INVESTIGADORES
AGUIRRE Pio Antonio
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
LCA-based comparison of corn farming techniques for ethanol production in Argentina
Autor/es:
CARLA PIERAGOSTINI; PIO A. AGUIRRE; MIGUEL C MUSSATI
Lugar:
Dublin
Reunión:
Conferencia; 5th International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environmental Protection (SEEP); 2012
Resumen:
Renewable energies research is mainly driven by oil reserves depletion in medium-term perspective. As
consequence, bioenergy coming from crop-based biofuels has increased sharply in recent years, especially in
USA, Europe, Brazil, India and China. However, agricultural resources for energy purposes generate
conflicts mainly related to the agricultural frontier expansion due to both larger world biofuels demands and
competition with food for land use.
In Argentina, a country with fertile soils climatologically favoured for cultivation of a variety of cereals and
oleaginous, the legislation has imposed, like in other countries, the use of biofuels in blend with gasoline.
This fact and the general world trend become evident such competition for land use in the near future. As
such, efficient, environmental benign and sustainable technologies should be evaluated and analyzed to fulfil
both food and fuel needs.
In this context, this work aims at analyzing the environmental impact of maize-based bioethanol production
in Argentina. Life Cycle assessment (LCA) is the methodology chosen through the Eco-indicator LCIA
method and SimaPro software. As the most controversial process is the agriculture system, two predominant
farming practices are compared: conventional technique and direct seeding. The defined system involves
raw materials production (e.g. fertilizers, seeds), agricultural field operations for maize cultivation
(fertilizers and pesticides spreading, harrowing, sowing and harvesting), crop residues use, and the
transportation to the farm gate. The functional unit considered is 1 kg of maize. Advantages and
disadvantages of both farming practices are evaluated to provide insights into the primary processes
involved in a typical crop-based ethanol production chain.