Biomass Conversion into Fuels, Chemicals, or Electricity? A Network-Based Life Cycle Optimization Approach Applied to the European Union

Biomass resources offer a very promising alternative to fossil fuels for the sustainable production of electricity, fuels, and chemicals. Nevertheless, the problem of deciding on the best use of biomass is highly complex, as many potential feedstocks and conversion pathways exist, each one displaying different economic and environmental performances. In this context, here we propose a network approach that combines economic and several environmental criteria together with resource availability and demand constraints to identify optimal biomass feedstocks and their conversion pathways into fuels, chemicals, and electricity. We apply this methodology to the European Union (EU) considering the biomass resources currently available and the main technologies for their conversion into valuable products. Our results show that annual savings of as much as 1.81 Gt CO₂eq could be attained by exploiting biomass resources, although biomass cannot fully cover the total EU demand of ethylene, transport fuel, and electricity. The optimal environmental plan makes use of various biomass resources for power generation and biofuel production producing ethylene exclusively from naphtha. The approach presented generates valuable insight to aid policy-makers on how to sustainably use biomass resources.