Life cycle environmental performance of miscanthus gasification versus other technologies for electricity production. (March 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nguyen, Thu Lan T.; Hermansen, John E.
• Is Part Of: Sustainable energy technologies and assessments. Volume 9(2015)
• Page Start: 81
• Page End: 94
• Publication Date: 2015-03
• Subjects: Miscanthus -- Energy crop -- Gasification technology -- Life cycle assessment; Renewable energy sources -- Periodicals; Energy development -- Technological innovations -- Periodicals; Electric power production -- Periodicals; Energy storage -- Periodicals; 333.79
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seta.2014.12.005
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2213-1388

Abstract

Abstract: In this paper, the life cycle environmental performance of miscanthus gasification for electricity production in Denmark is evaluated and compared with that of direct combustion and anaerobic digestion. Furthermore, the results obtained are compared to those of natural gas to assess the potential of miscanthus as an energy source. Our results indicate that production of 1 kWh electricity from miscanthus via gasification leads to a global warming potential (100-year GWP) of 26 g and 296 g CO2 e, without and with consideration of CO2 emissions from indirect land use change respectively. For other impact categories, the production results in non-renewable energy use of 0.6 MJ primary, acidification of 1.6 g SO2 e, eutrophication of 7.8 g NO3 e and respiratory inorganics of 0.1 g PM2.5e. Of the three alternatives, gasification is found to have the best performance in all impact categories considered, with the exception of non-renewable energy use where anaerobic digestion performs best. Our results also show that replacing natural gas with miscanthus reduces global warming and non-renewable energy use. The results of the study are region-specific, i.e., valid for Denmark, but we believe that the general conclusions are applicable to those regions/areas with similar conditions.