Cradle-to-factory gate energy

The estimated cradle-to-factory gate energy requirements for PLA production from rye and whey in Table 8.2 show that also small plants (3kt p.a and 4.2 kt p.a., respectively) may be rather energy efficient (the estimated values remain to be proven in cotmnercial plants) [11,13]. 

Table 8.8. Cradle-to-factory gate energy use of starch-based polymers [11]...

Table 13.8 Cradle-to-factory gate energy requirements and CO2 emissions for plastics production [29, 34-36] ...

The cradle-to-factory gate energy requirements for PLA are 20-30% below those for polyethylene, while GHG emissions are about 15-25% lower. The results for PHA vary greatly (only energy data are available). Cradle-to-factory gate energy requirements in the best case (66.1 GJ/t) are 10-20% lower than those for polyethylene. PHA does not compare well with petrochemical polymers for more energy intensive production processes. 

Total fossil energy (cradle-to-factory gate), GJ/t plastic Source... 

Life cycle assessment (LCA) can be used to determine the environmental impacts of producing the biobased polyethylene. The LCA will consider the energy and GHG emission for producing biobased polyethylene from the raw materials to the plastic pellet. The cradle-to-factory gate approach can he useful for plastic packaging, bags, and other products. The cradle-to-gate LCA of biobased polyethylene and petroleum-based polyethylene are Usted in Table 5.3 (Hunter et al. 2008). 

Figure 3. Cradle-to-factory gate nonrenewable energy per kg PTT.

Cradle-to-factory gate fossil energy requirements, in GJ/tonne plastic ... 

Figure 13.4 Cradle-to-factory gate requirements of non-renewable energy for the production of various polymers [30]...

Total process and feedstock energy. Non-renewable energy only, i.e. total fossil and nuclear energy. In the cradle-to factory gate" concept the downstream system boundary ... 

For natural fibres, the extent to which these can replace fibreglass (which is heavy and energy intensive to produce) determines mainly the net environmental benefits. The advantages according to cradle-to-factory gate analyses were rather limited in one case (-14% for underfloor panel) and very attractive in the other two cases (-45% to -50% for interior side panel and transport pallet). 

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