Life Cycle Assessment of Bioenergy Production Using Wood Pellets: A Case Study of Remote Communities in Canada

Saghar Sadaghiani, Fereshteh Mafakheri () and Zhi Chen
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Saghar Sadaghiani: Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada
Fereshteh Mafakheri: Ecole Nationale D’administration Publique (ENAP), Université du Québec, Montréal, QC H2T 2C8, Canada
Zhi Chen: Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 15, 1-14

Abstract: In remote communities of Canada, diesel is the primary source of electricity and heat. Promoting sustainable and diverse means of heat and power generation is essential to providing reliable and less carbon-intensive energy supply to remote communities. Among renewable energy sources in Canada, biomass is a major source of energy, with wood pellets being a notable contributor. In this study, using wood pellets in a remote community of Canada is investigated using life cycle analysis (LCA). Furthermore, wood pellet combustion is compared with diesel combustion, the most common fossil fuel in these regions. SimaPro (version 8.4.0.0) was used with Ecoinvent 3 as the primary library because of the nature of the feedstock. Harvesting, transportation, sawmill operation, pelletization, and combustion stages are considered in LCA. In doing so, first, life cycle data related to each of these stages are collected with respect to eight impact categories of global warming, ozone depletion, carcinogenic, non-carcinogenic, smog, respiratory effects, acidification, eutrophication, ecotoxicity, and fossil fuel depletion. The results indicate that pelletization and combustion stages have the greatest environmental impact, specifically in terms of non-carcinogenic effects from pelletization and respiratory effects from pellet combustion. Additionally, when comparing wood pellets to diesel, wood pellet combustion exhibits superior performance across various impact categories, particularly in non-carcinogenic effects.

Keywords: remote communities; wood pellets; diesel; sustainable energy; life cycle analysis (LCA); renewable energy sources (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 (5)

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