BESS

The BESS model is a software tool to calculate the energy efficiency, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and natural resource requirements of corn–to-ethanol biofuel production systems. The model provides a “cradle-to-grave” analysis of the production life-cycle of biofuels from the creation of material inputs to finished products. The model parameters can be set by the user to achieve the highest accuracy in evaluating a single corn-ethanol biorefinery and its surrounding feedstock crop production zone. The model equations and summary reports are unalterable, providing the characteristics needed to serve as certification software to evaluate the environmental impact of biofuels for industry advancement.