RT Journal Article
T1 Apple Pomace Integrated Biorefinery for Biofuels Production: A Techno-Economic and Environmental Sustainability Analysis
A1 Rebolledo Leiva, Ricardo
A1 Estévez Rivadulla, Sofía
A1 Hernández Espinoza, Diógenes
A1 Feijoo Costa, Gumersindo
A1 Moreira Vilar, María Teresa
A1 González García, Sara
K1 Life cycle assessment
K1 Circular bioeconomy
K1 Bioethanol
K1 Biogas
K1 Bioenergy
K1 Vinasse
AB The combination of techno-economic process modelling and life cycle assessment is an integrated methodology that addresses quantitative operational data, and evaluates the emissions associated with any process under development. In particular, the valorisation of waste streams within the context of the circular economy could be considered a valid and promising approach, especially regarding techno-economic and environmental indicators. This manuscript aims to evaluate the integral valorisation of apple pomace from the processing industry into bioethanol, and vinasses (a byproduct of the distillation process) into biogas and digestate as biofertiliser. In addition to biogas production, lagooning and composting were considered as strategies for vinasse management. After the conceptual design of the process options was completed, the environmental profile of bioethanol production was estimated across different scenarios. When biogas production was integrated to reduce the biorefinery’s energy demand, the carbon footprint was 1.13 kg CO2eq∙kg−1. This footprint increased to values around four when lagooning and composting were used as vinasse management strategies. Although the economic dimension posed a significant limitation due to high investment costs, the eco-efficiency analysis showed that the scenario of the co-production of bioethanol and biogas is the best alternative. Despite the promising results, further research is needed to explore the recovery of additional co-products to develop a high-potential strategy for apple pomace.
PB MDPI
SN 2079-9276
YR 2024
FD 2024-11-07
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/38732
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/38732
LA eng
NO Rebolledo-Leiva, R., Estévez, S., Hernández, D., Feijoo, G., Moreira, M.T., González-García, S., 2024. Apple Pomace Integrated Biorefinery for Biofuels Production: A Techno-Economic and Environmental Sustainability Analysis. Resources, 13 (11), 156.
NO This research is partially supported by the project Transition to sustainable agri-food sector bundling life cycle assessment and ecosystem services approaches (ALISE), funded by the Spanish National Research Agency (TED2021-130309B-I00). S. Estévez also acknowledges to the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for financial support (Grant reference PRE2020-092074). Estevez. S., Feijoo, G., Moreira. M.T., González-García. S. belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group (GRC ED431C-2021/37) and to the Cross-disciplinary Research in Environmental Technologies (CRETUS Research Center. ED431E 2018/01). Hernández D. acknowledges funding from FONDECYT, Chile (project N° 11200398).
DS Minerva
RD 24 abr 2026