A Life Cycle Assessment of Biomethane Production from Waste Feedstock Through Different Upgrading Technologies
Upgrading consists of a range of purification processes aimed at increasing the methane content of biogas to reach specifications similar to natural gas. In this perspective, an environmental assessment, based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, of different upgrading technologies is helpful...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2019-02-01
|
| Series: | Energies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/4/718 |
| _version_ | 1811264150769238016 |
|---|---|
| author | Ciro Florio Gabriella Fiorentino Fabiana Corcelli Sergio Ulgiati Stefano Dumontet Joshua Güsewell Ludger Eltrop |
| author_facet | Ciro Florio Gabriella Fiorentino Fabiana Corcelli Sergio Ulgiati Stefano Dumontet Joshua Güsewell Ludger Eltrop |
| author_sort | Ciro Florio |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Upgrading consists of a range of purification processes aimed at increasing the methane content of biogas to reach specifications similar to natural gas. In this perspective, an environmental assessment, based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, of different upgrading technologies is helpful to identify the environmental characteristics of biomethane and the critical steps for improvement. The aim of this work is to conduct an LCA of biomethane production from waste feedstock, using the SimaPro software. The study focuses on the comparison of several upgrading technologies (namely, membrane separation, cryogenic separation, pressure swing adsorption, chemical scrubbing, high pressure water scrubbing) and the on-site cogeneration of electricity and heat, including the environmental benefits deriving from the substitution of fossil-based products. The results show a better environmental performance of the cogeneration option in most of the impact categories. The Fossil resource scarcity is the impact category which is mainly benefited by the avoided production of natural gas, with savings of about 0.5 kg oil eq/m<sup>3</sup> of biogas for all the investigated technologies, with an average improvement of about 76% compared to conventional cogeneration. The results show that the membrane upgrading technology is slightly more environmentally convenient than the other upgrading technologies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T19:57:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-66fcde1573ac4e62a8e1df0695bc88da |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T19:57:40Z |
| publishDate | 2019-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-66fcde1573ac4e62a8e1df0695bc88da2022-12-22T03:18:37ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732019-02-0112471810.3390/en12040718en12040718A Life Cycle Assessment of Biomethane Production from Waste Feedstock Through Different Upgrading TechnologiesCiro Florio0Gabriella Fiorentino1Fabiana Corcelli2Sergio Ulgiati3Stefano Dumontet4Joshua Güsewell5Ludger Eltrop6Department of Science and Technology (DiST), University of Naples “Parthenope”, Centro Direzionale, ISOLA C4 80143 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Science and Technology (DiST), University of Naples “Parthenope”, Centro Direzionale, ISOLA C4 80143 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Science and Technology (DiST), University of Naples “Parthenope”, Centro Direzionale, ISOLA C4 80143 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Science and Technology (DiST), University of Naples “Parthenope”, Centro Direzionale, ISOLA C4 80143 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Science and Technology (DiST), University of Naples “Parthenope”, Centro Direzionale, ISOLA C4 80143 Naples, ItalyInstitute of Energy Economics and Rational Use of Energy (IER), University of Stuttgart, Heßbrühlstrasse 49a, 70565 Stuttgart, GermanyInstitute of Energy Economics and Rational Use of Energy (IER), University of Stuttgart, Heßbrühlstrasse 49a, 70565 Stuttgart, GermanyUpgrading consists of a range of purification processes aimed at increasing the methane content of biogas to reach specifications similar to natural gas. In this perspective, an environmental assessment, based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, of different upgrading technologies is helpful to identify the environmental characteristics of biomethane and the critical steps for improvement. The aim of this work is to conduct an LCA of biomethane production from waste feedstock, using the SimaPro software. The study focuses on the comparison of several upgrading technologies (namely, membrane separation, cryogenic separation, pressure swing adsorption, chemical scrubbing, high pressure water scrubbing) and the on-site cogeneration of electricity and heat, including the environmental benefits deriving from the substitution of fossil-based products. The results show a better environmental performance of the cogeneration option in most of the impact categories. The Fossil resource scarcity is the impact category which is mainly benefited by the avoided production of natural gas, with savings of about 0.5 kg oil eq/m<sup>3</sup> of biogas for all the investigated technologies, with an average improvement of about 76% compared to conventional cogeneration. The results show that the membrane upgrading technology is slightly more environmentally convenient than the other upgrading technologies.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/4/718life cycle assessmentbiogas upgradingcogeneration of electricity and heat from biogasenvironmental assessment of biomethane production |
| spellingShingle | Ciro Florio Gabriella Fiorentino Fabiana Corcelli Sergio Ulgiati Stefano Dumontet Joshua Güsewell Ludger Eltrop A Life Cycle Assessment of Biomethane Production from Waste Feedstock Through Different Upgrading Technologies Energies life cycle assessment biogas upgrading cogeneration of electricity and heat from biogas environmental assessment of biomethane production |
| title | A Life Cycle Assessment of Biomethane Production from Waste Feedstock Through Different Upgrading Technologies |
| title_full | A Life Cycle Assessment of Biomethane Production from Waste Feedstock Through Different Upgrading Technologies |
| title_fullStr | A Life Cycle Assessment of Biomethane Production from Waste Feedstock Through Different Upgrading Technologies |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Life Cycle Assessment of Biomethane Production from Waste Feedstock Through Different Upgrading Technologies |
| title_short | A Life Cycle Assessment of Biomethane Production from Waste Feedstock Through Different Upgrading Technologies |
| title_sort | life cycle assessment of biomethane production from waste feedstock through different upgrading technologies |
| topic | life cycle assessment biogas upgrading cogeneration of electricity and heat from biogas environmental assessment of biomethane production |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/4/718 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ciroflorio alifecycleassessmentofbiomethaneproductionfromwastefeedstockthroughdifferentupgradingtechnologies AT gabriellafiorentino alifecycleassessmentofbiomethaneproductionfromwastefeedstockthroughdifferentupgradingtechnologies AT fabianacorcelli alifecycleassessmentofbiomethaneproductionfromwastefeedstockthroughdifferentupgradingtechnologies AT sergioulgiati alifecycleassessmentofbiomethaneproductionfromwastefeedstockthroughdifferentupgradingtechnologies AT stefanodumontet alifecycleassessmentofbiomethaneproductionfromwastefeedstockthroughdifferentupgradingtechnologies AT joshuagusewell alifecycleassessmentofbiomethaneproductionfromwastefeedstockthroughdifferentupgradingtechnologies AT ludgereltrop alifecycleassessmentofbiomethaneproductionfromwastefeedstockthroughdifferentupgradingtechnologies AT ciroflorio lifecycleassessmentofbiomethaneproductionfromwastefeedstockthroughdifferentupgradingtechnologies AT gabriellafiorentino lifecycleassessmentofbiomethaneproductionfromwastefeedstockthroughdifferentupgradingtechnologies AT fabianacorcelli lifecycleassessmentofbiomethaneproductionfromwastefeedstockthroughdifferentupgradingtechnologies AT sergioulgiati lifecycleassessmentofbiomethaneproductionfromwastefeedstockthroughdifferentupgradingtechnologies AT stefanodumontet lifecycleassessmentofbiomethaneproductionfromwastefeedstockthroughdifferentupgradingtechnologies AT joshuagusewell lifecycleassessmentofbiomethaneproductionfromwastefeedstockthroughdifferentupgradingtechnologies AT ludgereltrop lifecycleassessmentofbiomethaneproductionfromwastefeedstockthroughdifferentupgradingtechnologies |