Comprehensive Evaluation of Fuel Ethanol Production from Poplar Wood Fermentation and its Coupled Pathway with Lignin Gasification Based on Energy-Environment-Economy

In this study, a comprehensive comparison of the poplar wood fermentation process and fermentation-coupled gasification process was carried out from energy, environmental, and economic perspectives. The process of fuel ethanol from poplar wood fermentation (Case 1) and fuel ethanol from poplar wood fermentation coupled with lignin gasification for jet fuel (Case 2) was simulated using aspen plus software. The exergy analysis showed that the exergy efficiency of Case 1 and Case 2 were 36% and 35.6%, respectively. The product separation process contributed the most to the exergy losses, and the Case 2 had a 4.5% increase in revenue exergy over Case 1. The life cycle assessment (LCA) results showed that biofuels had a lower environmental impact than conventional petrol, and Case 2 was lower than Case 1. The production stage contributed the most to the global warming potential (GWP) of Case 1 and Case 2 with 49.4% and 51.2%, respectively. The techno-economic analysis showed that the fixed investment in Case 2 had increased by $112.9 million, and the annual operating costs had increased by $27 million compared to Case 1. The costs of fuel production in Case 1 and Case 2 were $1079.3/ton and $1033.4/ton, respectively.