Environmental life cycle assessment of combined process for biodiesel and hydrogen production

The latest global events and the alarming environmental situation has highlighted the urgent need to switch from conventional energy sources to more sustainable bioenergy alternatives. The current study’s goal is to assess the environmental performances of biodiesel and hydrogen production from chicken fat waste. The suggested process is simulated using Aspen plus software, and it consists of the production of both biodiesel and hydrogen through the combination of a transesterification and an auto-thermal reforming processes. Life cycle assessment method is considered to appraise the environmental profile of the overall production chain of 1 GJ of energy output. Results show that to produce 1 GJ of energy, 80.4 kg eq CO₂ is emitted. This finding is highlighted by the important contribution of the chicken farm subsystem in most of the adapted impact categories. Mineral fertilizers’ substitution by chicken litter reduces the environmental impacts of the chicken farm subsystem, in particular global warming potential impact is reduced by 17%. The present investigation reveals the important contribution of the farming subsystem to the environmental performances of an energy production process from fatty waste revealing the strong connection between all the stakeholders in the supply chain of raw materials.