摘要
Considering energy security and greenhouse gas emission, many governments are developing bio-liquid fuel industries. The Chinese Government advocates the development of a fuel ethanol industry with non-food crops such as cassava. However, scientists debate the carbon emission of these bio-liquid fuels. The focuses are the influence of soil carbon pool destruction and by-product utilization. This study built a carbon balance analysis model, and assessed carbon emission of cassava fuel ethanol across its life cycle. The results show that the carbon emission of cassava fuel ethanol per kilogram in its life cycle was 0.457 kg under new technical conditions and 0.647 kg under old technical conditions. Carbon emission mainly came from the use of nitrogen fertilizer （9% of total emissions）, the destruction of the soil carbon pool （29%） and fossil energy inputs （50%）. Taking gasoline as a reference, the carbon emission of cassava fuel ethanol was 90% of that of gasoline. This percentage would drop to 64% if soil carbon pool destruction was avoided. Therefore, in order to promote the development of cassava fuel ethanol in China, farms should apply fertilizer properly, grow cassava on marginal land, and not alter land use patterns of woodland, grassland and other environments. In addition, we should exploit efficient fuel ethanol conversion technologies and strengthen the use of by-products.
出于能源安全的考虑及对温室气体减排的关注,世界各国近些年大力发展生物液体燃料,我国政府提倡以木薯等非粮作物为原料生产燃料乙醇。但一直以来科学家们对生物液体燃料的碳效应争论激烈,争论的焦点在于原料种植对土壤碳库的影响及不同技术条件下副产品利用的评估。本文通过建立碳平衡分析模型,将原料种植对土壤碳库影响及副产品利用的替代效应纳入研究体系,评估了我国木薯燃料乙醇生命周期内的碳排放,研究结果显示:我国每生产单位质量(1kg)木薯燃料乙醇,在新旧两种技术条件下的碳排放分别为0.457kg和0.647kg。碳排放主要来自于氮肥的使用、木薯种植对土壤碳库的破坏及木薯燃料乙醇加工转化过程能源投入,在新技术条件下分别占总排放量的9%、29%和50%。以汽油的碳排放为参照,在旧技术条件下我国木薯燃料乙醇碳排放呈现负效益,在新技术条件下其碳排放为汽油的90%,倘若能避免对土壤碳库的破坏,则这一比例将下降到64%。因此,为了促进我国木薯燃料乙醇的发展,首先应该引导农民合理施肥,利用边际土地种植木薯,不转换林地、草地等土地类型的利用方式;此外,要开发高效节能的燃料乙醇转化技术及加强对副产品的二次利用。
基金
the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40971270)
