Evaluation of life-cycle assessment of Jatropha biodiesel

This paper provides an analysis of life-cycle assessment (LCA) of Jatropha biodiesel with a view to outline the environmental quality norms of Jatropha biodiesel. The underlying issue is that biofuels need to mitigate the effects of climate change and provide sustainable energy alternatives to fossil fuels. Thus, there is need for empirical evidence on the sustainability of Jatropha biodiesel in order to inform both biofuels policies and development of options for technical intervention to improve the environmental footprint of Jatropha biodiesel. Ten LCAs of Jatropha biodiesel are analyzed in this paper. The paper considers impact categories, which include energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) balance, land-use impact, acidification, and eutrophication. The general trend emerging from this analysis is that although Jatropha biodiesel has positive energy and GHG balances, there are site-specific variances and numerous opportunities for improvement.