Life cycle assessment of Moringa oleifera derived biodiesel: Energy efficiency, CO2 intensity and environmental impacts

Abstract

AbstractThis paper performs a thorough cradle to tank life cycle assessment to examine environmental impacts of Moringa oleifera derived biodiesel. Attributional LCA according to ISO 14040‐44, using CML‐IA baseline method, was conducted. Furthermore, Biodiesel versus petrodiesel comparison was undertaken.Moringa oleifera derived biodiesel shows a GWP of 39.94 gCO2eq/MJ of biodiesel, which presents a reduction of 52.34%, compared to petrodiesel. It revealed an EROEI value of 1.48, which can reach 3.20 with allocation applying, presenting an energy saving over petrodiesel of 53%. In addition, Ozone layer depletion impact of Moringa based biodiesel is lower than that of petrodiesel. This good performance notwithstanding, Moringa oleifera derived biodiesel exhibits high environmental impacts in terms of Abiotic Depletion of elements, Human Toxicity, Fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity, Marine aquatic ecotoxicity, Terrestrial ecotoxicity, Acidification, Eutrophication, respectively, 96.60%, 60.22%, 82.13%, 64.77%, 98.71%, 35.68% and 76.70% higher than those of petrodiesel. Nevertheless, coproducts valorization and ecofriendly inputs use could contribute efficiently to improve its environmental performances compared to petrodiesel.According to our results and comparison with other feedstocks based biodiesel, Moringa biodiesel could be used as a sustainable biofuel with a high contribution to climate change mitigation and fossil energy savings in addition to reduced environmental impacts.