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2009
Conference Paper
Titel
LCA of biomethane as vehicle fuel - the EU project Biogasmax
Abstract
Fuels based on renewable resources are currently on everyone's lips as they are not based on and therefore do not deplete fossil resources. There are currently four big research projects about alternative fuels running under the 6th framework programme of the European Union. The EU promotes the development mostly for environmental reasons, but supply security is also an issue. The project BIOGASMAX deals with the production of biogas in different European cities and regions. Biogas is produced from all kinds of waste and subsequently upgraded to biomethane (natural gas quality), distributed and eventually used as vehicle fuel. It is the responsibility of the GaBi group to conduct Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies of the various biomethane provision chains. LCA of the different technologies at sites all over Europe requires an efficient data collection. A detailed evaluation framework was developed in BIOGASMAX, including automatic data upload procedures as well as a tool to provide specific online questionnaires and ad hoc calculation of indicators and charts. From the LCA point of view, challenging methodological questions have to be answered, e.g. the evaluation of the complex and interrelated systems of "waste disposal", "(bio-)fertilizer production" and "fuel production".
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