Understanding the energy input and emissions resulting from the development of
biofuels is important to quantify the overall benefit of the biofuel. As part of the On-
Farm Biomass Processing project, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted on the
process to harvest and transport agricultural crop residues ready for processing into
biofuel. A Microsoft Excel model was developed that inventories the entire life cycle of
the process, including incorporation of stochastic analysis within the model. The LCA
results of the agricultural equipment manufacture are presented, along with the results of
each step of the process, including fertilizer addition, single pass harvest, double pass
harvest, and transport from the field to processing facility. Various methods of analyzing
co-products are also presented for the single pass harvesting step, in which comparisons
between market based, mass based and process-purpose based allocation methods are
reviewed. The process-purpose based method of fuel consumption difference between
combine operation in conventional harvest versus single pass harvest is determined to be
the most realistic of the process. A detailed comparison of the energy and emission
differences between single pass and double pass harvesting is given, along with the total
LCA results of harvesting and transporting the biomass.