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The goal of this study is to identify which processes contribute most to fuel CO₂e emissions, energy use, and employment generation when driving a typical Brazilian flex fuel vehicle (FFV) model with bagasse-derived ethanol. A hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to report the associated impacts and a structural path analysis (SPA) is utilized to identify, quantify, and rank the highest carbon emissions, energy use, and employment generation input paths in the supply chain of bagasse-derived ethanol. Additionally, this study explores the integrated hybrid LCA approach as a tool to explain the economic impacts of bagasse-derived ethanol.

Hybrid LCA links process-based and input–output-based analyses into a consistent mathematical framework, thereby allowing the incorporation of economic factors into an environmental …