Consequential LCA of two alternative systems for biodiesel consumption in Spain, considering uncertainty

Without considering emissions from Land Use Change (LUC), UCO biodiesel produced in Spain performed better than imported biodiesel from Argentina in all the analyzed impact categories but Global Warming (GW), which was 138.9% lower in Scenario 1, mainly due to the carbon uptake by soybeans in Argentina and palm trees in Malaysia. Since these results could be misleading, GHG emissions from LUC in each country were included. Indirect functions of the expanded systems appeared to have a great contribution in the overall GW impact, especially in Scenario 2. Results show that there are clear environmental benefits arising from the use of UCO biodiesel in Spain to meet the European targets, as compared to the use of imported soybean biodiesel from Argentina. The Monte Carlo simulation for both scenarios also reinforces confidence in the comparative assessment.