CRL energy report on life cycle asssessment of tallow biodiesel

This study by CRL provides a life cycle assessment of one of the more attractive biofuel options for New Zealand, namely biodiesel derived from domestically produced tallow.
This life cycle assessment involved a primary energy and greenhouse gas emissions inventory of the production of tallow-derived biodiesel in New Zealand, from the farmer's paddock to the
exit gate of the biodiesel plant. The results of this analysis found tallow-derived biodiesel to have a primary energy input/output of 0.50. This compares to an energy input/output of 1.19 for
fossil diesel (at a similar point in the supply chain). Combining these, the use of tallow-derived biodiesel provides a 58% decrease in primary energy.
A similar analysis for greenhouse gas emissions found the domestic production and use of biodiesel from domestically-sourced tallow to have around 51% of the global warming potential
of fossil diesel, that is, a 49% decrease over the use of fossil diesel.