Life Cycle Assessment of Biofuels 101

Students are required to compare various alternative fuels and evaluate advantages and disadvantages using graphical representations of fuel and energy data. "This activity asks students to begin to consider the life cycle energy and carbon dioxide emission costs of gasoline, corn ethanol, and cellulosic ethanol." The lab sequence is targeted toward middle school through undergraduate students (grades 6 through 16) and requires a previous familiarity with carbon cycle, types of energy, energy transformations. Two or three 50-minute class periods are needed to complete the activity which includes two videos available online through Vimeo called "Life Cycle Assessment of Energy" and "Life Cycle Assessment of Carbon." The "Life Cycle Assessment of Biofuels 101 Package", downloadable as a .zip (13.1 MB) file, includes: teacher instructions and answer key, student activities and worksheets, and supplementary materials.