Biodiesel can be produced from oilseed crops (such as soybean
or palm), known as first generation biodiesel, or from non-food
feedstock (such as UCO). Increased production of first generation
biofuels due to public policies worldwide has been proved to cause
environmental impacts derived from the expansion in the global
land diverted to oilseeds. This has led to a heated discussion about
the indirect consequences of changes in crop patterns, and different
methodologies for their quantification have emerged. In fact, the
new proposal COM 595 urges biofuel producers in the EU to report
emissions from iLUC. This paper estimates total GHG emissions,
together with other impacts, caused by two possible alternatives
for the Spanish transport sector to be able to meet the objectives set
by Directive 2009/28/CE.
This study also shows that focusing only in GHG emissions
without considering LUC can be misleading. The need to address
LUC in biofuels policies is not temporary, and projections point to a
substantial reliance on land-based biofuels to meet climate goals.
The present study shows that, under the current production conditions
in Spain, there are clear environmental benefits arising from
the use of UCO biodiesel compared to the use of imported soybean
biodiesel from Argentina. The Monte Carlo simulation for both
scenarios impoves the reliability of the comparative assessment,
since parameter uncertainty is negligible in all impact categories.
Hence, it can be concluded that domestic UCO biodiesel can be a
suitable option for Spain to fulfill the targets the targets for
advanced biofuels in the COM 595, even considering marketmediated
responses in the feed market. However, given the effect
that considering different land conversion values may have on the
GWP results, analyzing LUC emissions under different scenario
assumptions is recommended in order to reinforce confidence in
the conclusions.
Despite the fact that the adopted ceteris paribus assumption may
be a rough simplification of the global economy, where all markets
interact with each other, the methodology proposed requires a
deep knowledge of the markets affected by the decision investigated
(Vazquez-Rowe et al., 2013). Computable Global Equilibrium
(CGE) models may help to overcome this limitation, and can be
used to estimate how global equilibrium affects the oil and protein
meal markets. Nevertheless, the consequential approach in LCA
allows determining LUC effects and subsequent GHG emissions due
to a change in the demand for biofuels. The study also encourages
studying global consequences beyond environmental effects, since
biofuels can also affect social structures, as Janssen and Rutz (2011)
suggested.