Seed-oil based biodiesel production particularly biodiesel production from the nonedible
oil seed bearing plant - Jatropha curcas L. - is a key strategic direction outlined
in the biofuels strategy of the Government of Ethiopia. The main objective
underlying the strategy include substitution of imported diesel oil used in the road
transport sector while at the same time contributing to the local and global greenhouse
gasses (GHG) reduction efforts. In this study the environmental benefits and costs of
production and use of Jatropha biodiesel in the road transport sector of Ethiopia is
assessed using a life cycle analysis (LCA) methodology. The analysis focused on
determining the potential environmental impacts and net non-renewable energy
saving potential of biodiesel from Jatropha oil-seeds using the following metrics: (i)
Net Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction, and (ii) Net Energy Balance (NEB) relative to
diesel oil. The study shows that the net GHG emissions reduction potential of
Jatropha Methyl Ester (JME) is highly influenced by the magnitude of initial carbon
loss occurring in the process of conversion of different land uses to Jatropha
plantation, and less so on other unit processes of JME production system analysed.
The NEB of JME relative to use of diesel oil per functional unit of one GJ is less
sensitive to impacts of land use change and is generally positive. Where no land use
change impacts is considered, or where Jatropha is grown on lands with low carbon
stock such as grasslands, substitution of diesel oil with JME in Ethiopia can provide
GHG emission reduction of about 43%, and for each MJ of JME produced the nonrenewable
energy requirement will be 0,38 MJ. Production of JME by converting
lands with high above ground, below ground and/or soil carbon stocks such as shrub
lands or well stocked forest lands will result in net loss of carbon and require
ecological carbon payback time of 50 to hundreds of years. The impact of introducing and use of JME-diesel oil blends by Anbassa City Bus
Services Enterprise (ACBSE) bus fleets shows that, displacement of diesel oil with
JME that have positive GHG reduction potential, will also contribute to the reduction
of air pollutants and improvement of ambient air quality in Addis Ababa. Two key
recommendations of this research work are that to ensure environmental
sustainability of biodiesel production from Jatropha seeds (i) land availability and
land suitability assessment for estimating the potential available land for Jatropha
(and other oil-seed bearing plants) shall be conducted, and (ii) minimum
requirements on GHG reduction and NEB requirements on biodiesel shall be
established. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Management)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:umkn-dsp01.int.unisa.ac.za:10500/10601 |
| Date | 02 October 2013 |
| Creators | Dereje Kebede Abebe |
| Contributors | Gessese, N., Tekere, M. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (xiii, 181 leaves) |
| Rights | University of South Africa |
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