JOURNAL OF RENEWABLE AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY 5, 063134 (2013)

Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions

of biodiesel production from rapeseed in Iran
Mohammad Ali Rajaeifar,1,a) Barat Ghobadian,2 Mohammad Davoud Heidari,1
and Ebrahim Fayyazi2
1
Department of Agricultural Machinery Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering
and Technology, College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj,
Iran
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Jalal ale Ahmad
highway, Tehran, Iran
(Received 7 August 2013; accepted 6 December 2013; published online 23 December 2013)

The issue of searching alternatives for diesel fuel in transport sector that is one of
the largest diesel fuel consuming sectors in each country has become more
attractive nowadays. In this study, the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of
biodiesel production from rapeseed as an alternative for diesel fuel in transport
sector was assessed in terms of three main stages including agricultural crop
production, transport, and industrial conversion. The results revealed that the total
fossil energy input cost was calculated as 28 122.16 MJ ha1 and the renewable
energy output content (biodiesel as the final outcome) was estimated as
31 802.06 MJ ha1. The net energy returns and the fossil energy ratio were
calculated as 3679.9 MJ ha1 and 1.13, respectively. It shows rapeseed could be a
suitable energy crop for biodiesel production. CO2 emissions assessment showed
that the total greenhouse gas emissions over biodiesel production life cycle were
1054.98 kg CO2 eq ha1 and the agricultural crop production stage ranks the first.
In order to establish energy crops cultivation such as rapeseed and achieve the
sustainable development, meteorological and water source availability data collected
and analyzed for all the 31 provinces in Iran to generate a map of regions capable of
rapeseed cultivation. The results revealed that 24 provinces among 31 provinces
have a great potential for rapeseed cultivation. V C 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

[http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4854596]

NOMENCLATURE
NER net energy return
FER fossil energy ratio
GHG greenhouse gas
IEA international energy agency
GDP gross domestic product
UNFCCC United Nations framework convention on climate change

I. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, the sustainable realistic development and growth is one which does not have
adverse effects on environment and should not destroy the natural resources.1 In order to suc-
ceed in the sustainable development and reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced by fossil
fuels, a developing trend for using renewable energies instead of non-renewable energies should
become an important part of the energy policy for each country. There are some alternatives

a)
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: Mohamad_rajaei@ut.ac.ir. Tel.:
þ998-26-32801011. Fax: þ98-26-32808138

1941-7012/2013/5(6)/063134/13/$30.00 5, 063134-1 C 2013 AIP Publishing LLC

V
063134-2 Rajaeifar et al. J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 5, 063134 (2013)

such as biodiesel, bioethanol, electricity, hydrogen, and natural gas considered as alternative
choices for reducing the transport sector’s dependency on petroleum and to decrease its envi-
ronmental impacts.2,3 Between 2005 and 2010, the global production of biofuels (bioethanol
and biodiesel) has grown from 585 thousand barrels to 1519 thousand barrels per day and 71
thousand barrels to 335 thousand barrels per day for bioethanol and biodiesel, respectively.4
The annual world production of biofuels in 2011 increased 0.7% (compared to 2010) while this
increase was 3.4% for annual biofuel production for Asian countries.5 This increase in produc-
tion of biofuels shows a new perspective of different countries across the world, especially the
Asian ones. Several studies were carried out by scientists about the possibility of biofuels pro-
duction in Asian countries. Barnwal and Sharma studied the prospects of biodiesel production
from vegetable oils in India in 2005.6 Palm oil potential as a source of biofuels in Malaysia
was investigated by Lam et al.7 In 2008, Hu et al. studied life cycle energy, environment, and
economic assessment of soybean-based biodiesel as an alternative automotive fuel in China.8 In
a study conducted by Phalan, the social and environmental impacts of biofuels in Asia were
assessed and the results revealed that biofuels will form a small but significant share of Asia’s
energy supply in the next decades.9 The possibility of biodiesel and bioethanol production in
different countries of Asia was studied by other researchers (Refs. 10–13) and the results indi-
cated that several countries in Asia had different plants to produce biofuels in order to achieve
sustainable development and increase energy security. One of these countries, which has differ-
ent potential plants to produce biofuels is Iran. In a recent research by Ghobadian,14 liquid bio-
fuels potential in Iran (which is mainly produced as ethanol and biodiesel) and its outlook was
investigated. The results showed that there are many regions in Iran, which have a substantial
potential for oil production as biodiesel feedstocks. Safieddin Ardebili et al. investigated the
biodiesel production potential from oil seeds such as rapeseed (canola cultivar), cotton, soy-
bean, corn, seasem, sunflower, olive, safflower, almond, coconut, walnut, and hazelnut in Iran
and the results revealed that canola (Brassica napus L.) with the potential of 142 756 tons of
biodiesel production per year can be one of the suitable plants for biodiesel production.15
Biodiesel as a substitute for diesel fuel (in blends or in its neat form) has several advan-
tages and consequently can support a number of strategies for addressing national issues (reduc-
ing national concerns about economy, environment, etc.) such as reducing dependence on
foreign petroleum, leveraging limited supplies of fossil fuels, diminishing GHG emissions,
reducing air pollution and related public health risks, and improving the domestic economy.16
Extensive investigations have been emerged for energy performances of biodiesel. The first
comprehensive assessment of energy for biodiesel production from soybean oil in the United
States was completed by Sheehan et al. in 1998.16 They characterized all energy inputs for soy-
bean biodiesel production process as a life cycle assessment including six subsystems: feedstock
production, feedstock transportation (soybean and soybean oil), soybean crushing, soybean proc-
essing with biodiesel conversion, biodiesel distribution, and biodiesel usage in engines. Their
results indicated that the fossil energy ratio (FER) of biodiesel is equal to 3.2. In other words,
biodiesel yields 3.2 units of energy for every unit of fossil energy consumed over its life cycle.
In another study, an analysis of the energy consumed and the useful energy produced by
rapeseed oil for biodiesel production was carried out by Richards and the results showed that
1.5 tons of biodiesel with energy content of 54 346 MJ was produced form the yield of 1 ha
rapeseed.17 Since fossil energy consumption of 30 505 MJ was reported for the industrial stages
including agricultural crop production, packing, transportation, and processing; the FER of bio-
diesel was calculated as 1.8. In a similar work, Venturi and Venturi investigated the energy
input and output of three energy crop chains in Europe such as rapeseed-based biodiesel and
the ratio of biodiesel energy output to its energy input was estimated as ranging from 0.7 to 1.0
for this crop.18 Janulis calculated the energy ratio of rapeseed oil methyl ester in Lithuania for
three stages including rapeseed production, oil pressing and transesterification, and (for a rape-
seed yield of 3.0 tons ha1) the FER was estimated as 1.2.19 Beside energy supply issue in bio-
diesel production systems, the GHG emissions are also critical. GHG emissions estimation has
been considered by several authors in biodiesel production systems. Wood and Corley calcu-
lated GHG emissions for biodiesel from palm oil in Malaysia and found that agricultural crop
063134-3 Rajaeifar et al. J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 5, 063134 (2013)

production stage in biodiesel production had the most influence on environment with
1920.85 kg CO2 eq ha1yr1.20 In a study conducted by Yusoff and Hansen, a life cycle assess-
ment of palm oil in Malaysia21 was investigated and the results revealed that total GHG
emissions for biodiesel from palm oil was 2496.45 kg CO2 eq ha1yr1 and agricultural crop
production stage had the most influence on environment. Results of similar studies on GHG
emissions also indicated that agricultural crop production stage ranks the first in GHG emis-
sions (CO2 eq ha1yr1).22–25
Since there is no similar investigation on this case in Iran, this paper aimed to assess the
energy consumption and CO2 emissions of rapeseed-based biodiesel as an alternative energy in
Iran. Moreover, to achieve sustainable development, a map was generated to show the potential
of rapeseed cultivation across the country as a bioenergy crop.
Although Iran has the second largest oil reserves in the Middle East and the second largest
natural gas reserves in the world, primary energy demand in Iran is estimated to be increased at
an average annual rate of 2.6% between 2003 and 2030, down from around 5% over the past
decades15 and this increasing trend, makes Iran as a major fossil fuel importer in the future.
The increasing demand of energy is mainly due to inordinate consumption of gasoline and diesel
fuels in the transport sector that forces Iran to import more fuels in the future. According to the
IEA (International Energy Agency) statistics, Iran’s diesel fuel and gasoline consumption in the
transport sector was 19 575 and 23 115  106 l, respectively, in 2009.26 Iran’s transport sector
relies almost exclusively on petroleum as a source of energy due to the high level of demand for
gasoline and diesel fuel. The problem can be solved with some visionary plans about renewable
energy usage and investments on energy demand regulation in the future decades.27
Agriculture is considered to be one of the most important sectors of Iran’s economy. This
sector is responsible for 14% of Iran gross domestic product (GDP) and nearly 23 million
(35%) of population is occupied in this sector. Agriculture sector plays a vital role in achieving
self-efficiency in major food crops and ensuring food security for the country’s increased popu-
lation.28 As edible oil production in Iran is highly depends on foreign edible oil (about 70% in
2012)29 the primary policy of the government in agriculture sector allocates to increase the
level of national edible oil production in order to decrease the high amount of edible oil import
in the country. According to this policy, long-term plans was considered in order to cultivate
edible oil crops throughout the country such as olive cultivation (Tuba program), soybean culti-
vation, canola cultivation, sunflower cultivation, etc. In 2010, canola harvested area in Iran was
about 185 000 ha and it is estimated that the harvested area will increase to 660 000 ha produc-
tion in 2014.29 Considering the fact that Iran is one of the UNFCCC (United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change) members and with regard to its commitment to
Kyoto treaty (which is signed and ratified on 22/08/05),30 Iran committed (as a developing
country) to reduce its GHG emissions. Based on Kyoto protocol, emission reduction activities
should not endanger the food security, social and economic development.31 Therefore, the best
policy could be the one which protects food security besides reducing GHG emissions. In other
words, with extensive oilseeds cultivation throughout the country (in potential regions) both
food security prevention (through edible oil supply) and GHG emissions reduction (through bio-
diesel production from a part of edible oil production) are attainable.
Biodiesel can be produced domestically from agricultural oils and from waste oils. With its
ability to be used directly in existing diesel engines, biodiesel can offer the immediate potential
to reduce Iran’s demand for petroleum in the transport sector in the next decades. Regardless of
the fact that biofuels can regulate the demand of fossil fuel in Iran, there is no doubt that bio-
fuels production needs more complete and concrete research to investigate the other economic
issues related to biofuels specially biodiesel for the Iranian situation.15

II. MATERIALS AND METHODS

A. Study framework
In this study, the production of biodiesel from rapeseed was assessed in three main stages
including agricultural crop production, transportation, and industrial conversion (oil pressing
063134-4 Rajaeifar et al. J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 5, 063134 (2013)

and transesterification), then the potential for cultivation of this crop was investigated and a
map of regions capable of rapeseed cultivation in Iran was generated. Since the production of
biodiesel from rapeseed in Iran is under study by the academic research centers and has not
vastly established in practice, we investigated rapeseed production and its oil extraction in the
main production region of Iran and studied its biodiesel conversion in the research centers.
Golestan province is the main center of oilseed production with the share of 60% from total oil-
seed production in Iran.29 This province is located within 36 and 38 north latitude and 53
and 56 east longitude, in the north-east of Iran. The major oilseed crops cultivated in this
province are rapeseed (canola cultivar), soybean and sunflower. About 40% from the total har-
vested land area and 39% from the total rapeseed production in Iran is from this province.32

B. Methodology
In order to assess the biofuels as a suitable replacement for petroleum the FER was calcu-
lated as the following:16,33

Renewable Energy Output

FER ¼ ; (1)
Fossil Energy Input

where FER is defined as the ratio of the energy output of the final biofuel product to the fossil
energy consumed to produce the biofuel. The FER as defined above only includes fossil energy
in the denominator.33
In biodiesel production from rapeseed, all three stages are based on the consumption of
specific resources, so the first step in this analysis was to convert all of the inputs and outputs
into their energy equivalents by multiplying the quantity of each input by their corresponding
embodied energy equivalent. Basic information on fossil energy inputs are entered into Excel
spreadsheets, SPSS 19 spreadsheets then used an input-output analysis for all stages. The sec-
ond step in this analysis was to determine the amount of CO2 emissions in biodiesel production
from rapeseed through its life cycle and to specify which stage has the most influence on envi-
ronment. The final step in this analysis was to collect and analyze meteorological and water
source availability data for all of the 31 provinces in Iran in order to generate a map of regions
suitable for rapeseed cultivation.

C. Data collection
1. Agricultural crop production
Energy input-output data for rapeseed (canola cultivar) production was adopted from
Mousavi-Avval et al. and then the amount of fossil energy inputs was extracted in order to
calculate the fossil energy consumption for this stage (Table I).32

2. Transportation
In this study, farmyard manure and chemical biocides (Herbicides, Fungicides, and
Insecticides) transportation to farms and rapeseed transportation to oil extraction manufactures
were considered. Since rapeseed oil extraction manufactures and biodiesel production centers
should be next to each other, there is no transportation considered for rapeseed oil from oil
extraction manufactures to biodiesel production centers. It should be noted that the energy used
for the transportation of chemical fertilizers to farms was not calculated separately because it
was considered in the energy equivalents used for agricultural crop production stage.34
The data used in the transportation was collected based on diesel fuel consumption in three
distances. Average distances from farmyard manure production centers to farms, average distan-
ces from chemical biocides distribution centers to farms, and average distances from farms to
rapeseed oil extraction manufactures. Farmyard manure, chemical biocides, and rapeseed are of-
ten transported by trucks. The energy equivalent for this type of transportation system is about
3 MJ ton1 km1.34
063134-5 Rajaeifar et al. J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 5, 063134 (2013)

TABLE I. Energy cost of agricultural crop production stage per hectare.

Energy Energy Percentage

Inputs Unit Quantity Source equivalent Unit Source cost (MJ) (%)a

Diesel l 101.48 32 47.8 MJ l1 34 and 35 4850.65 26.25

Electricity kW h 195.02 32 11.93 MJ kW h1 32 2326.57 12.60
Nitrogen fertilizer (N) kg 111.41 32 78.1 MJ kg1 34 8701.38 47.01
Phosphorus fertilizer (P2O5) kg 50.65 32 17.4 MJ kg1 34 881.30 4.80
Potassium fertilizer (K2O) kg 13.39 32 13.7 MJ kg1 34 183.51 0.99
Sulfur fertilizer (S) kg 11.50 32 1.12 MJ kg1 36 and 37 12.88 0.06
Herbicides kg 1.28 32 238 MJ kg1 38 303.55 1.64
Fungicides kg 0.88 32 216 MJ kg1 38 and 39 190.41 1.03
Insecticides kg 0.43 32 101.2 MJ kg1 38 and 39 43.59 0.26
Tractor h 3.62 32 93.61 MJ h1 32 338.94 1.86
Self-propelled combine h 5.39 32 87.63 MJ h1 32 472.65 2.56
Agricultural machinery h 2.77 32 62.7 MJ h1 32 173.68 0.94
Total 18 479.11 100

a
Percentage from total fossil energy input.

3. Industrial conversion
The main currently used oil extraction methods across the world are pressing and extraction
by organic solvents. These methods are performed at a higher range temperature
(110  C–120  C) in comparison to cold pressing methods (at maximum 60  C) and produce
higher amount of oil. However, cold pressing methods are used due to their less energy require-
ment and less phospholipids in the final oil, which is desirable in the production of the biodie-
sel.19 In order to estimate oil pressing energy consumption, electricity consumption in oil press-
ing and crude oil purification were calculated.
The conversion of vegetable oils or animal fats to biodiesel can be carried out by the tech-
nologies that are classified as follows: direct use and blending, microemulsion, pyrolysis, and
transesterification. Transesterification reaction of vegetable oils and animal fats with alcohol in
the presence of catalyst is the most common technology used to produce methyl or ethyl ester
named as biodiesel.40–42 The four major used methods of this reaction are conventional (cata-
lytic), supercritical processes, microwave, and ultrasound systems.43–45 Catalysts can be classi-
fied as alkali, acid, and enzyme.46–48 Transesterification using alkali catalyst or alkali-catalyzed
transesterification has been vastly used due to its faster reaction time and its lower cost. It is
reported that the free fatty acid content in the vegetable oil should be less than 1% for alkali-
catalyzed transesterification to occur.43,49,50
In this study, transesterification using conventional method with respect to alkali-catalyzed
reaction using KOH as catalyst and methanol as alcohol was considered in order to characterize
the conversion process. Fig. 1 shows the steps of a conventional (alkali-catalyzed) transesterifi-
cation in a flowchart.
As shown in Fig. 1, methanol and potassium hydroxide are mixed before the reaction, then
the mixture and rapeseed oil are pumped in to a reactor in order to observe transesterification
reaction. After the reaction, the mixture products are sent to a distillation column in order to
recover methanol and restore it to the reactor again, then biodiesel mixture and glycerin mixture
are separated in the separation phase by water washing. Finally, biodiesel mixture is refined in
order to separate methanol and methyl ester.

4. CO2 emission
GHGs are those that absorb infrared radiation in the atmosphere, trap heat and warm the
surface of the Earth. The three main GHGs are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and
063134-6 Rajaeifar et al. J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 5, 063134 (2013)

FIG. 1. Conventional (alkali-catalyzed) transesterification.

nitrous oxide (N2O). Other important GHGs are water vapor and many halo carbon compounds
and their emissions are not mainly considered.51 Production of these gases as a result of human
activities increases the natural greenhouse effect and lead to global warming and other environ-
mental pollution.
In this study, the amount of GHG emissions in each stage of biodiesel production cycle
from rapeseed was calculated based on Eq. (2) (Ref. 52) by using CO2 emission coefficients,
X
E¼ ðAi Ci Þ; (2)

where E is the total CO2 emissions which is calculated as the sum of input factors (Ai) per hec-
tare multiplied by their corresponding CO2 emission conversion coefficients (Ci) (which are
shown in Table II).

5. Map generation
Iran with about 1 648 000 km2 width and 31 provinces is the eighteenth largest country in
the world. It is located in the Middle East between Turkey and Iraq on the west and
Afghanistan and Pakistan on the east. Iran lies between latitudes 24 and 40 N and longitudes
44 and 64 E and has a variable climate, mostly arid and semi-arid with the average tempera-
ture between 10  C–25  C in the winter and 19  C–38  C in the summer.14 Roughly one-third of
Iran’s total surface area is suited for farmland. In 2010, rapeseed (canola cultivar) harvested
area in Iran was about 185 000 ha with production of 380 000 tons56 and it is estimated that
the harvested area will increase to 660 000 ha with 1 581 000 tons production in 2014,29 so
with a comprehensive assessment of ecological indices and water availability data, we can spec-
ify the regions that are suitable to cultivate this crop.
In order to specify the regions that have the potential for rapeseed cultivation, meteorologi-
cal (annual precipitation, humidity, minimum temperature, maximum temperature, sunshine
hours), and water source availability data for all the 31 provinces were collected from year
2000–2005,57 then all of them were analyzed with considering ecological indices to generate a
map of potential regions.
063134-7 Rajaeifar et al. J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 5, 063134 (2013)

TABLE II. GHG emission coefficient of inputs.

Inputs Unit GHG coefficient (kg CO2 eq unit1) Reference

Machinery MJ 0.071 53
Diesel fuel l 2.76 53
Electricity kW h 0.78 54
Chemical fertilizers
Nitrogen (N) kg 1.3 55
Phosphorus (P2O5) kg 0.2 55
Potassium (K2O) kg 0.2 55
Biocide 55
Herbicide kg 6.3 55
Fungicide kg 3.9 55
Insecticide kg 5.1 55
Methanol Kg 0.79 22
KOH kg 1.20 22

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A. Agricultural crop production data analysis
Table I shows the fossil inputs consumption and their energy cost in rapeseed production
in Iran. The total fossil energy consumption for this stage was 18 479.11 MJ ha1 while this
quantity is higher than that of Mousavi-Avval et al.32 reported, due to higher energy equivalents
considered in this study for the chemical fertilizers. Results of this stage revealed that the ma-
chinery used hours was 11.87 h ha1, mostly used for harvesting and tillage operations.32 The
average diesel fuel consumption for agricultural operations such as operating tractors, combine
harvesters, and water pumping systems was 101.48 l ha1.32 Agricultural crop production data
analysis revealed that nitrogen fertilizer has the greatest share of the total agricultural fossil
energy input with the share of 47.01%, due to its heavy usage in farms and high embodied
energy intensities. Similar results were reported by Rathke et al.58 and Tsoutsos et al.59 Apart
from the nitrogen fertilizer energy, the second largest fossil energy input for agricultural crop
production stage was diesel fuel consumption with the share of 26.25%.

B. Transportation data analysis

As mentioned above, transportation of farmyard manure, chemical biocides, and rapeseed
was calculated in this study. In the studied area, the average distances between farmyard ma-
nure centers and farms was 20 km, between chemical biocides distribution centers and farms
was 50 km and between farms to the oil extraction manufactures was 100 km. Accordingly, fos-
sil energy consumption (that was only diesel fuel) for this stage was calculated as 743.01 MJ
ha1. The contribution of farmyard manure, chemical biocides, and rapeseed transportation
from total fossil energy consumption were 97.43 MJ ha1, 1 MJ ha1, and 645.58 MJ ha1,
respectively.

C. Industrial conversion data analysis

Energy consumption of oil pressing via cold pressing method was investigated due to its
widespread application in Iran. Table III shows the inputs consumption and their energy cost of
industrial conversion stage (oil pressing and transesterification) per hectare rapeseed yield.
According to the results of this stage, the total fossil energy consumption for this stage was
8900.04 MJ ha1. Also to produce 1 kg rapeseed oil for biodiesel production, 2.6 MJ of electri-
cal energy in oil pressing and 0.14 MJ in purification were used. These electrical energy values
are higher than that of reported by Janulis19 and Sheehan et al.16 due to this fact that almost all
063134-8 Rajaeifar et al. J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 5, 063134 (2013)

TABLE III. Energy cost of industrial conversion stage per hectare rapeseed yield.

Inputs Unit Quantity Energy intensity Unit Source Energy cost (MJ)

Oil pressing electricity kW h 185.6 11.93 MJ kW h1 34 and 36 2214.21

Crude oil purification electricity kW h 9.95 11.93 MJ kW h1 34 and 36 118.70
Transesterification kW h
Electricity kW h 12.53 11.93 MJ kW h1 34 and 36 149.48
Machinery h 8.68 8 MJ kg1 a1 34 501.33
Alcohol (methanol) kg 167.18 33.67 MJ kg1 60 5628.97
Catalyst (KOH) kg 14.46 19.87 MJ kg1 16 287.35
Total 8900.04

of the electrical energy in Iran is generated from fossil fuel sources.61 Iran’s electricity grid is
highly dependent on fossil fuels, so that 95% of the electrical energy in Iran is generated in
thermal power plants using fossil fuels sources. Also, roughly 10% of electricity generated in
power plants is wasted by transmission lines.27
It is estimated that 843.56 kg of biodiesel can be produced from 1 ha of rapeseed produc-
tion in Iran, with considering 2151.94 kg ha1 rapeseed yield32 in Iranian’s farm, oil content as
40% (Ref. 15) and conversion ratio of biodiesel to rapeseed oil as 0.98. Moreover, 167.18 kg
methanol is required for the transesterification reaction, so 0.198 kg of methanol was used for
1 kg biodiesel produced. Methanol consumption with share of 63.3% of total fossil energy input
had the highest share in industrial conversion stage followed by electricity with 27.9% share.
The (A) high amount of methanol was consumed in order to shift the transesterification equilib-
rium to the products side (biodiesel/glycerol). Also a large amount of electrical energy was con-
sumed by oil pressing and transesterification equipment.
Fig. 2 shows the integrated energy inputs and output flows for biodiesel production from 1
ha of rapeseed consisting of all the main fossil inputs that can be used in the accounted life
cycle of rapeseed-based biodiesel in Iran.
According to Fig. 3, agricultural crop production stage with the share of 65.71% of total
fossil energy input had the highest share among three different stages in the energy cost of bio-
diesel production from rapeseed, followed by industrial conversion stage by 33.2%. The lowest
share belonged to transportation stage by 2.64%. The total fossil energy input cost was calcu-
lated as 28 122.16 MJ ha1 and the renewable energy output content (biodiesel as the final

FIG. 2. The integrated energy input and output flows for biodiesel production from 1 ha of rapeseed.
063134-9 Rajaeifar et al. J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 5, 063134 (2013)

FIG. 3. Energy cost contributions for biodiesel production.

outcome) was estimated as 31 802.06 MJ ha1. So the FER was calculated as 1.13 that is close
to the results of Janulis.19 Also the net energy return (NER) was positive (3679.9 MJ ha1).
Both FER and NER show that rapeseed could be a suitable energy crop for biodiesel
production.

D. CO2 emission analysis

The results of GHG emissions (the amounts of CO2 eq) for inputs in the three main stages
are shown in Table IV. Diesel fuel had the highest emission in the agricultural crop production
stage and the transport stage with the share of 41.6% and 100%, respectively. Electricity had
the highest emission in the industrial conversion stage with the share of 46.7% and followed by
methanol with 38%. Using high amount of diesel fuel in the agricultural crop production stage
produced 280.08 kg CO2 eq ha1 that was higher than similar research studies on various crop

TABLE IV. Greenhouse gas emission of inputs in biodiesel production from rapeseed per hectare in the three main stages.

GHG emission (kg CO2 eq ha1)

Agricultural crop Transportation Industrial

Inputs production stage (%) stage (%) conversion stage (%)

Machinery 69.95 10.4 35.59 10.3

Diesel fuel 280.08 41.6 34.20a 100
Electricity 152.12 22.6 162.30 46.7
Chemical fertilizers
Nitrogen (N) 144.83 21.5
Phosphorus (P2O5) 10.13 1.5
Potassium (K2O) 2.68 0.4
Biocide
Herbicide 8.06 1.2
Fungicide 3.43 0.5
Insecticide 2.19 0.3
Methanol 132.07 38
KOH 17.35 5
Total 673.47 100 34.20 100 347.31 100

Diesel consumption intensity for highway calculated as 0.05 l ton1 km1 (Ref. 64).
a
063134-10 Rajaeifar et al. J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 5, 063134 (2013)

FIG. 4. The total GHG (kg CO2 eq ha1) in the three main stages of biodiesel production.

productions.62,63 This high amount of emission is due to using worn-out tractors in farm opera-
tions and improper matching of agricultural machinery and equipment to tractors. Applying
new and proper tractors in farms and proper matching the agricultural machinery and equipment
to tractors can be considered as the beneficial ways of decreasing the amount of diesel fuel con-
sumption and its environmental impacts.
The high amount of electricity used in the industrial conversion stage produced 162.30 kg
CO2 eq ha1 that was also higher than similar research studies on biodiesel from palm oil.20–25
The main reason of this high amount of emission is due to the higher electrical CO2 emission
coefficient used for this study in Iran than other research studies.20–25 The second reason is that
all of the equipment in the cold pressing oil extraction lines has worked by electrical energy
instead of natural gas. Using extraction method by organic solvents and utilize the equipment
that work by natural gas and electricity can be considered in order to reduce the amount of
electrical emissions.
Fig. 4 shows the total GHG (kg CO2 eq ha1) in the three main stages of biodiesel produc-
tion from rapeseed in Iran. The total GHG emissions were calculated as 1054.98 kg CO2 eq
ha1 that was lower than the mentioned research studies.20–25 Agricultural crop production
stage with 673.47 kg CO2 eq ha1 had the most share in the GHG emissions with the share of
(63.84%) followed by industrial conversion stage with 347.31 kg CO2 eq ha1and the share of
(32.92%). As the results showed, the Agricultural crop production stage ranks the first in GHG
emissions (CO2 eq ha1 yr1), which is expected based on the other similar research studies
such as palm oil biodiesel in Malaysia, palm oil-derived methyl ester in Brazil and Colombia,
palm oil biodiesel in Thailand.20–25

E. Map generation
Meteorological and water source availability data investigations showed that 24 provinces
among 31 provinces in Iran have a great potential for rapeseed cultivation. Among these 24
provinces, 8 provinces produce 79% of total rapeseed yield, now.15,29 These provinces are
Golestan, Mazandaran, and Ardebil in the north latitude; Hamedan, Markazi, and Lorestan in
the center and west; Fars and Khuzestan in the south and south west. The Meteorological and
water source availability data analysis showed that growth in rapeseed cultivation for biodiesel
production in terms of sustainable development can occur through an increase in area cultiva-
tion in these 8 provinces and the other provinces that rapeseed production is not common but
have a great potential to cultivate. Also it is recommended to change the old irrigation methods
used in these areas in order to protect water resources. Fig. 5 shows the map of the provinces
suitable for rapeseed cultivation.
063134-11 Rajaeifar et al. J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 5, 063134 (2013)

FIG. 5. Map of the (provinces suitable) for rapeseed cultivation across Iran.

IV. CONCLUSIONS
In this study in order to calculate the energy cost of biodiesel production and its CO2 emis-
sions from rapeseed in Iran, three main stages including agricultural crop production, transpor-
tation, and industrial conversion (oil pressing and transesterification) were assessed in terms of
life cycle process of biodiesel production and the following results are drawn:

1. The total fossil energy consumption was about 28 122.16 MJ ha1. Agricultural crop produc-
tion stage had the greatest amount of total energy cost with the share of 65.71% among three
different stages and the industrial conversion stage has the second place with the share of
33.2%.
2. In the agricultural crop production stage, the amount of nitrogen fertilizer energy consumption
was the highest. The second largest fossil energy input for this stage was diesel fuel.
Transportation stage only consumed diesel fuel and the highest fuel consumption in this stage
belonged to rapeseed transportation. For the industrial conversion stage, methanol and electric-
ity consumption had the highest shares from the total energy cost.
3. The renewable energy (biodiesel) output was estimated as 31 802.06 MJ ha1. NER and FER
were calculated as 3679.9 MJ ha1 and 1.13, respectively. These values for biodiesel produc-
tion from rapeseed in Iran were satisfactory but were lower than that of estimated in economi-
cally developed countries due to the lower rapeseed yield per hectare in Iranian’s farm.
4. CO2 emission analysis showed that the total GHG emission over biodiesel production life cycle
was 1054.98 kg CO2 eq ha1 and the agricultural crop production stage ranks the first in GHG
emission as expected. Diesel fuel had the highest emission in the agricultural crop production
stage and the transport stage and electricity had the highest emission in the industrial conver-
sion stage.
5. Studies on meteorological and water source availability data in Iran provinces showed that
rapeseed has a great potential to be cultivated in Iran and it can be cultivated in 24 provinces
among 31 provinces.
063134-12 Rajaeifar et al. J. Renewable Sustainable Energy 5, 063134 (2013)

6. In order to establish energy crops cultivation such as rapeseed, increase the FER and decrease
the difference between energy balance of rapeseed-based biodiesel in Iran and economically
developed countries, widespread and comprehensive policy-making such as giving subsidies,
price guaranteed, lower taxes, or exemptions should be considered by the Iranian government
in terms of sustainable development of renewable biofuels.

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