2.4. Corn ethanol as a simplified qualitative example
A familiar example may be instructive. To evaluate sustainability
for example of a biofuel such as corn-based ethanol one can
conceive a first sub-system that comprises the land to grow corn,
atmosphere and water needed, transportation and cultivation systems,
the biomass-to-ethanol conversion process, and the end use
of the bio-ethanol, all enclosed by a virtual system boundary (Fig. 1
right, dashed line, arrows indicate major carbon mass flows, not all
flows are shown for simplicity). Individual items shown for the
sub-system in Fig. 1 are unit operations in chemical engineering
terminology. Steady-state is defined as, on average, no accumulation
or depletion of mass over time within a unit operation. The
mass flows (here for carbon, similarly for any other chemical element,
or total mass) into and out of each individual unit operation
must be balanced since otherwise the unit operation is not sustainable
due to mass depletion or accumulation with time. If a unit operation ‘‘soil” for example contains a certain volume of agricultural
land including the soil to some depth then the carbon flows
into and out of this unit operation must balance since a net outflow
will alter and perhaps degrade the land and a sustained net inflow
of carbon will raise carbon concentrations steadily until agriculture
will be impacted. This is qualitatively and mathematically shown
in Fig. 3. Usually mass flows from different information sources
have to be used for complex unit operations such as ‘‘soil” which
always introduces issues of consistency. However, there is a
built-in check with a mass balance based analysis since the mass
flows must add up to zero. This rigorous check on data consistency
is absent in LCA, which also does not allow for elemental balances.
The steps of the mass balance approach for liquid transportation
fuels specifically for the critical element carbon are shown
as an algorithm in Fig. 4.
2.4. Corn ethanol as a simplified qualitative example
A familiar example may be instructive. To evaluate sustainability
for example of a biofuel such as corn-based ethanol one can
conceive a first sub-system that comprises the land to grow corn,
atmosphere and water needed, transportation and cultivation systems,
the biomass-to-ethanol conversion process, and the end use
of the bio-ethanol, all enclosed by a virtual system boundary (Fig. 1
right, dashed line, arrows indicate major carbon mass flows, not all
flows are shown for simplicity). Individual items shown for the
sub-system in Fig. 1 are unit operations in chemical engineering
terminology. Steady-state is defined as, on average, no accumulation
or depletion of mass over time within a unit operation. The
mass flows (here for carbon, similarly for any other chemical element,
or total mass) into and out of each individual unit operation
must be balanced since otherwise the unit operation is not sustainable
due to mass depletion or accumulation with time. If a unit operation ‘‘soil” for example contains a certain volume of agricultural
land including the soil to some depth then the carbon flows
into and out of this unit operation must balance since a net outflow
will alter and perhaps degrade the land and a sustained net inflow
of carbon will raise carbon concentrations steadily until agriculture
will be impacted. This is qualitatively and mathematically shown
in Fig. 3. Usually mass flows from different information sources
have to be used for complex unit operations such as ‘‘soil” which
always introduces issues of consistency. However, there is a
built-in check with a mass balance based analysis since the mass
flows must add up to zero. This rigorous check on data consistency
is absent in LCA, which also does not allow for elemental balances.
The steps of the mass balance approach for liquid transportation
fuels specifically for the critical element carbon are shown
as an algorithm in Fig. 4.
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