Bioenergy from Cereals and Sugar Beet: Energy and Greenhouse Gas Balances
ifeu was commissioned by the German Biofuel Association (LAB) to evaluate the life-cycle energy balances and greenhouse gas emissions of selected bioenergy pathways of cereals and sugar beet including various combinations of biofuel and bioenergy production. The main goal of the study was to analyse which of the selected bioenergy pathways represented the “optimal” land use in terms of savings of fossil energy carriers and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, land use effects caused by the co-products from bioethanol production were evaluated. The study revealed that bioenergy pathways that include co-products affecting land use may under certain boundary conditions lead to considerably higher savings of fossil energy carriers and mitigation of greenhouse gases than previously known.
