A comprehensive sensitivity analysis of an integrated LCA, LCC, and AHP based life cycle sustainability assessment of biodiesel in Vietnam

• Main Author: Khang, Dinh S.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2016
• Subjects: Biodiesel fuels > Vietnam; Sustainability; Chemical Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_doctoral/489
• Institution: De La Salle University

Using biodiesel to replace conventional diesel has been proposed as a potential way to reduce environmental problems associated with the use of petroleum. Biodiesel is produced from agriculture products or wastes. Vietnam has advantages in agricultural production and has a policy to develop biodiesel as a promising product to substitute diesel in the future. However, developing biodiesel production systems may be challenged by many problems, such as food security, competitive cost, social and political issues. Its environmental impact is also unclear. In this dissertation, a comprehensive life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) study is carried out to assess how these aspects affect the sustainable development of biodiesel. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) are used to measure the environmental impacts and economic issues. Since the output of LCA and LCC can be affected by uncertainty in the model parameters, a Latin hypercube design of experiments (DOE) method is developed as a new approach to handle uncertainties. Then, environmental and economic issues are integrated into judgments of multi-stakeholders, along with social aspects, through the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The results show that using jatropha, waste cooking oil (WCO), and fish oil (FO) biodiesel may reduce overall environmental impact. However, the life cycle costs of biodiesel are still higher than that of diesel. The final result of sustainability assessment indicates that the most appropriate feedstock for biodiesel production in Vietnam is WCO, followed by fish oil, and then by jatropha. WCO and fish oil that are collected from wasted oil may have lower cost as well as lower environmental impacts than jatropha oil produced from agriculture. This study also demonstrates that Latin hypercube DOE is an efficient method for handling uncertainty in LCA and LCC. Moreover, by integrating three elements, i.e., LCA, LCC, and AHP, this work provides an important contribution towards developing a comprehensive life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) framework for biodiesel.