LAPSE:2023.23391
Published Article
LAPSE:2023.23391
Combining Biomass Gasification and Solid Oxid Fuel Cell for Heat and Power Generation: An Early-Stage Life Cycle Assessment
Christian Moretti, Blanca Corona, Viola Rühlin, Thomas Götz, Martin Junginger, Thomas Brunner, Ingwald Obernberger, Li Shen
March 27, 2023
Biomass-fueled combined heat and power systems (CHPs) can potentially offer environmental benefits compared to conventional separate production technologies. This study presents the first environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of a novel high-efficiency bio-based power (HBP) technology, which combines biomass gasification with a 199 kW solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) to produce heat and electricity. The aim is to identify the main sources of environmental impacts and to assess the potential environmental performance compared to benchmark technologies. The use of various biomass fuels and alternative allocation methods were scrutinized. The LCA results reveal that most of the environmental impacts of the energy supplied with the HBP technology are caused by the production of the biomass fuel. This contribution is higher for pelletized than for chipped biomass. Overall, HBP technology shows better environmental performance than heat from natural gas and electricity from the German/European grid. When comparing the HBP technology with the biomass-fueled ORC technology, the former offers significant benefits in terms of particulate matter (about 22 times lower), photochemical ozone formation (11 times lower), acidification (8 times lower) and terrestrial eutrophication (about 26 times lower). The environmental performance was not affected by the allocation parameter (exergy or economic) used. However, the tested substitution approaches showed to be inadequate to model multiple environmental impacts of CHP plants under the investigated context and goal.
Keywords
allocation, Biomass, CHP, gasification, LCA, multifunctionality, SOFC
Suggested Citation
Moretti C, Corona B, Rühlin V, Götz T, Junginger M, Brunner T, Obernberger I, Shen L. Combining Biomass Gasification and Solid Oxid Fuel Cell for Heat and Power Generation: An Early-Stage Life Cycle Assessment. (2023). LAPSE:2023.23391
Author Affiliations
Moretti C: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands [ORCID]
Corona B: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Rühlin V: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Götz T: Division Energy, Transport and Climate Policy, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, D-42103 Wuppertal, Germany
Junginger M: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Brunner T: BIOS BIOENERGIESYSTEME GmbH., A-8020 Graz, Austria
Obernberger I: BIOS BIOENERGIESYSTEME GmbH., A-8020 Graz, Austria
Shen L: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Journal Name
Energies
Volume
13
Issue
11
Article Number
E2773
Year
2020
Publication Date
2020-06-01
Published Version
ISSN
1996-1073
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Original Submission
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PII: en13112773, Publication Type: Journal Article
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LAPSE:2023.23391
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doi:10.3390/en13112773
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Mar 27, 2023
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