Assessing energy performance of bio-based succinic acid production using LCA

Bio-succinic acid (bio-SAC) is a promising industrial alternative to the currently used petroleum counterparts. This is mainly due to its energy and environmental performances, which were both, assessed using a cradle-to-gate LCA approach. The foreground data used in this LCA were based on real production data from a facility in Louisiana, USA that uses a non-food crop feedstock. Results indicate that electricity use and heat generation were identified to have the biggest impact on the energy and environmental performances of bio-SAC and to have the highest improvements potential. In addition, bio-SAC has lower GWP and non-ren CED values in comparison to petroleum-based SAC by 385% and 1045%, respectively. Scenario analyses indicate that using an energy intensive feedstock (e.g., dextrose) instead of sorghum will have an adverse impact on bio-SAC GWP and non-ren CED.