An Inquiry into the Sustainable Development of Cellulosic Ethanol in Tianjin, China

Based on the establishment of evaluation framework for sustainable development of cellulosic ethanol, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was used to evaluate the sustainable development of cellulosic ethanol from 2001 to 2010 in Tianjin. The result shows that environmental issues are playing an important role in the cellulosic ethanol development in Tianjin. Compared with coal and oil, cellulosic ethanol is more sustainable. However, with the expansion of the production scale, the greenhouse gas emissions increase. Therefore, in order to control air pollutants including greenhouse gas and develop cellulosic ethanol better, the study of optimal developing scale and speed is the best research direction.