Title:
Life Cycle Assessment of Large-Scale Energy Crops Co-Fired Power Plants. Influence of the Feedstocks Procurement and Transformation Conditions
Author(s):
Gómez Palmero, M., Royo Herrer, J., Sebastián Nogués, F., Maraver De Lemus, D., García-Galindo, D.
Document(s):
Paper
Abstract:
Electricity generation has to overcome different restrictions including fossil fuels rising price, lack of security on the supply, increasing energy demand and environmental concerns. The economic situation worldwide has increased austerity behavior among all sectors, including the energy sector, where large investments required to develop new technologies are less likely. Co-firing technology combines taking advantage of a renewable energy source with a very well-known technology, uses already existing infrastructure and allows to achieving important environmental improvements concerning GHG emissions and local resources exploitation. A large number of parameters are involved in this energy production alternative. Therefore, some of them have been assessed in order to analyze how their variation can affect the advantages involved on the use of this technology. The system's parameters determination is crucial to maximize the advantages that co-firing can achieve as an energy production system. Final results sensitivity to the variation the plant efficiency, the energy consumption of pre-treatments, the crop yield, the biomass transport distance and the infrastructure of the plant has been carried out. Life Cycle Assessment methodology has been used to compare the environmental advantages achieved in each case.
Keywords:
co-firing, greenhouse gases (GHG), life cycle assessment (LCA)
Topic:
Biomass Policies, Markets and Sustainability
Subtopic:
Sustainability assessment and criteria
Event:
20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
5AV.1.9
Pages:
2209 - 2216
ISBN:
978-88-89407-54-7
Paper DOI:
10.5071/20thEUBCE2012-5AV.1.9
Price:
FREE
