Lifecycle Analysis of Bio-Ethanol Production in Nipawin, SK Using Effluent Irrigated Plantations as Feedstock

Nipawin, Saskatchewan is in the preliminary stages of planning a commercial-scale ethanol plant which will use biomass as feedstock. Through gasification and catalysis, biomass will be used to produce 75 million L year1 of bio-ethanol. This study proposed three means of supplying biomass to the plant: 1) wood residue, 2) hybrid poplar (HP) afforestation plantations, and 3) HP afforestation plantations irrigated with municipal wastewater effluent (municipal wastewater effluent). To analyze the performance of the ethanol, the lifecycle analysis (LCA) model GHGenius was used. Both afforestation scenarios assumed a 10-year growth rotation, after which the biomass was harvested for feedstock. The project baseline considered how the transportation fuels would have been produced and used in light duty vehicles (LDV) with conventional gasoline and was compared to ethanol blended with gasoline in the amounts of 10% (E10) and 85% (E85). Lifecycle GHG emission reductions were 5.5, 5.9 and 7% for E10 produced from wood residue, afforestation plantations and afforestation plantations irrigated with MWWE, respectively, and 67, 72 and 84% for E85 produced from forest residue, afforestation and afforestation irrigated with MWWE, respectively, when compared to conventional gasoline. Thus, bio-ethanol as a gasoline/ethanol blend is an important means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.