Life cycle assessment of small-scale high-input Jatropha biodiesel production in India Krishan K. Pandey a,⇑ , Namita Pragya a , P.K. Sahoo b a College of Management & Economic Studies, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun 248 007, India b College of Engineering Studies, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun 248 007, India article info Article history: Received 16 November 2010 Received in revised form 15 June 2011 Accepted 16 June 2011 Available online 10 August 2011 Keywords: Energy balance Net energy ratio Life cycle Greenhouse gas High input Low input abstract In the current scenario of depleting energy resources, increasing food insecurity and global warming, Jatropha has emerged as a promising energy crop for India. The aim of this study is to examine the life cycle energy balance for Jatropha biodiesel production and greenhouse gas emissions from post-energy use and end combustion of biodiesel, over a period of 5 years. It’s a case specific study for a small scale, high input Jatropha biodiesel system. Most of the existing studies have considered low input Jatropha biodiesel system and have used NEB (Net energy balance i.e. difference of energy output and energy input) and NER (Net energy ratio i.e. ratio of energy output to energy input) as indicators for estimating the viability of the systems. Although, many of them have shown these indicators to be positive, yet the values are very less. The results of this study, when compared with two previous studies of Jatropha, show that the values for these indicators can be increased to a much greater extent, if we use a high input Jatropha biodiesel system. Further, when compared to a study done on palm oil and Coconut oil, it was found even if the NEB and NER of biodiesel from Jatropha were lesser in comparison to those of Palm oil and Coconut oil, yet, when energy content of the co-products were also considered, Jatropha had the highest value for both the indicators in comparison to the rest two. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In today’s milieu of rapid economic development energy, envi- ronment and food security are indeed the most talked about topics. When it comes to concern over these issues, India is not secondary to any other nation. Even the recent oil and gas discoveries in India have failed to keep pace with the energy demand. With high rate of economic growth, and 15% of the world’s population, it is currently dependent on imports for 68% of its oil use and is expected to be- come the fourth largest net importer of oil in the world by 2025, behind the United States, China, and Japan [1]. Petroleum-based fuels are limited reserves concentrated in cer- tain regions of the world. Biodiesel fuels are attracting increasing attention worldwide as a blending component or a direct replace- ment for diesel fuel [2]. In comparison with the conventional diesel fuels, biodiesel is 100% renewable [3]. It has better exhaust gas emission quality and is biodegradable [4]. Rapeseed and Sunflower in Europe, Soybean in USA and Sugarcane in Brazil are being used as raw materials for producing biofuels. However, for the country like India with world’s 15% population, food security is a major concern which restricts these options, as most of the biofuels used today are from food plants which are cultivated on fertile lands. Further, the diesel fuel use in India is about five times higher than gasoline fuel [5]. So, renewable fuels, particularly biodiesel, should get more attention in India. In the view of the above, non-edible oil from crops like Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) and Pongamia (Pongamia pinnata) are preferred for bio-diesel production, and the trend is expected to continue. Especially J. curcas has gained attention in tropical and sub-tropical countries and has spread beyond its center of origin [6]. Even the planning commission of India has recommended cultivation of Jatropha for its biofuel projects [7]. Initially, it was said that it could even be grown on wasteland with minimal care and minimal requirement of water and nutrients [8], but without commercial yield [9]. From experiences with Jatropha projects, it is now clear that it performs much better with adequate access to soil nutrients and water [10]. Adding some fertilizer or manure is needed to maintain good long-term seed yields, because Jatropha is not a Nitrogen-fixing crop, and substantial Nitrogen is removed with the harvesting of the seeds [10]. In spite of efforts made by Indian government, its growth did not pick up [11]. According to one study the reason for this was that basic agronomic properties of Jatropha were not thoroughly understood by many [12]. However 0306-2619/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.06.026 ⇑ Corresponding author. Address: College of Management & Economic Studies (CMES), University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), Energy Acres, P.O. Bidholi, Via-Prem Nagar, Dehradun 248 007, India. Tel.: +91 0135 2776092/93/ 95x174, mobile: +91 09760027312/09458314387; fax: +91 0135 2776094. E-mail address: kkpandey@ddn.upes.ac.in (K.K. Pandey). URLs: http://www.krishan.hpage.com, http://www.upes.ac.in (K.K. Pandey). Applied Energy 88 (2011) 4831–4839 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Applied Energy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy