RSB Working Group on Greenhouse Gases

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Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) > RSB working groups > RSB Working Group on Greenhouse Gases (GHG WG)

The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels
Note: This RSB-related page is not actively updated.
For up-to-date information on the RSB, see the BioenergyWiki RSB page or the RSB Website

The RSB has released "Version 2.0" of the "Principles on Sustainable Biofuel Production"
Read more about the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels.

http://www.bioenergywiki.net/index.php?title=Template:RSBArchive&action=editright
Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels

Secretariat webpage
Steering Board and Chambers

Sustainability Criteria:
RSB Principles and Criteria (version 2.0)
Official Brochure

Membership:
Terms of Reference
Application Form
List of Current Members

Documents:
-RSB launch press release
-RSB Flyer (pdf)
-RSB Intro to Feedback Mechanisms
-Commenting on RSB Drafts Using the BioenergyWiki (PDF File)
-RSB Draft Principles - June 5, 2007 (PDF File)


Please note that the Working Group on GHG was dissolved at the end of phase 1 of the RSB (June 2009). For more information about how to get involved in the RSB, please consult the RSB website


(See also RSB principle on Climate Change and GHG.)

FOR DISCUSSIONS, DEBATES AND COMMENTS WITHIN THE WORKING GROUP, PLEASE CLICK ON THE "DISCUSSION" TAB ABOVE AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!

Contents

Latest news and announcements

  • Please click here (PDF file) to read the minutes of the EAG teleconference held on Tuesday, 18 December 2007.
  • Interested persons must quickly register among the coordinator (see email adress below) or on the official webpage of the RSB. Participants will be requested to fill up a little questionnaire.

The report examines the result of life-cycle analysis of both the greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts for a range of biofuels, including ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, and biogas, made from a range feedstocks. The report suggests that there may be trade-offs between greenhouse gas benefits and environmental impacts, mainly due to the effects of intensified agriculture.

Presentation

This group will recommend methodologies to use to calculate the efficiency of particular production and processing techniques in terms of replacing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as compared to fossil fuels. We will use a combination of teleconferences, online discussions, and regional meetings over the next year to come to consensus on a methodology to use for calculating the greenhouse gas emissions of different biofuels.

Participants

The GHG Working Group (WG) is open to any participants from the academic, industry, corporate, NGO or international organisation sectors. Because of the accelerated nature of our work, those who join the group after the first meeting will be required to read all previous minutes and background documents and to make themselves familiar with the decisions previously made by the Working Group regarding approach and recommendations.
The Working Group will be led by two Co-chairs:

and a coordinator:

  • Mr Georgios Sarantakos of EPFL(Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne). Georgios holds a Masters degree in Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the EPFL. His Masters’ thesis is titled the “Techno-Economic and Environmental Evaluation of Biofuels: The Case of the Automobile Fuel Market in Madagascar”. He has researched environmental impacts of electrical energy projects for RETD S.A. (a collaborator of the ΕDF Energies Nouvelles in France), and worked on energy taxation and ecolabeling for the Hellenic Ministry of Development. Georgios holds a Bachelors degree in Environmental Studies from the University of the Aegean in Greece, where he focused on energy policy in southern Europe.

Contact: georgios.sarantakos"at"epfl.ch

  • Dr. Tourane Corbière. Tourane holds a PhD from the EPFL, where she wrote her thesis on "Integrated Sustainability Assessment for Local Projects : Environmental Impact and their Connections with Economic and Social Fields". She is an “industrial ecologist”, specializing in evaluating the social and environmental impacts of local projects using life-cycle assessment techniques. Her most recent work included a comparison of the social and environmental impacts of biofuels imported from Brazil to those grown in Switzerland.

Objectives and scope

One of the main impulses to support and promote biofuels is their potential to reduce GHG emissions. GHGs emitted during the consumption of fossil fuels were originally stored underground. Οn the contrary, those emitted during the consumption of biofuels is the amount that was absorbed during the growing up of the feedstock. Hence, the consumption of the former contribute to the climate change and of the latter does not. But the problem arises from the fact that biofuels are not absolutely neutral in GHGs balance as an amount of fossil fuels is consumed during the cultivation of crops, the manufacture of fertilizers, fuels processing and distribution etc. The quantity of GHGs emitted along the biomass supply chain is therefore crucial to be estimated. Within the RSB, the GHG WG aims to identify and spread the current best practice for the assessing of GHG emissions linked to the production of biofuels.

We hope, within one year, to agree on a tool and achieve to answer the following question:

How much emission reduction does the use of biomass yield for a specific producer, calculated from its source up to its use, and compared with the average use of fossil fuel?

With this tool, supply chains can then prove compliance with the following draft RSB principle regarding GHG emissions. Biofuels should result in lower GHG emissions compared to fossil fuels when analyzed via a lifecycle assessment (with system boundaries from “well to wheel”). This should include direct and indirect GHG emissions, for instance from fossil energy used in growing, transporting and processing biofuels. It should also include GHG emissions resulting from land use changes as land is converted to biofuel crop production, or as production for other markets is displaced.

Expert Advisory Group

A small Expert Advisory Group has been created, made up of scientific experts from several different countries. Their aim is to tackle the most sensitive and controversial issues related to GHG emissions calculation and, ideally, achieve consensus on the best available methodology and approach to measure GHG emissions of biofuels production, which they will then present to the GHG WG. They will ensure the scientific basis of the methodology, which will be used as a basis to prepare the background papers for the Working Group. The Working Group will then make a recommendation to the Steering Board for a GHG calculation methodology.

The Expert Advisory Group will explore the following questions:

1. What are the main points in the life cycle of the biofuels which contribute the most to GHG emissions?

2. How far is it possible to make an inventory of the existing LCA tools/methodologies? e.g. EIOLCA.net, GREET, GHG Genius (Concawe), EcoInvent, LEM (lifecycle emission model from Univ. Cal) etc., specifying which ones are free/well documented/transparent.

3. The Expert Advisory Group will focus on the areas where existent methodologies do not agree, and try to achieve consensus on an approach.

4. How should we tackle land use? Is the differentiation between direct and indirect land use changes a good discussion starting point? How far are we already able to determine the direct land use changes?

5. It should be clear that the GHG WG will focus on the GHG impacts of land use change, and not the food security or biodiversity impacts. Good coordination between the Working Groups will be necessary so that the same ground is not covered over and over again.

Description of the Expert Advisory Group on GHG (UPDATED)

Current Version of Principles (just about Climate Change and GHG)

Note that the Principle and criteria below shall not be considered as final.

Biofuels shall contribute to climate change mitigation by significantly reducing GHG emissions as compared to fossil fuels.

Key guidance: The aim of this principle is to establish an acceptable standard methodology for comparing the GHG benefits of different biofuels in a way that can be written into regulations and enforced in standards. The overriding requirement is therefore a methodology that is not susceptible to subjective assumptions or manipulation. The fossil fuel reference shall be global, based on IEA projections of fossil fuel mixes

  • a) Producers and processors shall reduce GHG emissions from biofuel production over time.
  • b) Emissions shall be estimated via a consistent approach to lifecycle assessment, with system boundaries from land to tank, including carbon embedded in the fuel but excluding vehicle technology.

Key guidance: Waste products (defined by the IPCC as having no economic value) will have zero allocation of historical emissions. It is possible that the definition of ‘waste’ will be expanded beyond the IPCC definition.

  • c) At the point of verification, measured or default values shall be provided for the major steps in the biofuel production chain.

Key guidance: The RSB will develop criteria for the quality of acceptable default values and measurements, and work with other institutions to develop default values for typical supply chains in different regions to help small producers comply with this criterion.

  • d) GHG emissions from direct land use change shall be estimated using IPCC Tier 1 methodology and values. Better performance than IPCC default values can be proven through models or field experiments.
  • e) GHG emissions from indirect land use change, i.e. that arise through macroeconomic effects of biofuels production, shall be minimized. There is no broadly-accepted methodology to determine them. Practical steps that shall be taken to minimize these indirect effects will include:
    • Maximising use of waste and residues as feedstocks; marginal, degraded or previously cleared land; improvements to yields; and efficient crops;
    • International collaboration to prevent detrimental land use changes; and
    • Avoiding the use of land or crops that are likely to induce negative land use conversion.

Key guidance: The use of residues and waste shall not compromise soil quality, in accordance with Principle 8. Careful definitions and guidelines for identifying preferred land (marginal, degraded, underutilized, etc.) will be needed. The RSB will work with international agencies and experts to assess the indirect impacts of biofuels production to give guidance to producers.

  • f) The preferred methodology for GHG lifecycle assessment is as such:
    • The functional unit shall be CO2 equivalent (in kg) per Giga Joule [kgCO2equ/GJ]
    • The greenhouse gases covered shall include CO2, N2O and CH4. The most recent 100-year time horizon Global Warming Potential values and lifetimes from the IPCC shall be used.
    • The RSB will promote and help develop indicators that shall include guidelines for how substitution, allocation by energy content, and allocation by market value shall be used to treat co- and by- products.


The editing process is open to anyone in RSB principle on Climate Change and GHG. Please edit just in Discussion page.

The rest principles of the RSB are presented in Global principles for sustainable biofuels production (2nd version) October 23, 2007.

Timeline

Image:Timeline (Updated).jpg

Agenda

  • 3rd of June, 2008: Fourth Virtual Meeting of the GHGs WG
  • 20th of May, 2008: Third Virtual Meeting of the GHGs WG
  • 24th of April, 2008:Third Virtual Meeting of the EAG on GHGs
  • 18th of December 2007: Second virtual meeting of the EAG WG
  • 27th of July 2007: Second virtual meeting of the GHGs WG
  • 25th of July 2007: First virtual meeting of the Expert Advisory Group on GHGs
  • 28th of June 2007: First virtual meeting: GHG and ENV WG
  • 15th of June 2007: Sending of the Questionnaire to all WG members

Official RSB documents

Greenhouse Gas Models and Data

  • Developing Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Assurance for Bioethanol Production in the UK / HGCA UK (October 2005) [1]
  • Carbon and sustainability reporting within the renewable transport fuel obligation (RTFO) / UK Department for Transport (Published: 21 June 2007)[2]
  • The Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) Model / Argonne National Lab, USA (released: 30 August 2007) [3]
  • GHGenius Greenhouse Gas Model / Canada (GHGenius version 3.9: prepared on June 2007) [4]
  • Lifecycle Emission Model (LEM) / University California (August 2002)[5]
  • EIO-LCA / Carnegie Mellon University [6]
  • Ecoinvent / Ecoinvent Centre Switzerland (Overview and Methodology(data v1.1):June 2004, updated:October 2006) [7]
  • EMPA (CH) / Life Cycle Assessment of Energy Products: Environmental Impact Assessment of Biofuels (Published: May 2007) (in German, executive summary:in English ,in French)
  • Testing framework for sustainable biomass - Cramer Commission Report (NL) (February 2007) [8]
  • A Low-Carbon Fuel Standard for California (LCFS)/University California (August 1, 2007)[9]

Useful links and documents

ALL INTERNATIONAL KEY REPORTS (International Organisations, Governments, NGOs...) ARE AVAILABLE HERE


                        Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels edit
RSB Public Consultation
RSB sustainability criteria: Version 2.0
RSB working groups: Greenhouse Gases (GHG WG) Environment (ENV WG) | Implementation (IMP WG)
Social Impacts (SOC WG)
RSB launch press release | RSB Intro to Feedback Mechanisms | Commenting on RSB Drafts Using the BioenergyWiki (PDF)
RSB outreach in the Americas | RSB Current Debate on Land Use
Recent changes to BioenergyWiki related to the RSB


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