PMID- 32632381
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20201105
IS  - 2405-8440 (Print)
IS  - 2405-8440 (Electronic)
IS  - 2405-8440 (Linking)
VI  - 6
IP  - 6
DP  - 2020 Jun
TI  - Energy Return on Investment (EROI) and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of biofuels in 
      Ecuador.
PG  - e04213
LID - 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04213 [doi]
LID - e04213
AB  - In Ecuador, the net energy contribution of biofuels is unknown or unnoticed. To 
      address this issue, we determined the Energy Return on Investment (EROI) for 
      bioethanol and biodiesel. The selection of raw materials relied on their 
      productive capacity, export and import records, and historical yields. 
      Consequently, the scope included three raw materials for ethanol (sugar cane, 
      corn, and forest residues) and four for biodiesel (African palm, pinion, bovine 
      fat, and swine fat). Using a method based on the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of 
      each biofuel, we assessed the entire production chain through statistical 
      processing of primary and secondary information. Then we calculated the calorific 
      values in the laboratory, compared energy inputs/outputs, and finally obtained 
      the energetic returns. EROIs for bioethanol were: 1.797 for sugarcane, 1.040 for 
      corn, and 0.739 for wood. The results for biodiesel were: 3.052 for African palm, 
      2.743 for pinion, 2.187 for bovine fat, and 2.891 for swine fat. These values 
      suggest feasibility only for sugarcane in the case of ethanol. In contrast, 
      biodiesel has better prospects because all the feedstocks analyzed had EROIs 
      higher than two. Nevertheless, biodiesel is not available for trading in Ecuador 
      because energy policy has overlooked systems based on higher energy return. 
      Future studies should consider more comprehensive variables such as climate 
      change, land use, and water management.
CI  - (c) 2020 The Author(s).
FAU - Chiriboga, Gonzalo
AU  - Chiriboga G
AD  - Central University of Ecuador, Chemical Engineering Faculty, Jeronimo Ritter S/N 
      and Bolivia Quito, Ecuador.
FAU - De La Rosa, Andres
AU  - De La Rosa A
AD  - Central University of Ecuador, Chemical Engineering Faculty, Jeronimo Ritter S/N 
      and Bolivia Quito, Ecuador.
FAU - Molina, Camila
AU  - Molina C
AD  - Central University of Ecuador, Chemical Engineering Faculty, Jeronimo Ritter S/N 
      and Bolivia Quito, Ecuador.
FAU - Velarde, Stefany
AU  - Velarde S
AD  - Central University of Ecuador, Chemical Engineering Faculty, Jeronimo Ritter S/N 
      and Bolivia Quito, Ecuador.
FAU - Carvajal C, Ghem
AU  - Carvajal C G
AD  - Central University of Ecuador, Chemical Engineering Faculty, Jeronimo Ritter S/N 
      and Bolivia Quito, Ecuador.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20200628
PL  - England
TA  - Heliyon
JT  - Heliyon
JID - 101672560
PMC - PMC7320919
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Biofuel
OT  - Ecuador
OT  - Energy
OT  - Energy economics
OT  - Energy return of investment
OT  - Energy sustainability
OT  - Environmental chemical engineering
OT  - Life cycle analysis
OT  - Transport sector
EDAT- 2020/07/08 06:00
MHDA- 2020/07/08 06:01
PMCR- 2020/06/28
CRDT- 2020/07/08 06:00
PHST- 2020/01/27 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2020/04/28 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2020/06/09 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2020/07/08 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2020/07/08 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2020/07/08 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2020/06/28 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - S2405-8440(20)31057-4 [pii]
AID - e04213 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04213 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Heliyon. 2020 Jun 28;6(6):e04213. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04213. eCollection 
      2020 Jun.