LCA of Renewable Fuels from Hydropyrolysis of Forest Residues and Corn Stover

With an increasing focus on renewable fuels, it is vital to understand the environmental impacts from the various alternative transportation fuel products and processes under development.  This study analyses greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the production and vehicular use of renewable fuels produced by the IH²® process using forest residues and corn stover as feedstock. The IH² process is a hydropyrolysis and hydroconversion technology for the conversion of a broad range of biomass types into liquid hydrocarbon transportation fuels spanning the range of gasoline and diesel. In this LCA, we consider forest residues from the Southeast of the US and corn stover from the Midwest.  H₂ required for the process can either be imported from a steam methane reformer using natural gas, or produced from the C1-C3 gases co-products of the IH² process. Life cycle GHG emissions savings of 75–90% were calculated for IH² gasoline and diesel compared to their fossil counterparts, depending on the feedstock, transport distance, and H₂ sources. Monte-Carlo simulation are being conducted to assess the impact of input parameter uncertainty on the final GHG emission results.