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 and Li Shen
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Christian Moretti: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Blanca Corona: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Viola Rühlin: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Thomas Götz: Division Energy, Transport and Climate Policy, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, D-42103 Wuppertal, Germany
Martin Junginger: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Thomas Brunner: BIOS BIOENERGIESYSTEME GmbH., A-8020 Graz, Austria
Ingwald Obernberger: BIOS BIOENERGIESYSTEME GmbH., A-8020 Graz, Austria
Li Shen: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-24

Abstract: 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: CHP; biomass; LCA; gasification; SOFC; allocation; multifunctionality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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