Climate Impact Comparison of Biomass Combustion and Pyrolysis with Different Applications for Biochar Based on LCA

Sahar Safarian ()
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Sahar Safarian: Life Cycle Management Group, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Aschebergsgatan 44, 411 33 Gothenburg, Sweden

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 14, 1-11

Abstract: Biochar can be useful to overcome several environmental challenges in different sectors of energy, industry, and agriculture. However, there are currently only a limited number of studies with the employment of biochar for various applications and their environmental impacts. This study develops an LCA framework to evaluate the climate impacts of biochar production and its applications in soil enhancement and as a substitute for coal-based fuels in steel industries and then compares it with conventional biomass usage for energy production for Sweden, Italy, and Poland. Various pyrolysis operating temperatures are also considered to determine the optimal conditions for each location. The results show that biomass pyrolysis with biochar usage in the agricultural sector has the least environmental impact with the most significant potential in Poland followed by Italy. lower temperatures (around 350 °C) are more favorable for Sweden in terms of CO 2 emissions, due to the country’s renewable energy-based electrical system. Low to moderate temperatures (350–500 °C) are found to be optimal for pyrolysis temperature in Italy, while higher temperatures (around 650 °C) yield the highest GHG reduction for both biochar applications in Poland.

Keywords: LCA; biochar; soil enhancement; climate impacts; biomass; coal (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: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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