ABSTRACT
One can produce a large variety of products from biomass, including energy (heat and power), biofuels, chemicals, lubricants, surfactants, solvents, and biopolymers. Often, expected environmental benefits can induce a designer, manufacturer, or industry to switch from a conventional, petrochemical-based product to one derived from biomass. While use of bioproducts often leads to important environmental benefits, there is the potential for negative repercussions, and this balance needs to be better understood. This chapter illustrates the systematic use of life cycle assessment (LCA) for meta-analysis, reviewing the LCA state of the art for a wide range of biobased products. Such metastudies are usually commissioned by agencies or sponsors that are primarily interested in obtaining a broad overview of the field, rather than detailed results for a single product.
