Towards a consensual
method to assess
climate change impacts
from bio-based systems
Anthony BENOIST
(1,2)
,
Claire CORNILLIER
(3)
(1)
CIRAD, BioWooEB, Montpellier, France
(2)ELSA research group, Montpellier, France
(3)FCBA, Environment & Health Department,
Research question
Climate change
Atmospheric concentration of GreenHouse Gases (GHG)
CO
2CH
4Others
Carbon compartments / sinks
Standing
biomass
Oceans
Soils
reserves
Fossil
…
C
CO
2CO
2uptake processes
(photosynthesis, water
dissolution)
Bio-based systems
How to assess resulting
impacts on climate change?
General approach
o
Critical analysis of current methods
o
Framework for climate change impact assessment
for bio-based systems
o
Development of a new characterisation method
Research question:
How to assess impacts on climate change from
bio-based systems?
Critical analysis: Material & methods
7 methods considered…
Dealing with
biogenic GHG
emissions
Conventional GWP:
carbon neutrality
approach
Conventional GWP:
full accounting
approach
Time-adjusted GWP
Biogenic GWP
Biogenic Accounting
Factors (BAF)
Dealing with
land
occupation
and/or
transformation
ILCD / IPCC
recommendation for
land transformation
Müller-Wenk proposal
… according to 8 criteria
Completeness
Cause-effect chains
and C compartments
Scientific
soundness
General principles
Underlying
calculations
International
acceptance
Genericity
Application context
Modelling approach
Easiness of
use
Collecting LCI data
Generating new CF
Critical analysis: Results
GHG emissions
Land use
Ca
rbon
n
eutra
li
ty
Fu
ll
ac
coun
tin
g
T
ime
-adju
ste
d
GW
P
Biog
enic
GW
P
BA
F
IL
CD
/
IPCC
re
comm
endatio
n
Mül
ler
-W
enk
prop
osa
l
Completeness
3
4
4
1
1
3
4
Scientific
soundness
General principles
2
3
4
4
2
3
4
Underlying calculations
N/A
N/A
4
1
2
N/A
1
International acceptance
1
4
3
3
2
4
2
Genericity
Application context
2
2
5
4
2
2
4
Modelling approach
4
4
4
1
5
4
3
Easiness of
use
Collecting LCI data
5
4
1
3
2
3
5
Generating new CF
5
5
5
1
2
4
3
Bio-based system assessment framework
Fossil
emissions
CO
2uptake
Agriculture or forestry
stage
Harvest
Transformation into
bio-based products, and use
Biogenic carbon
emissions
Land use
impact
assessment
framework
GHG emission impact assessment framework
(current climate change assessment framework)
Conventional GWP with a full accounting approach
If needed: ILCD recommendation for delayed emissions
(based on Time-Adjusted GWP principle)
Not yet
satisfactory?
Critical analysis: Results
GHG emissions
Land use
Ca
rbon
n
eutra
li
ty
Fu
ll
ac
coun
tin
g
T
ime
-adju
ste
d
GW
P
Biog
enic
GW
P
BA
F
IL
CD
/
IPCC
re
comm
endatio
n
Mül
ler
-W
enk
prop
osa
l
Completeness
3
4
4
1
1
3
4
Scientific
soundness
General principles
2
3
4
4
2
3
4
Underlying calculations
N/A
N/A
4
1
2
N/A
1
International acceptance
1
4
3
3
2
4
2
Genericity
Application context
2
2
5
4
2
2
4
Modelling approach
4
4
4
1
5
4
3
Easiness of
use
Collecting LCI data
5
4
1
3
2
3
5
Generating new CF
5
5
5
1
2
4
3
Critical analysis: Complementarities
o
Müller-Wenk proposal
Time-adjusted GWP
Müller-Wenk proposal
Completeness
4
4
Scientific soundness
4
4
4
1
3
2
Genericity
5
4
4
3
Easiness of use
1
5
o
Time-adjusted GWP
0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 0 20 40 60 80 100 T ime -ad ju s ted GW P o f C O2 (as C O2 -eq ) Emission yearProposal for a new characterisation method
o
Environmental mechanism considered
Carbon sequestration potential
Climate change
o
Scientific foundations and objectives
•
Compliant with the land use framework
•
Based on Time-Adjusted GWP principle
Proposal for a new characterisation method
o
Obtaining Characterisation Factors (CF)
Step 1: Defining reference land
use, relaxation processes, and
carbon storage dynamics
Step 2: Identifying direct
and
avoided
processes
Step 3: Deriving direct
and
avoided
emission profiles from
the framework
Step 4: Applying Time-Adjusted
GWP to the resulting emission
profiles to obtain CF
CF calculations: 1
st
example
o
At global land use level
Based on assumptions and data from Müller-Wenk &
Brandão (2010): 7 biomes, 3-4 land uses per biome
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 CF fr o m th is p ro p o sal ( tC O2 -eq / h a) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 CF fr om thi s pr opos al ( tC O2 -eq / (ha. yr ))
CF from Müller-Wenk proposal
Transformation CF
CF calculations: 2
nd
example
o
At a land use management practice level
Case study on forestry systems, data from FCBA and CNPF
Effect of revolution period (40, 60 or 80 years)
Attributional modelling
-2,5 -2 -1,5 -1 -0,5 0 R80 R60 R40 Oc cu p atio n CF ( tC O2 -eq / (h a. yr) )Take-home messages
o
Proposal for an harmonized framework for climate
change impact assessment for bio-based systems
o
Proposal for a new characterisation method for
climate change impact assessment from land use
o
Method description and applications
•
Available in French on ADEME website
http://www.ademe.fr/etude-preliminaire-a-realisation-bilans-environnementaux-chauffage-bois
-l
ca
.or
g
research group for environmental life cycle & sustainability assessment
Thank you for your attention!
Contact:
anthony.benoist@cirad.fr
Thanks to ADEME for its
funding.
Thanks to Alice GUEUDET
and Miriam BUITRAGO for
Main references
o Conventional GWP
MYHRE, Gunnar, SHINDELL, Drew, BRÉON, François-Marie, COLLINS, William, FUGLESTVEDT, Jan, HUANG, Jianping, KOCH, Dorothy, LAMARQUE, Jean-François, LEE, David, MENDOZA, Blanca, NAKAJIMA, Teruyuki, ROBOCK, Alan, STEPHENS, Graeme, TAKEMURA, Toshihiko and ZHAN, Hua, 2013, Anthropogenic and
Natural Radiative Forcing. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [online].
Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press. p. 659–740. ISBN 978-1-107-05799-1. Available from: http://www.climatechange2013.org/report/
o Time-Adjusted GWP
BENOIST, Anthony and DRON, Dominique, 2009, Integrating GHG dynamics in biomass-based products
LCA. In: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Life Cycle Management. Cape Town, South
Africa. 2009. p. 6.
KENDALL, Alissa, 2012, Time-adjusted global warming potentials for LCA and carbon footprints. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment [online]. 2012. Vol. 17, no. 8, p. 1042–1049. DOI
10.1007/s11367-012-0436-5. Available from: http://www.springerlink.com/index/10.1007/s11367-012-0436-5
LEVASSEUR, Annie, BRANDÃO, Miguel, LESAGE, Pascal, MARGNI, Manuele, PENNINGTON, David, CLIFT, Roland and SAMSON, Réjean, 2012, Valuing temporary carbon storage. Nature Climate Change [online]. 2012. Vol. 2, p. 6–8. DOI 10.1038/nclimate1335. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1335
Main references
o Biogenic GWP
CHERUBINI, Francesco, PETERS, Glen P., BERNTSEN, Terje, STRØMMAN, Anders H. and HERTWICH, Edgar, 2011, CO2 emissions from biomass combustion for bioenergy: atmospheric decay and contribution to
global warming. GCB Bioenergy [online]. 23 October 2011. Vol. 3, no. 5, p. 413–426. DOI
10.1111/j.1757-1707.2011.01102.x. Available from: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1757-1707.2011.01102.x
o Biogenic Accounting Factors
US EPA, 2011, Accounting framework for biogenic CO2 emissions from stationary sources. Washington DC, United States of America.
o ILCD / IPCC recommendation for land transformation
EC-JRC, 2010, International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) Handbook - General guide for Life
Cycle Assessment - Detailed guidance. Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. o Müller-Wenk proposal for land use impact assessment
MÜLLER-WENK, Ruedi and BRANDÃO, Miguel, 2010, Climatic impact of land use in LCA—carbon transfers
between vegetation/soil and air. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment [online]. 2010. Vol. 15,
no. 2, p. 172–182. DOI 10.1007/s11367-009-0144-y. Available from: http://www.springerlink.com/index/10.1007/s11367-009-0144-y