Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
transesterification with methanol to produce biodiesel. Certainly, production of methanol
should be part of the cycle, too. The distribution portion encompasses the burdens related to
transporting the fuel from the processing facilities to gas stations. According to the current
practices, biofuels are not sold in the pure form but instead blended with regular gasoline and
diesel. Therefore, although blending is probably very low in terms of environmental impact,
needs to be considered in an analysis.
BASF's eco-efficiency analysis
Eco-efficiency is a management philosophy that takes into consideration the rate of economic
creation and the resulting impact on the environment to achieve that creation (Schmidheiny,
1992). BASF took the concept of eco-efficiency and converted it into a tool that contains the
environmental and economical dimensions. Environmental impacts are based on five main
aspects: consumption of raw materials, consumption of energy, emissions, toxicity potential,
and risk potential. These impacts are used to prepare an LCA according to the ISO 14040, at
the same time an economic evaluation of the product or process is performed. The results of
both analyses, environmental and economical, are then presented in an x/y normalized square
plot like the one shown in Figure 4.8. The plot is divided in four quadrants identified as: star
(right-up quadrant), dinosaur (left-bottom quadrant), frog (left-top quadrant), and pig (right-
bottom quadrant). A new product that according to the analysis falls into the star quadrant
means that it has a great economic value and is environmentally friendly. A dinosaur product
is opposite to the star, meaning that is not economically attractive and is harmful to the
Low
High
eco-efficiency
4
1.0
3
2
1
Low
eco-efficiency
High
High
1.0
Low
Cost (normalized)
Figure 4.8
Generic BASF eco-efficiency diagram for four hypothetical products (1, 2, 3, and 4).
Adapted from García-Serna et al., 2007, and BASF (n.d.).
