Calculation of greenhouse gas emissions of jatropha oil and jatropha biodiesel as alternative fuels for electricity production in Côte d’Ivoire

The electricity in Côte d’Ivoire is mainly produced from fossil energy sources. This causes damages on environment due to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The aim of this paper is to calculate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of jatropha oil and jatropha biodiesel as alternative fuels for electricity production in Côte d’Ivoire by using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The functional unit in this LCA is defined as 1 kWh of electricity produced by the combustion of jatropha oil or jatropha biodiesel in the engine of a generator. Two scenarios, called short chain and long chain, were examined in this LCA. The results show that 0.132 kg CO₂ equivalent is emitted for the scenario 1 with jatropha oil as an alternative fuel against 0.6376 kg CO₂ equivalent for the scenario 2 with jatropha biodiesel as an alternative fuel. An 87 % reduction of kg CO₂ equivalent is observed in scenario 1 and a 37 % reduction of kg CO₂ equivalent is observed in the scenario 2, when compared with a Diesel fuel.