NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Techno-Economics &

Life Cycle Assessment

NREL IBRF

Abhijit Dutta & Ryan Davis

December 14, 2011

NREL/PR-5100-53749
2 

Overview 

• Tools for effective R&D

o Realize the overall impact of actions

• Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) & Life Cycle 

Assessment (LCA)

o TEA: Assess technical & economic feasibility of process

– Detailed process analysis with mass and energy balances

– Impact of major cost drivers (sensitivity studies)

– Set research targets & use them as measure of research progress

o LCA: Overall environmental impacts of the technology

– Quantification of impacts and areas of improvement

o Track research progress (economic & sustainability criteria)

R&D TEA LCA
TEA Methods• Requirement‐based scope and level of de

o Literature, research data, vendor quoteso Increase model fidelity with research progres

Feedstock Composition

Operating Conditions

Measured Conversion Yields

Process Model in

Aspen Plus

Flow rates

Process Economics using

Discounted Cash Flow Analysis

with Capital and Operating Costs

Fuel Product Yield

Cost

M
4 

TEA Output (e.g. Biochemical Design Report)

Hybrid Saccharification & Fermentation - HSF

Pretreatment Conditioning

Co-fermentation

of C5 & C6

Sugars

Product

Recovery Ethanol

By-products

Enzyme

Production

Enzymatic

Hydrolysis

Residue 

Processing

•Conceptual design of a 2,000 tonnes/day commercial plant – one 

possible tech package

•NREL pilot plant based on this process

•Basis for connecting R&D targets to cost targets

•Has undergone rigorous peer review

•Basis for comparison against other technology options

Drives R&D direction, helps pick among alternatives
5 

LCA Methods

Growing & Land

Use Changes

Feedstock

Preparation

& Delivery

Conversion

Process

Product

Distribution

Fuels Use

EcoInvent (Swiss database) 

modified with US information

GREET

NREL Aspen Plus

& Excel

(NREL)

Biomass Logistics

Model in 

PowerSim (INL)

ORNL (Polysys) 

CORRIM

USDA-ARS

ISU, SUNY & others

GHG, Water, Net Energy, 

Criteria Air Emissions & other 

environmental impact criteria

GREET (Argonne National Lab.) US LCI database (NREL-based)

Feedback to Logistics (INL), 

GREET (ANL), TEA (NREL)

Cross-cutting inputs:

Framework allows for transparent scientific basis for assumptions and modifications.
6 

LCA Output (e.g. tracking overall CO2) 

Feedstock

CO2

Absorption

Feedstock

Production

& Harvest

Feedstock

Preprocessing

Feedstock

Transportation

Conversion 

Ethanol

Distribution

Vehicle

Operation

Greenhouse gas emissions for 

biochemical conversion of 

wheat straw to ethanol

Note: This is an example. Details about assumptions are not shown.
7 

Value of working with NREL on TEA & LCA

Varied and Best 

Available Tools Leverage Existing 

Expertise 

RequirementBased Rigor

Confidentiality 

Maintained

- Aspen Plus with 

rigorous mass & 

energy balance, and 

other robust TEA 

tools used

- LCA draws from 

knowledge base & 

tools from different 

sources, otherwise 

difficult to 

assimilate under 

one environment

-Intellectual 

property, data and 

all confidential 

information is 

protected

- NREL has proven 

track record of 

working with 

multiple clients in 

the same field

- Analysis can be 

more detailed based 

on requirement of 

the client and based 

on the available 

information 

- Models of varied 

conversion processes 

already built

- Recognized experts 

with domain 

knowledge

- Quicker turnaround

- Good quality

- Recognized experts 

good for joint FOA 

applications

-Both TEA and LCA 

tools are designed to 

make assumptions 

transparent 

Customizable for 

Different Sets of 

Assumptions 
8 

Questions? 

• Thank you for your attention

• Contacts:

o Andy Aden (Group Manager for Biorefinery Analysis)

– Andy.Aden@nrel.gov

o Rich Bolin

– Richard.Bolin@nrel.gov

o John Ashworth

– John.Ashworth@nrel.gov

• Acknowledgements

o Daniel Inman, Andy Aden and other members of NREL’s 

Biorefinery Analysis Team, and Adam Bratis.

o Slide 5 photos (L to R): NREL/PIX 08432, 10429, 05208, 

13812, and 15132.