Title:
Green Biodiesel from Household Used Cooking Oil: Sustainability of an Innovative Collection System
Author(s):
Triantafyllou, M., Kokkalis, T., Kardaras, G., Kraia, Tz., Panopoulos, K.D.
Document(s):
Paper
Poster
Abstract:
FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Esters) biodiesel is predominantly produced from edible oil-seed crops or dedicated energy crops, which raises significant concerns regarding land use and competition with food crops. These concerns have shifted the interest of the biofuel sector towards alternative feedstocks, such as waste fats and oils. In Europe, the collection of annually discarded Used Cooking Oil (UCO) from households is less than 6%, therefore, in an effort to increase UCO collection rates and establish a financially sustainable biodiesel production system, GRINCO S.A. developed an innovative “smart” bin as part of Re2truvo project. The present work tackles the impacts of the biodiesel production chain by providing a comprehensive quantitative evaluation of its overall performance, based on LCA methodology. Within this analysis, all energetic (electricity, fuels) and material (construction) input flows, as well as their emissions to air, water and soil, are taken into account. The results demonstrate that the developed collection system is environmentally advantageous as a waste treatment method, emitting 78% less CO2 eq than wastewater treatment facilities. Moreover, the use of the produced biodiesel in transportation leads to an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to fossil-based diesel.
Keywords:
biofuels, used cooking oils, innovative collection system, environmental footprint
Topic:
Sustainability, Impacts and Policies
Subtopic:
Climate impacts and GHG performance
Event:
31st European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
2AV.5.18
Pages:
429 - 433
ISBN:
978-88-89407-23-3
Paper DOI:
10.5071/31stEUBCE2023-2AV.5.18
Price:
FREE
