Taslima Khanam1, Faisal Khalid2, Wajiha Manzoor3, Ahmad RashediID1, Rana Hadi4,Faizan Ullah5, Fariha Rehman3, Andleeb Akhtar6, N. B. Karthik Babu7
, Majid HussainID2*
1 College of Engineering, IT and Environment, Charles Darwin University, Casuarina, Northern Territory,
Australia, 2 Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of Haripur, Haripur City, KP,
Pakistan, 3 Department of Economics, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Lahore Campus, Lahore City,
Punjab, Pakistan, 4 Department of Zoology, Jinnah University for Women, Nazimabad, Karachi, Sindh,
Pakistan, 5 Department of Botany, University of Science and Technology, Bannu, KP, Pakistan,
6 Department of Psychology, University of Haripur, Haripur City, KP, Pakistan, 7 Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Centurion University of Technology and Management, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
According to IPCC Annual Report (AR-5), environmental impact assessment of any product
prototype is recommended before its large-scale commercialization; however, no environmental profile analysis of any biodiesel prototype has been conducted in Pakistan. Therefore, objective of this study was to conduct a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA),
water footprint and cumulative energy demand (CED) of biodiesel production from Jatropha
curcas L. (JC) seeds oil in Pakistan. A cradle-to-gate LCA approach was applied for 400 liter
(L) JC biodiesel produced in Pakistan. JC biodiesel production chain was divided into three
stages i.e., 1). cultivation of JC crop 2). crude oil extraction from JC seeds and 3). crude oil
conversion to biodiesel. Primary data for all the stages were acquired through questionnaire
surveys, field visits and measurements in the field. Potential environmental impacts were
calculated in SimaPro v.9.2 software using Eco-indicator 99 methodology. Results showed
that crude oil extraction stage accounted for highest emissions (77%) to the overall environmental impact categories evaluated, followed by oil conversion stage (21%) and JC cultivation stage (02%), respectively. The three stages of JC biodiesel production chain are major
contributor to ecotoxicity with a contribution of 57% to this impact category. Higher contribution to ecotoxicity was due to agrochemicals used in the JC cultivation. Similarly, fossil fuels
impact category was responsible for 38% of overall environmental impacts. In addition,
water footprint of JC biodiesel production chain was 2632.54 m3
/reference unit. Cumulative
energy required for 400L JC biodiesel production chain was 46745.70 MJ in Pakistan. Fossil
diesel consumption, synthetic fertilizers use and purchased electricity were major hotspot
sources to environmental burdens caused by JC biodiesel production in Pakistan. By performing sensitivity analysis at 20% reduction of the baseline values of fossil diesel used,
synthetic fertilizers and purchased electricity, a marked decrease in environmental footprint
was observed. It is highly recommended that use of renewable energy instead of fossil
energy would provide environmental benefits such as lower greenhouse gases and other