Decreasing greenhouse effect in agriculture using biodiesel - When green may be enough

Abstract

In the last decade a great number of studies have been carried out on the possible use of biofuels in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Among biofuels, biodiesel has gained considerable attention as the need to develop alternatives to traditional diesel fuel increases. The Italian parliament adopted directive 2003/30/CE from the European Parliament, in which the guidelines about future production and consumption of biofuels are reported: 1% and 2.5% of biofuels within 2005 and 2010 respectively. The aim of this work is to investigate the reduction in greenhouse gas emission obtained by using biodiesel in agricultural practises, and the role of renewable energy use at a local scale. Comparison between diesel and sunflower methyl ester was made from the point of view of an emission inventory, from production and combustion, by using different scientific tools, such as IPCC methodology and the Danish Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) EDIP Database. Results show that the use of sunflower methyl ester, other than the renewability of CO2 emitted, implies a general reduction of CO2 equivalent emissions of up to 57%. © 2007 WIT Press.