EVALUACIÓN AMBIENTAL PARA PROCESOS QUE USAN RESIDUOS DE LA INDUSTRIA DE LOS BIOCOMBUSTIBLES COMO MATERIAS PRIMAS

The industry of biofuels generates a lot of amounts of residues, which could be used to produce added-value products. In this work, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodological approach was used in the cases of glycerol and sugarcane bagasse during their productions and their uses as raw materials in four different processes. The aim of this work was to determine the environmental impact of those processes, by calculating the Greenhouse Gases (GHG) associated to their lifecycles. The results indicated that the GHG emissions from glycerol processes were larger than processes involving sugarcane bagasse. Nevertheless, the processes using glycerol as raw material could be considered as more efficient, since the GHG emissions associated with the glycerol use per mass unit were 75% lower than GHG emissions when the glycerol is used, with regard to sugarcane bagasse.