Daka Biodiesel - Life Cycle Analyses

Environment

Production plant

Life Cycle Analyses - LCA

Several life cycle analyses have been carried out for biodiesel based on animal fat. As we are dealing with a CO2 neutral by-product, these provide a very positive assessment of our product.

During the Danish debate on bioethanol, it has been suggested that the CO2 displacement is greater if the biomass is incinerated directly in heating plants since the conversion process involves a considerable loss of energy. The problem, however, is that there are no real alternatives to fossil fuels in the EU, and that it is important to develop other solutions for supply-related reasons. The energy loss involved in converting animal fat to biodiesel is low and on a level with the energy loss involved in the refining of fossil fuels.

Europe is also seeing more and more diesel-driven vehicles, which is a positive development since diesel-engine vehicles go up to 30% further per litre of fuel than petrol-driven engines.

This means that Europe will, at some stage, begin to experience a shortage of diesel. In popular terms, biodiesel may therefore allow us to convert even more cars to diesel over time, which would reduce CO2 emissions in the transport sector even further.

Biodiesel from animal fat given stamp of approval

It is possible to convert waste/by-products into a competitive biofuel with a good environmental profile – that is one of the key conclusions of a new life cycle analysis (LCA) conducted by the Institute for Product Development at the Technical University of Denmark.