Emergy-based assessment of biodiesel production in India using edible and non-edible oil

The high demand, low availability, and environmental concerns linked with conventional fuel burning drive to search for alternative fuel. One such alternative energy source is biodiesel. In the present study, the emergy analysis process is applied to examine sustainability of biodiesel production from different edible oil crops (soybean, sunflower, and rice bran oil) and non-edible crops (jatropha, karanja, and soapnut oil). Based on data accessibility, the region investigated in the current study is Maharashtra, India. The transesterification process of biodiesel production with different catalysts, viz. alkali, acid, and lipase catalyst, has been considered. The values of emergy-based indices are then assessed. Finally, a comparative evaluation is done based on these emergy-based indices to check the sustainability of the considered biodiesels. Regardless of the catalyst types used, sunflower oil is appeared to be the best suitable edible oil for biodiesel production based on its lowest transformity value. In contrast, rice bran oil is the least favored edible oil as it has the highest transformity value. Similarly, karanja oil is the best suitable non-edible oil for biodiesel production because of its lowest transformity value. In contrast, jatropha oil is the least favored non-edible oil as it has the highest transformity value. Likewise, considering the emergy-based indices, it is seen that regardless of the catalyst types used, sunflower biodiesel is the most sustainable biodiesel among the edible oils, and karanja biodiesel is the most sustainable biodiesel among the non-edible oils.