Life Cycle Analysis of Evogene Castor Bean-based Biodiesel Shows 90% Emissions Reduction Compared to Petroleum
15 April 2010
A life cycle assessment (LCA) of biodiesel produced from castor bean varieties being developed by Israel-based Evogene Ltd. (earlier post) found that such biodiesel reduces greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions by 90% compared to petroleum diesel in the US. Evogene is a developer of improved plant traits; the company’s proprietary product development platform combines state of the art computational gene discovery technology, plant and field validation capabilities and unique selection systems.
The results are based on Evogene’s objectives for castor bean varieties, aimed at increasing crop yields to 4-5 ton/ha on semi-arid lands—at present focusing on Texas and Brazil—and therefore providing the additional benefit of not competing with food use of arable land.
The LCA was conducted by Symbiotic Engineering, a company specializing in GHG and sustainability management and providing tools to evaluate “green” projects and products, and was peer-reviewed by Dr. Arunprakash Karunanithi from the University of Colorado, Denver.
The results of the LCA strengthen our belief in castor bean as a viable and sustainable second-generation feedstock for biofuel production. Based on our project objectives, the castor bean varieties we are developing have a potential to address the immediate need for sustainable, widely available and cost efficient solutions for the biofuel industry. We are keen to pursue the needs of the biofuel industry through castor bean breeding and evaluation of our varieties in field trials, recently established in Texas and Brazil.
—Assaf Oron, Evogene’s EVP Strategy and Business Development
The assessment also evaluates the environmental impact of biodiesel produced from the castor bean varieties being developed by Evogene as compared to conventional petroleum diesel and biodiesel originating from soybean.
Results show that Evogene’s castor bean biodiesel production and use:
- Reduces net GHG emissions by 90% in the US and more than 75% in Brazil compared with conventional diesel, if grown in non-arable or semi-arid land.
- Exceeds the GHG savings achieved with soybean biodiesel, with reductions for the US of 43% compared to soybean.
Castor Bean (Ricinus Communis) is a non-edible crop with naturally high oil content in its seeds and its growth requires relatively low inputs. As previously disclosed, Evogene is focusing on development of high yielding castor bean varieties, suitable for cost-efficient growth on semi- arid lands in southern US and northeastern Brazil, using fully mechanized production. The economic target for Evogene is to be price competitive without government subsidies at an oil price equivalent to $45 per barrel.
Who will determine if the land being used is good for food production or not? Sounds too fishsy.
Posted by: HarveyD | 15 April 2010 at 06:33 AM
Question:
"Who will determine if the land being used is good for food production or not? "
Answer:
The Central Committee of the Green Fascist Party.
Posted by: Mannstein | 15 April 2010 at 09:43 AM
At the moment vast amounts of prime agricultural land are used to grow feed for cows to make big Macs. So Americans can be the fattest people on earth.
The free market defines this as sensible.
A better method would be to graze cattle on marginal agricultural land. This would greatly improve the lives of the cattle, and make lots of jobs for cowboys. A good idea in the land with 10% unemployment. But that would be too sensible as it would increase the cost of big Macs a few cents. Americans would buy fewer big Macs and be thinner. In the meantime there is nothing to stop me growing castor beans in Arizona and making diesel substitute.
Posted by: SVW | 15 April 2010 at 11:03 AM
There is not enough land area in the US to grow the amount of biomass that would be required to replace the US consumption of fossil oil.
It is to be highly doubted that there is only a ten percent fossil fuel input into the production and transportation of castor bean oil.
It must be remembered that all fossil fuels were once biomass and before that they were CO2 in the air. Perhap someone will publish the sientific studies that show how high the percentage of CO2 in the air was when the fossil fuels were being formed.
Any biological product can be converted into human food. Beer has been made from sawdust. Ethanol is one of the simplest molecules that can provide energy into the human diet. Both the British and Nowegians even made food from natural gas.
There are many engineers and inventors and others that have and can invent ways of extracting energy from fossil fuels without the major release of CO2 and at far lower costs than growing and harvesting and processing castor beans. There at least one place in the US where the production of electricity from coal without releasing much CO2 could be demonstrated tomorrow if necessary.
It must be remembered that people breath out CO2, but perhaps this can be changed by the direct injection of hydrogen. ..HG..
Posted by: Henry Gibson | 15 April 2010 at 11:29 AM
The wrong premise is being used to justify the production of more liquid fuel. The world (and USA) should wean itself from liquid fuels and use electricity as the major source of energy. Current flying machines may be some of the few machines that will require compact energy carriers such as liquid fuels for a few more decades. Todays oil reserves can fulfill that need. Industrial and domestic HVAC, boats, ships and all ground vehicles can easily be converted to electricity. Clean electricity can be produced, with current technologies, to meet all those needs.
Use the land we have to feed a growing world population.
Posted by: HarveyD | 15 April 2010 at 05:57 PM