LCA of bioethanol and furfural production from vetiver

• Exploration of non-conventional agricultural crop residues in India is necessary.
• Vetiver leaves are rich in cellulose – 32.6%, hemicellulose – 31.5% and lignin – 17.3%.
• Vetiver leaves could be a potential feedstock for biorefinery in India.
• Significant impact reduction from vetiver system compared to conventional system.

In this study a prospective life cycle assessment of biorefinery system from vetiver leaves was carried out to know the environmental benefits of this system over conventional systems considering the geographical context of India. The composition of vetiver leaves from the experimental analysis revealed that vetiver is rich in cellulose (32.6%), hemicellulose (31.5%) and lignin (17.3%) that could be used as a feedstock for biorefinery. The comparative life cycle assessment results show that the carbon dioxide emission and fossil oil depletion could be reduced by 95% and 23% respectively in case of standalone bioethanol system, and 99% and 17% respectively in case of bioethanol and furfural system compared to that of conventional petrol and furfural systems. The sensitivity study indicates that the impact could be further reduced if vetiver biomass is used as a source of energy in biorefinery plant instead to the coal.