Applied Energy 102 (2013) 512

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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Environmental benets of the integrated production of ethanol and biodiesel

Simone Pereira Souza a,b, Joaquim E.A. Seabra a,b,
a
Faculdade de Engenharia Mecnica, UNICAMP, Rua Mendeleyev 200, Cidade Universitria Zeferino Vaz, Campinas, SP, Postal Code 13083-860, Brazil
b
Brazilian Bioethanol Science and Technology Laboratory (CTBE), CNPEM/ABTLuS, Rua Giuseppe Mximo Scolfaro 10.000, Polo II de Alta Tecnologia, P.O. Box 6170, Campinas,
SP, Postal Code 13083-970, Brazil

h i g h l i g h t s

" Integrated bioenergy systems can favor the sustainability of biofuels.

" We analyzed the integrated production of ethanol and biodiesel in Brazil.
" GHG emissions and fossil energy use in the ethanol life cycle would be reduced.
" Socio-economic and other environmental aspects must be analyzed in future works.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The biorenery of the future will be an integrated complex that makes a variety of products (e.g., biofuels,
Received 14 February 2012 chemicals, power and protein) from a variety of feedstocks. The objective of this work was to evaluate the
Received in revised form 4 September 2012 environmental benets, compared to the traditional sugarcane ethanol system, of the integrated produc-
Accepted 9 September 2012
tion of ethanol and biodiesel through a sugarcanesoybean biorenery concept in Brazil. The environ-
Available online 13 November 2012
mental aspects considered here were the fossil energy use and the greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions
associated with ethanol production. In the Integrated System, soybean would be cultivated in part of
Keywords:
the sugarcane reforming areas, which represents 17% of the total sugarcane area. Sugarcane and soy-
Biofuels
LCA
bean oil would be processed in a combined ethanolbiodiesel plant, which would use only bagasse as
Sugarcane fuel. All the demand for utilities of the biodiesel plant would be provided by the distillery. The output
Crop rotation products of the combined plant would comprise sugarcane ethanol, soybean biodiesel (which would
Biorenery be used as diesel (B5) substitute in the sugarcane cultivation), bioelectricity and glycerin. The results
Energy balance indicate that the Integrated System can reduce the fossil energy consumption from 75 to 37 kJ/MJ of eth-
anol, when compared to the traditional system. For GHG emissions, the value would drop from 22.5 to
19.7 g CO2eq/MJ of ethanol. This analysis shows that the Integrated System is an important option to con-
tribute to ethanols life cycle independence from fossil resources. This is an attractive environmental
aspect, but socio-economic (as well as other environmental) aspects should also be analyzed in order
to assess the sustainability of such systems in a broader perspective.
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
In a broad sense, a biorenery can be seen as an integrated com-
plex which is able to produce different products (fuels, chemicals,
power and protein) from different biomass feedstocks, in a concept
that could also optimize the commitment of land for bioenergy
purposes. Today it is possible to say that the already established
sugarcane mills in Brazil are important pacesetters of the future
bioreneries, using sugarcane biomass for the production of etha-
Corresponding author at: Faculdade de Engenharia Mecnica, UNICAMP, Rua
Mendeleyev 200, Cidade Universitria Zeferino Vaz, Campinas, SP, Postal Code
13083-860, Brazil. Tel.: +55 19 3521 3284.
E-mail address: jseabra@fem.unicamp.br (J.E.A. Seabra).
nol, sugar, power and other products. But the potential for
improvement is still enormous. In addition to the better use of
the lignocellulosic material, the more efcient use of land aiming
at the integration of bioenergy systems deserves attention as well.
One example of such integration has been tested in commercial
scale in Brazil, exploring the integrated production of ethanol
and biodiesel [1].
The synergies from this integration are veried not only in the
agricultural and industrial areas, but also in the administrative
and commercial contexts [2]. In the agricultural sector, the oilseeds
production in crop rotation with sugarcane is an already known
practice that helps to break sugarcane diseases and pests cycles
and contributes to the recovery of soil fertility. Additionally, the
common use of agricultural and industrial infrastructure allows

0306-2619/$ - see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.09.016
6 S.P. Souza, J.E.A. Seabra / Applied Energy 102 (2013) 512
the split of costs, the optimized use of the industrial facilities and
minimization of the investments, as well as the possibility of using
biodiesel as fuel in machineries and trucks. In the administrative
and commercial elds, the use of the same business structure
and the diversication of products bring important strategic
advantages, and the biodiesel commercialization can also take
advantage from the experience gained in the ethanol market [1].
The objective of this study was to investigate the environmental
benets of this type of integration by assessing its impact on the
fossil energy use and GHG emissions associated with ethanol pro-
duction. A hypothetical production system was analyzed, assuming
that soybean would be grown in the sugarcane reforming areas.
The soybean oil would be the feedstock for the biodiesel produc-
tion in a conversion plant adjacent to the sugarcane mill. The bio-
diesel produced would partially displace diesel fuel (B5) for
sugarcane cultivation.
2. The liquid biofuels in Brazil
2.1. Ethanol
Ethanol has a long history in Brazil. The production started back
in 1930s, when a 5% blend with gasoline was compulsory. But only
during the 1970s, with the oil crises, the national ethanol program
(Pro-lcool) was launched, and the production was boosted (Fig. 1)
[3].
The technology to produce ethanol from canes sugars is well-
known and mature. In Brazil, it is based on the fermentation of
either cane juice, molasses or a mixture of both. Most of the mills
in Brazil are sugar mills with adjacent distilleries [5], but the num-
ber of autonomous distilleries has been increasing with the new
greeneld projects.
In the last 30 years a progressive technology evolution has been
veried in both agricultural and industrial areas, leading to impor-
tant cost reductions [6]. Today sugarcane ethanol is cost-competi-
tive with fossil fuels, without any need for subsides, and further
improvement is foreseen in the near future [7]. In terms of envi-
ronmental performance, at the present conditions, for each fossil
energy unit that is required in the ethanol production chain,
around 9 units of renewable energy are produced. With respect
to GHG emissions, ethanol is able to mitigate about 80% of the
emissions when compared to gasoline [8,9]. Despite these positive
environmental aspects, it is important to emphasize the high
consumption of fossil fuel in sugarcane cultivation and transport.
Souza et al. [10] indicate that diesel is responsible for almost half
Fig. 1. Historical trends in the production of sugarcane, sugar, anhydrous and hydrous ethanol in Brazil (based on [4]).
of the total fossil energy input in ethanols life cycle and estimate
that the replacement of diesel by palm biodiesel would increase
the energy balance in 73%, while reducing the life cycle GHG emis-
sions in 23%.
2.2. Biodiesel
The rst references to the use of vegetable oils as fuel in Brazil
date from the 1920s. In 1980, the Resolution No. 7, from the Con-
selho Nacional de Energia (CNE), established the national program
for the production of vegetable oils for energy purposes (Proleo).
Among other objectives, the Program intended to replace diesel by
vegetable oils in a blending of up to 30% by volume, encourage
technological research to promote the production of vegetable oils
in different regions of the country and pursue the complete
replacement of diesel by vegetable oils. Also in the early 1980s,
the department of industrial technology of the ministry of trade
and industry (STI/MIC) developed and launched the national pro-
gram for alternative renewable energy of vegetable origins, with
some lines of action related to vegetable oil fuel, which led to the
OVEG Program. Because of the subsequent fall in oil prices, these
early initiatives of the government were unsuccessful [11,12].
Given such history and considering the strong European biodie-
sel program, the federal government launched in December 2004
the national program of biodiesel production and use (PNPB). By
the law 11,097 of January 13, 2005, the Brazilian government
established the mandatory addition of a minimum percentage of
biodiesel to diesel oil sold to the consumers nationwide. Since Jan-
uary 1st 2010, all diesel fuel sold in Brazil contains 5% of biodiesel
[13].
Soybean is the main feedstock used for biodiesel production in
Brazil, followed by tallow (Fig. 2). Brazil is currently among the
largest producers and consumers of biodiesel in the world, with
an annual production of 2.4 billion liters (Fig. 3). In the end of
2011, there were 64 biodiesel plants authorized by ANP (the na-
tional agency of petroleum, natural gas and biofuels) to operate
in the country, which corresponds to a total authorized capacity
of approximately 17.8  103 m3/day. Out of these 64 plants, 60
have authorization to commercialize the biodiesel produced, rep-
resenting about 17.2  103 m3/day [14]. The biodiesel plants are
spread over practically all Brazilian states, with many of them lo-
cated in areas with relevant sugarcane production.
Along with the incentives for biodiesel production, ANP estab-
lishes restrictions for experimental use and specic use of biodie-
sel. The monthly consumption of biodiesel (B100 and its blends
 S.P. Souza, J.E.A. Seabra / Applied Energy 102 (2013) 512 7

100%

80%

60%
Other

40% Cottonseed
Tallow
20% Soybean

0%

Fig. 2. Main feedstocks for biodiesel production in Brazil (based on [14]).

3000 3. Sugarcanesoybean crop rotation

2500 Growing legumes as a rotation break crop has a long history. It

is widely practiced today in both industrial and subsistence pro-
Thousand m3

2000
1500
1000
500
0 common practice.
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Fig. 3. Biodiesel production in Brazil (based on [13]).
Table 1
Fossil energy consumption and GHG emission related to biodiesel production [17].
Feedstock Fossil energy consumption
(MJ/kg biodiesel)
Soybean 12.1
Castor 36.2
Oil palm 11.5
Tallow 6.0
with diesel) greater than 10,000 L needs to be previously
authorized by ANP [15]. In addition, for those cases involving self
consumption, ANP authorizes the construction, modication and
operation of biodiesel plants with production capacity up to
30,000 L per month [16].
Despite of the rapid growth, the sustainability of biodiesel pro-
duction is still to be demonstrated. The biodiesel cost in Brazil is
quite far from competitive with fossil diesel international costs
and the social benets are limited [17]. In 2011, for instance, the
average diesel price paid to distributors in Brazil was 1.79 R$/L
[18], while the average biodiesel price at the auctions organized
by ANP was 2.2 R$/L [19]. The initial objective of the auctions
was the establishment of the market, but they are still in practice
in order to ensure the percentage of blending required by law.
Regarding the environmental aspects, benets are veried (for
some feedstocks) with respect to the energy balance and ability
to mitigate GHG emissions, even though they are not so signicant
when compared to sugarcane ethanol (Table 1). Further, biodiesel
is dependent on methanol (82% of the Brazilian plants use metha-
nol for transesterication), which has progressively increased Bra-
zilian imports of methanol [20]. Methanol is more frequently used
due to its physical and chemical properties and the lower produc-
tion costs imposed to biodiesel, but ethanol has attracted attention
for being renewable, much less toxic and widely available in the
Brazilian domestic market [20,21].
duction systems worldwide, including sugarcane [22]. Since the
end of 1970s, cane producers and cane mills have tried to make
the crop rotation viable within the sugarcane cultivation system
in Brazil. Despite the little success in the early years, today there
is a strong interest for establishing such practice [23]. In the State
of So Paulo, for example, the peanut-sugarcane crop rotation is a
2010 2011 The cultivation of short-cycle crops in cane renovation areas
brings innumerous agronomic, economic, political and social
advantages. Among these advantages are [24]: reduction of costs
for cane eld reforming; soil conservation, due to the maintenance
of soil cover during the raining season; weed suppression during
annual cane cropping; indirect control of pests; increased cane
productivity and additional production of food.
GHG emissions g The common options of legume rotation break crops include
(CO2eq/kg biodiesel)
Crotalaria juncea, soybean and peanut. According to Santiago and
1111.3 Rossetto [24], the choice should be based on the site location, ter-
3315.1
868.0
rain slope, predisposition to soil plagues and availability of
512.0 machinery and implements. For soybean cultivation, early to med-
ium maturing varieties are more appropriate, in areas suitable for
mechanical harvesting. Similarly to the other cases, the adoption of
soybean as a rotation break crop allow farmers to split the costs re-
lated to soil preparation (e.g., mechanized operations), liming and
fertilization. Additionally, legumes provide nitrogen (N) through
biological xation (BNF) and promote organic matter incorporation
and soil conservation, reducing as consequence the need for nitro-
gen fertilizer of sugarcane cropping cycle [22,24,25].
With the progressive establishment of the mechanical harvest-
ing of unburned cane in Brazil, a new challenge has been set for
cane cultivation the adoption of no-till farming practices. This
would eliminate the soil preparation activities of the conventional
system, thus reducing costs and improving the energy balance as
less fossil fuels (diesel) would be required. These are promising as-
pects, for which the rotation with soybean shows important
advantages, since it is an above ground production crop [23].
4. Biorenery under investigation
Two case studies were considered here to assess the impact of
the biodiesel use on the GHG emissions and energy balance of
ethanol:
 References Case: considers a conventional sugarcane production
and processing system that uses only diesel (B5) as fuel in the
agricultural operations and transportation. Ethanol and electric-
ity are the nal products.
8 S.P. Souza, J.E.A. Seabra / Applied Energy 102 (2013) 512
Soy meal
System boundary
Soybean
Sugarcane Renovation
field area Soybean
cultivation
Sugarcane
Sugarcane
cultivation
Machinery
Trucks
Fig. 4. Integrated System considered in this study.
Soybean oil (1.9 kg)
(including oil from Faon)
+ Water
Ethanol
Sugarcane (1000 kg)
Fig. 5. Schematic representation of the ethanol and biodiesel combined plant.
 Integrated System: considers the integrated production of bio-
diesel, glycerin, ethanol and electricity. The biodiesel produced
is used to partially replace the conventional diesel (B5) con-
sumed in the agricultural operations and sugarcane transport.
For this replacement, it was assumed that 1 MJ of biodiesel
(B100) would be able to displace 1 MJ of diesel (B5).
As discussed earlier, regulation imposes limitations for those
cases involving the production of biodiesel for self consumption.
However, such restriction was disregarded in this analysis since
the objective was to assess the potential benets of the integrated
production of biofuels. Fig. 4 schematically represents the Inte-
grated System considered, in which soybean would be grown in
the cane reforming areas so that virtually no additional areas
would be required for the biodiesel production. In this study it
was assumed that 17% of the total sugarcane area would be re-
formed annually, and soybean would be grown on 70% of this ren-
ovation area [1] (therefore 12% of the total cane area would be
available for soybean cultivation).
It is generally accepted that the amount of inorganic N fer-
tilizer applied to the sugarcane plant crop can be substantially
reduced, or even eliminated, following a legume fallow crop
[22]. Here it was conservatively assumed that no signicant im-
pacts on the use of mineral fertilizers would be observed.
Hence the fertilizers application rates adopted in this analysis
were similar to the common values veried in the Brazilian
Center-South region for sugarcane crop. The impact of the com-
plete elimination of the nitrogen fertilization in plant-cane was
Soy oil
Faon exchange
Oil Oil
extraction
plant
Ethanol
Electricity
Combined
plant Glycerin
Biodiesel
Biodiesel (2.25 L)
Biodiesel plant
Glycerin (0.23 kg)
Anhydrous
Utilities
Ethanol
Ethanol (81.2 L)
Distillery
Electricity (10.7 kWh)
investigated in the sensitivity analysis. Other parameters in-
cluded in the sensitivity analysis are the soybean productivity,
area for soybean cultivation, additional oil from Faon exchange,
fuel used at the soybean oil extraction plant and soybean trans-
portation distance.
Olivrio et al. [1] indicate three evolution stages of the integra-
tion between biodiesel and ethanol production processes. The
(hypothetical) integrated system studied here comprises the rst
stage of this evolution, which involves only a partial industrial
integration. In this already commercial system, soybean is har-
vested and transported to an oil extraction and treatment unit.
Through the Faon exchange system [1], the grains are exchanged
for the equivalent in oil, enabling a total oil yield of more than
430 kg/t grain (some external use of land is therefore required,
but with the co-production of soy oil and soy meal). The oil pro-
duced is then transported to the integrated plant for conversion
to biodiesel.
The biodiesel production plant is adjacent to a distillery, which
supplies all the demand for utilities (Fig. 5). Bagasse is, thus, the
only fuel used at the combined plant. At the combined plant, a
small fraction of the anhydrous ethanol produced at the distillery
would be used in the transesterication process at the biodiesel
plant (which produces biodiesel and glycerin as nal products),
and the excess ethanol ows back to the distillery for dehydration.
The nal products of the industry are, therefore, ethanol, biodiesel,
glycerin and some surplus of electricity. As in the scope of this
study the scale of the biodiesel plant is very small compared to
the distillery, the impacts of the adjacent production of biodiesel
 S.P. Souza, J.E.A. Seabra / Applied Energy 102 (2013) 512 9

Table 2 Table 4
Parameters of soybean production and transportation, oil extraction and treatment. Parameters of ethanol and biodiesel production.

Parameter Units Value Parameter Units Value

a a
Farming Ethanol production
Fraction of sugarcane reforming area % 70% Ethanol yield L/t cane 81.2
Soybean productivity kg/ha 3150 Electricity surplus kWh/t cane 10.7
Agricultural inputs Bagasse consumption kg/t cane 264
N kg/ha 1 Main chemicals
P2O5 kg/ha 78 Lime g/t cane 880
K2O kg/ha 84 Sulfuric Acid g/L ethanol 7.37
Herbicide kg/ha 1.7 Soda g/L ethanol 2.12
Insecticide kg/ha 1.04 Antibiotic g/m3 ethanol 9.285
Fungicide kg/ha 0.66
Biodiesel productionb
Seeds kg/ha 50.83
Biodiesel yield kg/t oil 1046
Diesel consumption L/t wet grain 11.5
Glycerin yield (@ 85%) kg/t biodiesel 117
a
Grain transportation Utilities
Average distanceb (one way) km 100 Electricity kWh/t biodiesel 15
Load capacity t 10 Steam kg/t biodiesel 300
Fuel consumption km/L 2.5 Water cooling Mcal/t biodiesel 145
Air Nm3/t biodiesel 6
Dryingc
Main chemicals
Wet grain inputd t/t grain 1.19
Ethanol kg/t biodiesel 154
Electricity consumption kWh/t grain 12
Sodium Methylate (@ 30%) kg/t biodiesel 33.4
Firewood consumption kg/t grain 7.75
Citric Acid kg/t biodiesel 0.65
Oil extractionc Hydrochloric acid (@ 36%) kg/t biodiesel 9.5
Oil yield kg/t grain 190 Soda (@ 50%) kg/t biodiesel 1.5
Soy meal yield kg/t grain 771 Sulfuric Acid kg/t biodiesel 0.2
Additional oil yield (Faon)e kg/t grain 257
a
Hexane consumption kg/t grain 0.7 From [9]. The surplus of bagasse was neglected in this study.
b
Electricity consumption kWh/t grain 69 Ethyl route, from [1].
Fuel oil consumption kg/t grain 51
Oil transportationf
Average distanceb (one way) km 100 biodiesel. This is the case of the 50,000 t/year unit currently in
Load capacity t 22.7 operation in Brazil [1], which is adjacent to a 2.2 Mt cane/year sug-
Fuel consumption km/L 2.1
arcane mill. In 2006, this particular mill produced about
a
From [26]. 152,000 m3 of ethanol and 50,000 tonnes of sugar. It is worth not-
b
Arbitrary values. ing that the impact of the biodiesel plant in the plants energy de-
c
From [28].
d
mand is small.
Grains after drying are assumed to be at 13% moisture content.
e
From [1].
Table 2 gives the data considered for the soybean production,
f
Estimated from the GREET model [32]. transportation, oil extraction and oil treatment. Data on the agri-
cultural stage of soybean production refer to the averages of the
2007/2008 and 2008/2009 seasons veried for three municipalities
in the Mato Grosso state, representing a total area of 6300 ha [26].
Table 3 For sugarcane, the values are mostly based on the averages given in
Parameters of sugarcane production.a
the CTC (the sugarcane technology center) benchmarking report
Parameter Units Value regarding the 2008/2009 season in the Center-South region [27]
Cane productivity t/ha 86.7 (Table 3). The industrial parameters (Table 4) refer to statistics pro-
Renovation areab % 17% vided from private organizations (ABIOVE, CTC, UNICA) and equip-
Unburned cane harvesting % 35% ment manufacturers [1,28,29].
Agricultural inputsc
N g/t cane 791
P2 O5 g/t cane 322
K2O g/t cane 883
5. Methodology
Limestone g/t cane 7580
Herbicide g/t cane 44.4
Other pesticides g/t cane 4.2 This study employed the life cycle assessment (LCA) technique
Diesel consumption L/t cane 3.8 [30,31] to evaluate the environmental benets of the integrated
a
From [9,27].
production of ethanol and biodiesel, using 1 MJ of ethanol as func-
b
Fraction of the total cane eld area. tional unit. The fossil energy use and GHG emissions were evalu-
c
For this study, the application rates of fertilizers were estimated for a specic ated within the ethanol production chain, comprising sugarcane
scenario considering the averages applied in each stage of the cane cropping cycle cultivation up to ethanol processing (a cradle-to-gate analysis).
and respective cultivation practice (e.g., cane ratoon with application of vinasse), as
Two levels of energy ows were considered in energy balance
monitored by CTC [27].
and GHG emissions: the direct consumption of fuels and electric-
ity; and the additional energy required to produce the chemical in-
puts (fertilizers, limestone, sulfuric acid, lubricants, etc.).
on the ethanol yield, total bagasse consumption and electricity sur- All energy ows were calculated in terms of primary energy,
plus were neglected. taking into account the life cycle inventories of fuels and electric-
In this study, the biodiesel production is limited to the oil de- ity. These background data were mostly based on parameters given
rived from the soybean grown in the sugarcane reforming area by the GREET model [32]. For the reference B5 diesel, the life cycle
and the additional oil available from the Faon exchange. However, inventory resulted from the weighted average between fossil diesel
larger adjacent plants should be considered in commercial sys- [32] and soybean biodiesel [17], while for the B100 biodiesel
tems, which should also be able to process other feedstocks into produced in the integrated system, specic parameters were
10 S.P. Souza, J.E.A. Seabra / Applied Energy 102 (2013) 512

evaluated in this study. The inventories for the industrial chemical 150
inputs were extracted from the database Ecoinvent data v2.2 [33]. 125
In addition to the emissions from fuel use, emissions from sug- Reduction of 38 kJ/MJ
arcane trash burning, application of nitrogen fertilizers, limestone 100
and residues that are returned to the soil (cane trash, lter cake, 75 Ethanol production
vinasse, and ash) were quantied. The N2O emissions from the Cane transport

kJ/MJ
50
above and below ground crop residues were estimated according Agr. inputs
to IPCC tier 1 method [34]. Direct N2O emissions resulting from 25 Cane cultivation
biological nitrogen xation promoted by the soybean cultivation 0 Credits
were not considered due to the lack of evidence indicating signi- Total
-25
cant emissions from this process [34].
Energy and emission credits from the electricity surplus were -50
evaluated considering that it would displace the natural gas ther-
-75
moelectricity, as discussed in Seabra et al. [9]. In the case of glyc- Reference Case Integrated System
erin (co-product of biodiesel), a mass-based allocation method
Fig. 7. Fossil energy consumption in the sugarcane ethanol production chain.
was used to separate the emissions related to oil production. Even
though oil accounts for less than 20% of the mass of the soybean
grain, emissions from soybean production were not allocated to 30
the soy meal, since it is exchanged for oil in the Faon system 25 Reduction of 2.8 g CO2eq/MJ
(which can already be seen as an allocation criterion, since no bur-
dens were attributed to the oil provided by the Faon exchange). 20 Ethanol production
Cane transport

6. Results
In the Reference Case, the diesel consumption in agricultural
activities and sugarcane transport accounts for about 2/3 of the to-
tal consumption of fossil fuels for ethanol production (Fig. 6). Due
to soil emissions and trash burning, the contribution from diesel is
much lower to GHG emissions, accounting for less than 30% of the
total. This makes the displacement of fossil diesel especially inter-
esting for the ethanols energy balance (Fig. 7), although some
emissions reduction can be observed (Fig. 8).
In the Integrated System the biodiesel produced at the adjacent
plant would be sufcient to replace about 60% of the diesel used in
the production and transportation of sugarcane. Soy meal is an
important co-product of the overall system, and most part of the
oil used to produce biodiesel would be provided by the Faon ex-
change. The replacement above leads to a reduction of fossil energy
consumption from 75 kJ/MJ of ethanol (Reference Case) to 37 kJ/
MJ. Despite of that, the sugarcane cultivation and transportation
stages would still represent the main contributors to the fossil en-
ergy consumption, with more than 50% of the total consumption.
As for the GHG emissions, the impact of the substitution is less pro-
nounced. GHG emissions in the Reference Case were evaluated as
22.5 g CO2eq/MJ, while in the Integrated System they would be
19.7 g CO2eq/MJ.
The environmental performance of the Integrated System is
obviously sensitive to the amount of biodiesel produced. Therefore,
parameters like soybean productivity and available area for
g CO2eq/MJ
15
Cane cultivation
10 Trash burning
Soil emissions
5
Agr. inputs
0 Credits
Total
-5
-10
Reference Case Integrated System
Fig. 8. GHG emissions in the sugarcane ethanol production chain.
soybean cultivation are very important contributors (Fig. 9), while
factors related to logistics have minor effects. For those cases
where soybean could be cultivated in 100% of the cane reforming
areas (instead of 70%), more biodiesel would be available, which
would lessen considerably the requirement for fossil fuels in the
ethanol production chain.
The benets of the crop rotation in terms of nitrogen fertiliza-
tion savings may lead to a positive impact as well. Assuming that
no N fertilization would be required for the plant-cane, the nitro-
gen application rate for the whole sugarcane cropping cycle would
drop to 715 g/t. Hence, the ethanol life cycle emissions of the Inte-
grated System would be slightly reduced to 19.2 g CO2eq/MJ.
Another key element for the life cycle energy balance is the fuel
used for soybean oil extraction. For the conditions assumed in this
study, the biodiesel life cycle fossil energy consumption was esti-
mated at approximately 9.5 GJ/t, while GHG emissions would be

Ethanol
(a) Cane transport
production
3%
(b) Ethanol
production
Cane
cultivation
13% Cane transport 10% 21%
5%

Agr. inputs
15%
Cane
cultivation Trash burning
53% 15%
Agr. inputs
31%

Soil emissions
34%

Fig. 6. Breakdown of fossil energy use (a) and GHG emissions (b) for the Reference Case.
 S.P. Souza, J.E.A. Seabra / Applied Energy 102 (2013) 512
10
17.5
Fig. 9. Sensitivity analysis of the Integrated System: ethanols life cycle fossil energy consumption (a) and GHG emissions (b).
close to 860 kg CO2eq/t. The oil extraction stage is the main fossil
energy consumer and source of emissions, since fuel oil was
adopted as the reference fuel. However, it must be noted that
renewable fuels (e.g., rewood) could also be used for this type
of application, leading to signicant mitigation effects. Even better
performances could be achieved through further process integra-
tion, eventually fully integrating the oil extraction and processing
to the ethanol mill, although it may not represent the most cost-
effective option.
It is also important to mention that the breakdown of energy
consumption and emissions vary from mill to mill. The Reference
Case adopted here is close to the average condition in the Cen-
ter-South region in the 2008/2009 season [9], but signicant vari-
ations can be veried. In general, the trend for the next years is the
complete elimination of trash burning accompanied by increasing
diesel consumption due to mechanization. The electricity surplus
will also increase signicantly, leading to emission credits that
might even offset all emissions from the ethanol production.
Regardless, the integrated production of biodiesel is an important
strategy not only to further reduce emissions, but also contribute
to the independence from fossil fuels in the ethanol production
chain.
7. Conclusions
The diversication of feedstocks and the integration of different
production systems can bring signicant contributions to the sus-
tainability of biofuels. In Brazil, the integration of ethanol and bio-
diesel has already been explored in commercial scale, involving the
cultivation of soybean in cane reforming areas. In addition to the
synergies veried in the agricultural, industrial and administrative
areas, signicant environmental benets can also be observed
through this type of integration.
In this work it was veried that the integrated production of
ethanol and biodiesel can reduce the GHG emissions and,
especially, the fossil energy use in the ethanol production chain.
11
(a)
20 30 40 50 60
kJ/MJ
(b)
18.0 18.5 19.0 19.5 20.0 20.5 21.0 21.5
g CO2eq/MJ
Compared to the Reference Case, the integrated system evaluated
here would reduce the fossil energy consumption in 38 kJ/MJ,
while emissions could be mitigated in 2.8 g CO2eq/MJ.
This integrated production is an important contribution to the
independence from fossil fuels in the ethanol production chain,
demanding some external land to provide oil via Faon exchange,
but involving the co-production of soy oil and soy meal. Therefore,
a signicant amount of feed would also be available. In larger scale
systems, which would demand additional feedstocks, the biodiesel
surplus would also count on the important environmental advan-
tage of using bagasse as energy source in the conversion step. All
these options are environmentally attractive in terms of fossil en-
ergy use and GHG emissions, but socio-economic (as well as other
environmental) aspects should also be analyzed in order to assess
the sustainability of such systems in a broader perspective.
Acknowledgements
Authors thankfully acknowledge the nancial support from
CNPq, FAPESP, CGEE and FAEPEX. Carlos Faroni is greatly acknowl-
edged for providing detailed information on the use of fertilizers in
sugarcane cultivation.
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