From Secondary Biomass to Bio-Methanol through CONVERGE Technology: An Environmental Analysis

Stefan Cristian Galusnyak, Letitia Petrescu (), Dora Andreea Chisalita, Calin-Cristian Cormos and Marco Ugolini
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Stefan Cristian Galusnyak: Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, 11 Arany Janos, 400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Letitia Petrescu: Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, 11 Arany Janos, 400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Dora Andreea Chisalita: Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, 11 Arany Janos, 400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Calin-Cristian Cormos: Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, 11 Arany Janos, 400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Marco Ugolini: CA.RE. FOR. Engineering, 50133 Firenze, Italy

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Owing to residual biomass availability, the share of advanced biofuels produced from secondary biomass is forecasted to increase and significantly contribute towards achieving net-zero emissions. The current work investigates bio-methanol production through a new process configuration designed to improve the environmental performance when compared to the state-of-the art technologies (Base Case). The environmental evaluation is conducted according to the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. ReCiPe was employed as an impact assessment method with the aid of GaBi software. Depending on the plant geographical location, wooden biomass and exhausted olive pomace were evaluated as biomass sources. A scenario analysis targeting different energy sources was performed as well. The outcome of the environmental evaluation highlights a better performance in eight of a total of nine impact categories studied in the wooden biomass scenarios compared to the exhausted olive pomace. Moreover, two of the CONVERGE technology cases were compared against the Base Case. As the results show, CONVERGE technology registers a lower score in at least six of the impact categories studied. Concerning the total CO 2 emissions, CONVERGE exhibits a better performance compared to the Base Case, if the additional amount of CO 2 is either stored, sold as a by-product or vented into the atmosphere.

Keywords: residual biomass; CO 2 valorization; bio-methanol; advanced biofuels; life cycle assessment (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 (1)

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