Towards a Carbon-Neutral Energy Sector: Opportunities and Challenges of Coordinated Bioenergy Supply Chains-A PSE Approach

Luis Puigjaner, Mar Pérez-Fortes and José M. Laínez-Aguirre
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Luis Puigjaner: Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Av. Diagonal 647, PG-2, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Mar Pérez-Fortes: Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Av. Diagonal 647, PG-2, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
José M. Laínez-Aguirre: Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Av. Diagonal 647, PG-2, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Energies, 2015, vol. 8, issue 6, 1-48

Abstract: The electricity generation sector needs to reduce its environmental impact and dependence on fossil fuel, mainly from coal. Biomass is one of the most promising future options to produce electricity, given its potential contribution to climate change mitigation. Even though biomass is an old source of energy, it is not yet a well-established commodity. The use of biomass in large centralised systems requires the establishment of delivery channels to provide the desired feedstock with the necessary attributes, at the right time and place. In terms of time to deployment and cost of the solution, co-combustion/co-gasification of biomass and coal are presented as transition and short-medium term alternatives towards a carbon-neutral energy sector. Hence, there is a need to assess an effective introduction of co-combustion/co-gasification projects in the current electricity production share. The purpose of this work is to review recent steps in Process Systems Engineering towards bringing into reality individualised and ad-hoc solutions, by building a common but adjustable design platform to tailored approaches of biomass-based supply chains. Current solutions and the latest developments are presented and future needs under study are also identified.

Keywords: biomass; sustainability; neutral carbon society; environmental impact; social impact; co-combustion; co-gasification; biomass pre-treatment; supply chain (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: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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