


A clean-tech SAFARI and more Swiss collaboration


Life Cycle Assessment for South African Food & Agriculture Reduced Impacts

A CleanTech and GreenTech project funded by the Swiss South African Joint Research Programme (SSAJRP) 2014-2016

Project Members

University of Cape Town (UCT), Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), University of Stellenbosch (US), The Green House (TGH).

Principle investigators: Professor Harro von Blottnitz (UCT); Dr Deborah Scharfy & Matthias Stucki (ZHAW)


Environmental & Process Systems Engineering 20 January 2014

SAFARI scope Agri-food product Inventory datasets Notes

Meat Pigs, at industrial farm, SA

Pork, at slaughterhouse, SA

Pet food, at slaughterhouse, SA

Beef, at extensive farm, SA

Beef, at intensive farm, SA

Beef, at slaughterhouse, SA

Partnering with Univ. of Stellenbosch;

Beef needs additional partner support

Feeds Pig feed, at farm, SA

Dairy cow feed, at farm, SA

Maize yellow, GMO, irrigated, at farm, SA

Maize yellow, GMO, non-irrigated, at farm, SA

Brewery spent grains, SA

Cereals Maize white, GMO, at farm, SA

Maize white, organic, at farm, SA

Dairy Fodder crops, on farm, SA

Fresh Milk, at dairy farm, KZN vs WCape

Fresh milk, at dairy plant, KZN vs WCape

Cream, at dairy plant, KZN vs WCape

Dairy cow, at slaughter house, SA

Do new work in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and only

update Western Cape (WCape) study

Fruit Citrus fruits soft, at farm, SA

Citrus fruits hard, at farm, SA

Table grapes, at farm, SA

Stone fruit, at farm, SA

Pome fruit, at farm, SA

Seek partnership with the CCC project and its dataset

Vegetable Greenhouse grown, SA Adapt ecoinvent dataset(s) for SA

Vegetable oils Sunflower seed, at farm, SA

Sunflower oil, at oil mill, SA

Sunflower meal, at oil mill, SA

From biodiesel data sets; likewise for Canola and soy


Collaboration with ecoinvent

Build LCA expertise and critical core of LCI data for newly industrialized countries

2014-2017


Our publications “A comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Eutectic Freeze Crystallization and Evaporative

Crystallisation for the Treatment of Saline Waste Water”; Fernandez-Torres, M., D. Randall, R. Melamu and H. von Blottnitz; Desalination,306, pp.17-23, 2012.

“A comparative life cycle assessment of process water treatment technologies at the Secunda Complex”; Ras, C and H von Blottnitz, WaterSA, 38(4), 549-554, 2012.

“Life Cycle Assessments in the South African Water Sector: A Review and Future Challenges”; Chris Buckley, Elena Friedrich and Harro von Blottnitz, WaterSA, 37 (5), 719-726, 2011.

“Life cycle inventories to assess value chains in the South African biofuels industry”; Brent, A., R. Sigamoney, H. von Blottnitz and S. Hietkamp; Journal of Energy in Southern Africa, 21 (4), pp. 15-25, 2010.

“2nd Generation Biofuels a Sure Bet? A Life Cycle Assessment of How Things Could Go Wrong”; Melamu, R. and H. von Blottnitz, Journal of Cleaner Production, 19 (2-3), pp. 138-144, 2011.

“From life cycle talking to taking action”; Potting, J., M.A. Curran and H. von Blottnitz, International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 15(4), pp. 326-329, 2010.

“Global Warming Potential and Fossil Energy Requirements of Biodiesel Production Scenarios in South Africa”; Stephenson, AL, H. von Blottnitz, A.C. Brent, J.S. Dennis, S.A. Scott, Energy & Fuels, 24 (4), pp. 2489-2499, 2010.


Our publications (older) “A comparison of environmental benefits of transport and electricity applications of

carbohydrate derived ethanol and hydrogen”; R. Melamu and H. von Blottnitz, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 34, pp. 1126-1134, 2009.

“A Life-Cycle Comparison between Processes using either Inorganic or Biological Catalysis for the Production of Biodiesel”; K.G. Harding, S.T.L. Harrison, H. von Blottnitz and J.S. Dennis, Journal of Cleaner Production, 16/13 pp 1368-1378, 2008.

“A review of assessments conducted on bioethanol systems from an energy balance, CO2, and environmental life-cycle perspective”; H. von Blottnitz and M.A. Curran; Journal of Cleaner Production, 15 (7), pp 607-619, 2007.

“Understanding Element Distribution during Primary Metal Production”; Broadhurst, JL, JG Petrie and H von Blottnitz; Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy (Transactions of the Institutions of Mining and Metallurgy: Section C), 116 (1), pp.1-16, 2007.

“Environmental analysis of plastic production processes: Comparing petroleum-based polypropylene and polyethylene with biologically-based poly-β-hydroxybutyric acid using life cycle analysis”; Harding, K.G., J.S. Dennis, H. von Blottnitz and S.T.L. Harrison; Journal of Biotechnology 130 (1), pp. 57-66, 2007.

“A comparison of the environmental benefits of bagasse-derived electricity and fuel ethanol on a life-cycle basis”; T. Botha and H. von Blottnitz, Energy Policy, Vol 34/17, pp 2654-2661, 2006.


Publications (oldest) "Functionality and Allocation in Multi-Product Metals Refining"; H. von Blottnitz and

J.G. Petrie, in Dubreuil A, editor. 2005. Life-cycle assessment of metals: Issues and research directions. Pensacola (FL), USA: Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). 307 p.

"An overview of the status of Life Cycle Assessment and Engineering research in South Africa"; A.C. Brent, M.B. Rohwer, E. Friedrich and H. von Blottnitz; International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 7 (3), pp. 167-172, 2002.

“Environmental Assessment of Base Metal Processing: A Nickel Refining Case Study”, P. Forbes, H. von Blottnitz, P. Gaylard and J.G. Petrie, SAIMM Journal Transactions, 100 (6), pp. 347 – 353; 2000.


In conclusion E&PSE is specialised in ‘environmental assessment of process

technologies’.

Strong focus on biofuels and bioenergy sometimes building or reviewing data sets or studies for

particular energy products (ethanol, biodiesel)

more often presenting product or process comparisons (ethanol vs. electricity; ethanol vs. hydrogen; ethanol vs. biogas; inorganic vs. bio-catalysis for biodiesel).

Also process comparisons in water and waste water treatment

Current project on food & agriculture To model impact of clean tech

But also to build databases


THANK YOU

Enkosi kakhule

Kea leboha

Esp. to our research sponsors:

NRF, WRC, Eskom TESP


11 March 2014 Environmental & Process Systems Engineering · Petrie and H von Blottnitz; Mineral...

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