Utilisation options of renewable resources: a life cycle assessment of selected products

Renewable resources have increasingly drawn the attention of agriculture, industry and politics. Their utilisation is considered to lead to ecological advantages compared to fossil resources and products. They, however, also come with ecological disadvantages, particularly due to intensive land use. In this paper, the environmental impacts of some utilisation options of Miscanthus and corn to produce energy and products are determined by life cycle assessment. The following life cycle comparisons were performed: (1) insulation material from Miscanthus vs. mineral wool; (2) Miscanthus as solid fuel vs. conventional energy carriers; (3) PLA drinking cups from corn vs. polystyrene drinking cups and (4) ethanol from corn vs. gasoline. The results of the comparisons between these products from renewable resources and their conventional counterparts do not support a clear-cut decision making in favour of or against products from renewable resources.