Economic and Environmental Transportation Effects of Large-Scale Ethanol Production and Distribution

时间：2009-04-06  阅读：    我要评论:

Heather L. Wakeley^†, Chris T. Hendrickson*^‡, W. Michael Griffin^§ and H. Scott Matthews^‡§Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy, and Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 15213 and TRC Energy Services, Ithaca, New York 14850Environ. Sci. Technol., 2009, 43 (7), pp 2228–2233DOI: 10.1021/es8015827Publication Date (Web): February 25, 2009Copyright © 2009 American Chemical Society †

TRC Energy Services.

, * Corresponding author phone: 412-268-1066; e-mail: cth@cmu.edu., ‡

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University.

, §

Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University.

,

Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University.

Abstract

The combination of current and planned 2007 U.S. ethanol production capacity is 50 billion L/yr, one-third of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) target of 136 billion L of biofuels by 2022. In this study, we evaluate transportation impacts and infrastructure requirements for the use of E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline) in light-duty vehicles using a combination of corn and cellulosic ethanol. Ethanol distribution is modeled using a linear optimization model. Estimated average delivered ethanol costs, in 2005 dollars, range from $0.29 to $0.62 per liter ($1.3−2.8 per gallon), depending on transportation distance and mode. Emissions from ethanol transport estimated in this work are up to 2 times those in previous ethanol LCA studies and thus lead to larger total life cycle effects. Long-distance transport of ethanol to the end user can negate ethanol’s potential economic and environmental benefits relative to gasoline. To reduce costs, we recommend regional concentration of E85 blends for future ethanol production and use.

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