Comparative LCA of fossil fuels and biofuels use for transportation – A literature review

This literature review investigates LCA studies carried out by different authors to evaluate the environmental impact of the use of traditional fossil fuels compared to the use of biofuels in the transport sector. The global warming potential of the studied fuels is analysed along with other impact categories such as acidification and human toxicity potentials. In general, biofuels are beneficial with respect to fossil fuels as regards greenhouse effect, since they are produced from vegetable systems that have assimilated CO2. However, the use of fertilizers and land areas, not needed for fossil fuels production, represent some of the main drawbacks of biodiesel and bioethanol life cycle. Both the similarities and differences among the results of the different LCA studies analysed are discussed in order both to highlight the most critical features that arise by comparing the environmental impact of traditional and alternative liquid fuels, and to assess if biofuels are an effective and sustainable alternative to diesel and gasoline for transportation in the next years.