54

CHAPTER 3

MATERIALS AND METHODS

3.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter explains the life cycle assessment methodology

applied for assessing the environmental, economic and energy performance of
Jatropha biodiesel production. The life cycle assessment presented in this
thesis complies with the LCA standards formalized by international standard
organization (ISO 1998). Each assessment (environmental, economic and
energy performance) has been done one by one and their methodology is
presented in the following sections. At first, environmental impact of
biodiesel derived from Jatropha curcas in India was assessed. Then the
economic feasibility of Jatropha biodiesel was assessed by lifecycle cost
approach. Finally the net energy in the Jatropha biodiesel was estimated using
lifecycle energy analysis. The data inventory used for the assessment is also
presented in this chapter.

3.2 STUDY AREA OF JATROPHA CULTIVATION

Jatropha curcas cultivation data was collected from state

horticulture farm, Periyakulam, Tamilnadu, India. The study site is situated at
10.07°N 77.33°Ewith an average daily temperature of 33.15 °C ranging from
26.3 °C to 40 °C. The annual rainfall is 135cm and the plantations are
established on red soil with sandy loam texture. The detailed description of
the cultivation of Jatropha curcasis provided in inventory data section.
 55

3.3 DATA COLLECTION

A comprehensive assessment of Jatropha value chain in

Tamilnadu, India was made based on the field observations and data sets, in-
depth interviews with the group of farmers and discussion with the experts in
the field of growing and processing of Jatropha seeds in state horticulture
farm, Periyakulam, Tamilnadu. Biodiesel production details were collected
from Gandhigram rural institute, Dindugal, Tamilnadu and Coimbatore, India.
Based on these details, environmental impact, lifecycle cost and lifecycle
energy of Jatropha biodiesel production was examined.

3.4 DATA INVENTORY

3.4.1 JatrophaCultivation

Jatropha curcas plantation was propagated by seedlings. It can be

observed that farmers acquire seedlings from nurseries. After field preparation
(ploughing, leveling and making pits) the seedlings are planted with a spacing
of 2x2m and manure is applied in the planting pits. Before plantation, land
tillage was done using a tractor which takes 6h/ha, consuming 12L diesel per
hectare. Total number of seedlings planted per hectare was 2200. Fertilizer
application per hectare of Jatropha curcas plantation was 46 kg of N, 48 kg
of P, 24kg of K and 50 kg of organic matter. Pruning has been done annually
and no pesticides are applied since the farming practice in the selected region
does not employ its use. Fertilizer used in the farming was procured from 5km
distance from the cultivation area. Irrigation was done twice a week using a
water pump and water requirement per plant was about 2L/ day. Seed
harvesting starts after two years from the plantations, which is manually done
by the farmers. The yield of Jatropha curcas seed was about 2.5 tons per
hectare (third year from the plantation onwards).
 56

3.4.2 Oil Extraction

After harvesting, Jatropha fruits are allowed to sundried and then it

is transported from cultivation site to oil extraction plant. At first Jatropha
seed shells are removed by seed decorticator and then the oil is extracted by
using electric screw expeller which is followed by purification using bag
filtration system. Oil extraction efficiency of the expeller is about 80% and
the filtration system has efficiency of about 93%. Oil content of Jatropha
curcas seeds is 37% which leads to the seed demand of 3.5 kg per kg of
purified oil. The capacity of oil expeller is 150 kg seeds per hour. During the
extraction of 1kg Jatropha oil, it produces 2.7kg of seed cake. Jatropha seed
cake contains some nutrients which makes it as used as a fertilizer. NPK ratio
of seed cake is 2.2% N, 8.3% P2O5, and 3.3% K2O (Jongschaap et al 2007).

3.4.3 Biodiesel Production

Jatropha oil is filtered from the extraction unit and then it is

transferred into biodiesel production unit. Base-catalyzed transesterification
method was adopted for converting Jatropha oil to biodiesel (Whitaker &
Garvin 2009). Oil is added to methanol in the presence of sodium hydroxide
catalyst which leads to the formation of Jatropha methyl ester and glycerol.
Glycerol is a byproduct and has a market value which is assumed to be used
in some other process in industries. 1 ton of Jatropha seeds yields 46kg of
glycerol (by-product) during the biodiesel production. Figure 3.1 shows the
pictorial representation of biodiesel production from Jatropha curcas.

3.4.4 Transportation

Jatropha biodiesel produced in the plant is then transported to fuel

station. Currently in India, there is no commercial distribution site for
Jatropha biodiesel. Hence, the produced biodiesel was considered to be
exported from the nearest seaport of production site and the transportation has
been considered by road.
Figure 3.1 Pictorial representation of biodiesel production from Jatrophacurcas.

57
 58

The distance between the production plant to the seaport was

200km which were calculated through web mapping services, Google Earth©.

3.5 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT STUDIES

For the environmental impacts of Jatropha curcas based biodiesel,

whole value chains were evaluated by Lifecycle assessment methodology.
The present study was designed according to the ISO standards 14040/44.
LCA imply the following elements such as

i) Compiling an inventory of related energy, material inputs and

emissions to environment.

ii) To evaluate the possible environmental impacts coupled with

the known inputs and emissions.

iii) To interpret the results for making decisions.

Thus, the LCA has been carried out in four phases (Goal and scope,
Life cycle inventory, Impact assessment and Interpretation) in present study
and the assessment details are described in the following section.

3.5.1 Goal and Scope

The goal of the study is to analyze the sustainability of biodiesel

production from Jatropha curcas through identification and quantification of
environmental impacts (advantages and disadvantages). It aims to clarify
whether Jatropha seed as an eligible crop for sustainable biodiesel production.
The intended audience is scientists and policy makers.

3.5.2 Life Cycle Inventory Assessment

In the second step of an LCA, the system boundary is identified,

inventory data is collected and assumptions and limitations of the study are
elucidated.
 59

3.5.3 Functional Unit, System Boundaries and Inventory Data

The functional unit selection has significant influence on the results

(De Boer 2003) and its choice depends on the aim of study. The main
function of the present study is biodiesel production from Jatropha curcas
seeds. Functional unit is necessary to define and quantify the functions under
study. The functional unit considered here was one ton of biodiesel
production and it is the basis for all calculations and comparisons of
alternatives. Stage wise environmental impacts were estimated for one ton of
biodiesel production.

The geographic boundary chosen in this study is India. Figure 3.2

shows the system boundary of this study. System boundary defines the unit
processes to be included in the system to be modeled. The assessment system
(System boundary) in the present study includes all the process stages, which
start from raw material cultivation (Jatropha curcas farming), oil extraction,
biodiesel production and biodiesel transportation to the filling station. The use
phase of Jatropha biodiesel was not considered in this study due to the lack of
primary data availability on biodiesel combustion process in vehicles. Hence
the objective of the present study is limited to the boundary of fuel available
at station. Jatropha curcas farming details were collected from State
Horticulture Farm, Periyakulam, Tamilnadu, India. Inventory data of Jatropha
biodiesel production were collected from Ghandhigram rural institute,
Dindugal, Tamilnadu. Industrial process, transportation and electricity
generation mix background data were taken from Eco invent database.

Details of inventory requirement of cultivation of Jatropha, oil

extraction, biodiesel production and transportation to fuel station are exhibited
in Table 3.1. All the inputs in cultivation of Jatropha mentioned in the
Table 3.1 has been calculated based on the 1 ton of Jatropha seed production.
Figure 3.2 System boundary of Jatropha biodiesel lifecycle.

60
 61

Table 3.2 depicts the inventory data of oil extraction process and
Table 3.3 shows the inventory requirements of 1 ton of Jatropha biodiesel
production and transportation to fuel station. Parameters considered in all the
stages of Jatropha biodiesel lifecycle summary are shown in Table 3.4. Based
on that system specific information, key input data to the Jatropha based
biodiesel production are calculated which is shown in Table 3.5.

Table 3.1 Description for Jatropha cultivation process to be modelled in

SimaPro

Item Amount Unit Comments

Jatropha Cultivation 1 t
(Known output)
Land requirement 4000 m2 10000/2.5 = 4000 m2
land is needed for 1
ton Jatropha seed
production
Urea ammonium nitrate, as N 18.4 kg 46/2.5 = 18.4kg
Single superphosphate, as P 19.2 kg 48/2.5 = 19.2kg
Potassium nitrate, as K 9.6 kg 24/2.5 = 9.6kg
Compost, at plant 20 kg 50/2.5 = 20kg
336 kgkm (18.4+19.2+9.6+20)kg
Transport, tractor and trailer × 5km = 36kgkm
Note: Data inventory of above Jatropha cultivation was calculated using data in Table 3.5.

Table 3.2 Description for oil extraction process to be modelled in

SimaPro.

Item Amount Unit

Jatropha oil (known output) 1 T
Electricity, high voltage, production 68.2 kWh
Steam, for chemical processes 0.2 T
Transport, lorry 7.5-16t 50 km
 62

Table 3.3 Description for 1 ton of biodiesel production to be modelled

in SimaPro.

Item Amount Unit

Biodiesel production (Known output) 1 T
Steam, for chemical processes 0.25 kg
Electricity, high voltage, production 3.95 kWh
Methanol, at regional storage 0.054 kg
Sodium hydroxide 0.09 kg
Transport, tractor and trailer 1.44 kgkm
Fuel transportation to pump
Transport, lorry 3.5-16t, fleet average 200 km

Table 3.4 System specific information collected from Periyakulam in

Tamilnadu, India through field observations, discussion
with farmers, interviews with experts and field datasets.

Parameter Note
Cultivation Field preparation
Farming practices Water, fertilizer and machinery
use.
Plantation establishment Number of seedlings per
hectare, fertilizer application
Irrigation Water requirement, water pump
capacity
Transportation distances Transport of fertilizers to field
and seeds to processing unit
Yield Annual seed yield (kg per
hectare)
Oil extraction Rate of extraction Ton of oil per ton of seed
Chemicals
Steam
Oil press Capacity, Energy requirement
By-products
Biodiesel Transesterification process Energy and chemical
production requirement
By- products
Transportation distances Transport of chemicals to
processing plant and biodiesel
to fuel station
 63

Table 3.5 Key input data to the Jatropha based biodiesel production

Input Amount Unit

Fertilizer use
N 46 kg/ha
P 48 kg/ha
K 24 kg/ha
Organic matter 50 kg/ha
Water pump capacity 6 kW
Transportation of fertilizer to cultivation site distance 5 km

Oil extraction
Steam requirement/ ton of seed 0.2 T
Electricity/ ton of seed 68.2 kWh
Transport of seeds to extraction site 50 km

Biodiesel production
Steam requirement/ ton of biodiesel 1.03 T
Electricity/ ton of biodiesel 3.95 kWh
Methanol 0.054 kg
Sodium hydroxide 0.09 kg
Transport of chemicals from store to processing site 10 km
Transportation of biodiesel to fuel station 200 km
 64

3.5.4 Allocation Procedures

When a process produces more than one valuable product,

allocation is necessary. In those cases, it is essential to divide the
environmental impacts between the products. Environmental impacts division
may be done either by allocation or by system expansion (Interim report
2009). Environmental impacts of a life cycle may even vary with the
allocation method adopted such as mass, energy, and economy (Gnansounou
et al 2009). In this study, mass- economy based allocation was used in
Jatropha oil extraction stage for the product and the co product seedcake.
Hence the environmental loads were allocated through the mass-economy
value of each one, where the Jatropha oil is allocated 67% of emissions, while
the oilcake was allocated 33%, based on the market value of Jatropha oil and
seedcake. The market value of Jatropha oil in India is Rs. 26/L (US $0.42/L)
and oil cake is about 6 rupees per kg (US $0.1/L). The price information was
collected from farmers and vendors in Tamilnadu by interviewing them.

3.5.5 LCA Software

All the Life cycle assessment calculations were made in Simapro®

7.3.3, a tool to collect, analyze and monitor the environmental performance of
products and service. Simapro® software tool was developed by PRe
consultants which consist of various inventory data of unit processes,
materials and system models. Simapro® contains American and European
databases such as ecoinvent® v.2, US LCI, ELCD, US Input Output,
EU, Swiss Input Output and LCA Food. Also it contains various
environmental impact assessment methods to calculate the impact results. In
this study eco- indicator 99 endpoint oriented methodology was employed
which uses damage oriented approach.
 65

3.5.6 LCA Analysis Assumptions and Limitations

Assumptions and limitations for life cycle analysis are as follows:

a. Fertilizers and chemicals used are transported through road.

The distance from vendor to cultivation site and processing
plant information was received by interviewing farmers and
experts in biodiesel plant respectively.

b. Electricity generation mix, unit process of fertilizer and

chemicals manufacture, transportation vehicle type were taken
from ecoinvent® database.

c. The national average electricity mix was considered in this

study for electricity generation. Electricity generation mix in
India by resources type and its percentage composition was
collected from energy information administration which are as
follows: coal – 56%, natural gas – 21%, residual oil – 6%,
biomass – 11%, nuclear power – 2% and others (renewable) –
4% (Energy Information Administration 2012).

d. Major equipment (Boilers, oil press and filter press) used in

oil extraction and biodiesel production were only considered
to calculate the energy consumption.

e. The use of biodiesel in vehicles life cycle was not considered

in this study due to non-availability of primary data in fuel
combustion.

f. In LCA analysis, the impacts are analyzed only till the system
boundary, others beyond that are not considered. The analysis
includes the second tier of inputs such as chemicals, fertilizers
and transport which is taken from ecoinvent® database. The
radiation impact categories in all stages are assumed to be
excluded due to usage of less nuclear power resources in
India.
 66

g. An important consideration here is the carbon absorption

during the cultivation of Jatropha for the impact assessment
and the biogenic carbon release during the combustion of
biodiesel is not included in the present study.

3.5.7 Environmental Impact Assessment

The third step of the LCA is life cycle impact assessment, which
includes selection of impact categories primarily conducted using existing
LCIA model. Impact assessment aims at connecting, emissions and
extractions enumerated in life cycle inventories on the basis of impact
pathways to their potential environmental damages. Eco indicator 99
characterization tool was used in this study. It is a damage oriented life cycle
impact methodology which models the cause effect chain upto the endpoints
or environmental damages, i.e. which links life cycle indicator (LCI) results to
endpoint categories. Eco indicator 99 methodology used in this study includes
three types of damage as impact categories:

Damage to human health (includes the impacts of

carcinogenesis, climate change, organic and inorganic
respiratory effects, ionizing radiation and ozone layer
reduction): It is expressed as the number of year life lost and
the number of years lived disabled, these are combined as
Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) (an index used by
World Bank and World Health Organization).

Damage to ecosystem quality (includes the impacts of land

use, eutrophication, acidification, and ecotoxicity): It is
expressed as the loss of species over a certain area, during
certain time.
 67

Damage to resource (includes the impacts of minerals and

fossil fuels). It is expressed as the surplus energy needed for
future extractions of minerals and fossil fuels.

Apart from the methodology selection, calculations of impact

assessment include three steps in the present study. They are characterisation,
normalisation and weighting. Figure 3.3 shows the flow chart for conducting
impact assessment.

Figure 3.3 Flow chart for conducting impact assessment.

The characterisation step converts inventory data into a common

set and then be quantified into a specific environmental impact category, for
example, global warming potential and acidification potential. Normalisation
is used to express the impact indicator data in a way that has been compared
amid categories of impact. In this step the indicator results has been
normalised by dividing the indicator results by chosen reference value.
 68

Weighting step in LCA, also called as valuation which gives score to the
various impact categories, depends on their importance. Table 3.6 depicts the
impact categories and its unit analysed in this study through Eco - indicator
99 method. Figure 3.4 portrays the damage assessment model (Eco indicator
99 method).

Table 3.6 Impact categories analysed through Eco-indicator 99 method.

Impact category Remarks Damage

assessment
unit
Emissions of carcinogenic substances to DALY
Carcinogens air, water and soil.
Respiratory effects resulting from summer DALY
smog due to emissions of organic
Respiratory organics substances to air
Respiratory effects resulting from winter DALY
Respiratory smog due to emissions of dust, sulphur and
inorganics nitrogen oxides to air
It expresses damage result from an DALY
increase of diseases and death caused by
Climate change climate change.
Damage resulting from radioactive DALY
Radiation radiation
Damage caused by increased UV radiation DALY
owing to emission of ozone depleting
Ozone layer substances to air.
Damage due to emission of ecotoxic (PDFm2 yr)
Ecotoxicity substances to air, water and soil.
Acidification/ Damage due to emission of acidifying (PDFm2 yr)
Eutrophication substances to air.
Damage due to land conversion or (PDFm2 yr)
Land use occupation.
Surplus energy extracted as a result MJ
Minerals decreasing ore grades to future generation.
Surplus energy extracted as a result lower MJ
Fossil fuels quality resources to future generation.
Figure 3.4 Detailed representation of Eco indicator 99 method (Damage assessment model)
(Source: www.pre.nl/eco-indicator99)

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3.6 LIFECYCLE COST (LCC) ANALYSIS

3.6.1 Data Inventory

Data source and inventory requirements of Jatropha cultivation,

production of biodiesel is already mentioned in section 3.4.Cost associated
with that quantitative data of Jatropha biodiesel life cycle was collected from
local vendors and experts in production plant. Based on these details, life
cycle cost of biodiesel production was examined for small and medium
Jatropha seeds processing plants such as 300 tons and 1000 tons per annum.

3.6.2 Concept design

In this study, life cycle cost analysis of biodiesel production starts

from raw material extraction to biodiesel consumption which includes all the
stages such as feed stock production (farming), oil extraction, biodiesel
production and its usage. This entire cycle in the present study is divided into
three phases: feed stock farming, biodiesel production and its consumption.
Figure 3.5 shows the schematic representation of system boundary for
Jatropha biodiesel lifecycle cost analysis. This study aims at determining the
cost associated with these three phases.

Agricultural cost of Jatropha includes initial investment i.e. land

preparation and the annual maintenance cost (fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation,
pruning and trimming). Costs and returns of the Jatropha farming were
calculated for first five years. In general biodiesel is predominantly produced
by transesterification process. This is regarded as the best among other
methods to convert the vegetable oil into mono alkyl esters. In the present,
study sodium hydroxide is used as an alkaline catalyst. The Jatropha oil is
extracted from Jatropha seeds by electric screw expeller and the extracted oil
is added to methanol in the presence of sodium hydroxide catalyst which
 71

leads to the formation of Jatropha methyl ester and glycerol. Glycerol is a by-
product and has a market value.

Figure 3.5 Schematic representation of system boundary for Jatropha

biodiesel production Life Cycle Cost analysis.

In this study, it is observed and estimated from the collected data

that for 300 tons of Jatropha seed processing plant per annum produces
105tons of biodiesel and 13.8tons of glycerol (by-product) which required
18tons of methanol and 600 kg of sodium hydroxide per annum. Similarly for
1000 tons per annum of Jatropha seed processing plant required 60 tons of
methanol and 2tons of sodium hydroxide for producing 350 tons of biodiesel
and 46 tons of glycerol. The selling price of biodiesel in India is around US$
0.56/L according to the price of current retail. According to a study in 2010,
the retail price of Jatropha biodiesel in USA was 0.99 $/L(Strategic National
Energy Plan, 2005-2020) and many economic studies around the world
depicts that common price of biodiesel is around US$ 0.5/L(Atabania et al
2012).
 72

3.6.2.1 Calculation

In this study, gross return and net return of farmers were predicted
for Jatropha farming. A gross return is rate of return on an investment before
the deduction of expenditure. Net rate of return is the ratio of profit or loss
related to the invested amount of money. The economic benefit of the
Jatropha biodiesel plant is assessed by life cycle cost analysis. Life cycle cost
of biodiesel from Jatropha curcas was calculated by the method given by
Ong et al (Ong et al 2012).

Lifecycle cost (LCC) = Capital Cost (CC) + Operating Cost (OC) +

Maintenance Cost (MC) + Feedstock Cost (FC) - Salvage Value (SV) - By
product credit (BP)

With including present value model, the above lifecycle cost is

written in the form of an equation as follows:

n n
OC i MC i FC i SV BPi
LCC CC (3.1)
i 1 (1 r )i (1 r ) n i 1 (1 r ) i

Where r is an interest rate.

3.6.2.2 Present worth factor

A calculation of present value is important in economic studies and

many businesses. Present worth factor (PWF) is based on the time value of
money concept which is mainly used to find out the feasibility of investment
of biodiesel production in a plant for a given rate of interest. Present worth
factor value is calculated by

1
PWF (3.2)
(1 r)i

wherei represents the number of year.

 73

3.6.2.3 Capital costs

Capital cost in Equation (3.1) includes the cost of construction and

equipment cost and its installation which mainly depends on the biodiesel
production capacity of a plant. In this study, two different Jatropha biodiesel
plant productions capacity such as medium (300 tons of seed process/annum)
and large (1000 tons of seed process/annum) were selected. The annual
biodiesel production capacity of the plant was about 105 tons and 350tons for
300tons and 1000tons seed processing plant respectively. The estimated
capital cost for 300tons plant is $ 20242.5 and $ 44047.7 for 1000tons plant.

3.6.2.4 Operating costs

Operating cost includes the cost of labors, chemicals,

administration and other expenses except the feed stock cost. Here operating
costs also includes the costs of waste water treatment plant, waste sludge
tratment and removal of other contaminants. Given their dependence of
production capacity, operatingcosts are calculated by setting a fixed cost per
ton of biodiesel produced.In Equation (3.3), OR and PC represents the
operating rate and biodiesel production capacity of plant respectively.
Operating rate Over the plant life, total operating costs are

n
OR PC
OC i
(3.3)
i 1 (1 r )

3.6.2.5 Maintenance cost

The annual maintenance cost and service cost of the plant is

represented by MR which is assumed to be 2% of the initial capital cost. This
value is considered to be constant throughout the entire plant time.
Maintenance cost is calculated by

n
MR CC
MC (3.4)
i 1 (1 r )i
 74

3.6.2.6 Feedstock cost

Feed stock price (FP) is the average price of past year which was
about $129.5/ tonand also itis assumed to be constant throughout the plant life
time.Feedstock cost in equation 3.5 represents the costs for entire life time (20
years) of the plant which includes the present worth factor.The variation in
this assumption has been discussed in sensitivity analysis. In Equation 3.5,
PCfrefers to the plant processing capacity. Based on the price per ton of
feedstock, total feedstock cost for entire lifetime of biodiesel production plant
was calculated by

n FP PC f
FC (3.5)
i 1 (1 r )i

3.6.2.7 Salvage value

Salvage value in this study was calculated based on the

Replacement Cost (RC). Salvage value is the assets or components left after
the life time of the production plant. Salvage value calculation model is
shown in Equations(3.6) and (3.7).

SV RC (1 d )n 1 (3.6)

where d is depreciation rate and present value of salvage cost has been
calculated by

n 1
RC 1 d
SVPV n
(3.7)
1 r

3.6.2.8 By product credit

During the Jatropha biodiesel production, glycerol is formed as a

by-product, which is used in some process industries. By- product (BP)
 75

credit was calculated based on the Equation 3.8. In Equation 3.8, GCF
represents glycerol conversion factor and GP represents glycerol price.

n
GP GCF PC 1000
BP (3.8)
i 1 (1 r )i

3.6.3 Sensitivity Analysis

Sensitivity analysis measures impact on the project outcome by

systematic change of one parameter while keeping the other parameters
constant. In this study sensitivity analysis has been done with change in the
important variables to investigate the performance of proposed project. The
significant variable selected here is feed stock cost, interest rate and operating
rate. These variables are varied with a reasonable range and the final results
were investigated.

3.6.4 Basis for Calculation

In the present study the cost evaluations were based on the following
assumptions: Plant processing capacity of biodiesel production was 300 tons
and 1000 tons per annum. The cost associated with quantitative energy and
material inputs were collected in the month of April 2014. The exchange rate
was 1$ is equal to 61INR. Lifecycle cost includes the feedstock stock cost as
well as production cost, and assumed that all the operations are owned by one
entity.

3.7 LIFECYCLE ENERGY ANALYSIS

3.7.1 Overall Approach

The goal of this study is to evaluate lifecycle energy of Jatropha

biodiesel production in India. Life cycle energy is the energy consumed in
producing a specific input. Net energy gain (NEG) and Net energy ratio
 76

(NER) was used for evaluating the energy efficiency for biofuels. Net energy
is the energy gain or loss from the biodiesel used that is defined as the energy
content of the biodiesel minus the nonrenewable energy used in the life cycle
of the biodiesel production (Kim & Dale 2005 and Blottnitz& Curran 2007).
Net energy ratio is the ratio of total energy output to total energy input for the
lifecycle of the product which shows the product energy efficiency.

System boundary of the Jatropha biodiesel production includes

cultivation, oil extraction, biodiesel production and transportation to fuel
station. Figure 3.6 depicts all the stages and system boundary of Jatropha
biodiesel production. Energy analysis includes the inputs during fertilizer
production & application, farming practice, oil extraction and biodiesel
production and transportation to fuel station. Energy outputs from biodiesel
and co-products such as seed shell, seed cake, and glycerol are included in
this analysis. Each co-product shared a part of energy input based on their
mass fraction of total output.

Functional unit of this study was 1 ton of biodiesel production. All

the energy calculations have been done based on 1 ton of biodiesel
production. Data source, quantitative inventory of Jatropha cultivation and
biodiesel production are aforementioned in section 3.4. The factors used for
energy calculation are shown in Table 3.7. Energy factors related to chemicals
and fertilizer production are sourced from relevant research studies and
available databases. To calculate the life cycle energy gain and lifecycle
energy ratio, Jatropha biodiesel (end product), glycerine (by product of
transesterification process), seed cake and seed shell (by products of oil
extraction) were only considered. Wood, by product from Jatropha farming is
not considered because the use of this byproduct is not an energy efficient
practice in chosen region of study. Energy consumption of each stage in
Jatropha biodiesel has been assessed. Furthermore NEG and NER were also
evaluated for lifecycle of Jatropha biodiesel with including the coproduct
energy credits and without including the coproduct credits.
Figure 3.6 System boundary of lifecycle of Jatropha biodiesel

77
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Table 3.7 Factors for energy calculation of Jatropha biodiesel

production lifecycle

S.No Subject Energy factor Source

(MJ/kg)
Fertilizer production
1 Nitrogen (N) 87.9 (Pimentel 2001)
2 Phosphorous (P) 26.4 (Pimentel 2001)
3 Potassium (K) 10.5 (Pimentel 2001)
4 Farmyard manure 47.9 (Ramachandra &Nagarathna
2001)
5 Diesel use 36.7MJ/L (Prueksakorn & Gheewala
Fuel energy per kg of 2010)
diesel energy for
producing diesel
6 Jatropha oil 37.8 (Stelyus et al 2012)
7 Methanol 38.08 (Openshaw2000)
8 Sodium hydroxide 19.87 (Tobin 2005 and Ester da Costa
et al 2006)
9 Crude glycerine 25.6 (Prueksakorn & Gheewala
2010)
10 Seed shell 16.9 (Vyas & Singh 2007)
11 Seed cake as fuel 18.8 (Prueksakorn&Gheewala2010)
stock
12 Seedcake as fertilizer 6.99 (Prueksakorn & Gheewala
2010)