Development of sustainability indicators for the assessment of coal-based power generation pathways
This paper is to develop measurable indicators of coal-based power generation pathways to establish a benchmark for comparative sustainability assessment and optimization. Power generation from coal subdivided to thirty-six pathways with the development of two sets of sustainability indicators. The...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Water-Energy Nexus |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2588912520300345 |
| _version_ | 1818453165661487104 |
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| author | Babkir Ali |
| author_facet | Babkir Ali |
| author_sort | Babkir Ali |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper is to develop measurable indicators of coal-based power generation pathways to establish a benchmark for comparative sustainability assessment and optimization. Power generation from coal subdivided to thirty-six pathways with the development of two sets of sustainability indicators. The first set includes the complete life cycle, and the second set includes only the power generation stage. The complete life cycle covers coal mining, power generation, and cooling system unit operations. Comprehensive evaluation necessitates the development of five sustainability indicators to cover water demand (consumption and withdrawals), greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), land use, and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). Compared to the conventional coal-based power generation technologies, new coal technology pathways have the lowest GHG emissions, use less water and land, but would have a different impact on the LCOE. The cooling system type is the factor with the most impact on the water demand indicators; coal combustion unit operation has the most impact on the GHG emissions indicator; dry cooling has the most impact on the LCOE indicator. The fuel production stage has the most impact on the land use indicator. The resources and GHG emissions-effective scenario conducted to cover the demand capacity range of 250–5000 MW. This scenario shows that due to the importation of coal from a different jurisdiction and based on the average values, the savings in water demand is 87%, the savings in land area is 95%, the mitigation of GHG emissions is 6%. In contrast, the corresponding average increase in LCOE is 14%. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T21:34:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7c779186fee14d2d8c1666d21240fa6e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2588-9125 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T21:34:39Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water-Energy Nexus |
| spelling | doaj.art-7c779186fee14d2d8c1666d21240fa6e2022-12-21T22:46:36ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Water-Energy Nexus2588-91252020-01-013198208Development of sustainability indicators for the assessment of coal-based power generation pathwaysBabkir Ali0Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1H9, CanadaThis paper is to develop measurable indicators of coal-based power generation pathways to establish a benchmark for comparative sustainability assessment and optimization. Power generation from coal subdivided to thirty-six pathways with the development of two sets of sustainability indicators. The first set includes the complete life cycle, and the second set includes only the power generation stage. The complete life cycle covers coal mining, power generation, and cooling system unit operations. Comprehensive evaluation necessitates the development of five sustainability indicators to cover water demand (consumption and withdrawals), greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), land use, and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). Compared to the conventional coal-based power generation technologies, new coal technology pathways have the lowest GHG emissions, use less water and land, but would have a different impact on the LCOE. The cooling system type is the factor with the most impact on the water demand indicators; coal combustion unit operation has the most impact on the GHG emissions indicator; dry cooling has the most impact on the LCOE indicator. The fuel production stage has the most impact on the land use indicator. The resources and GHG emissions-effective scenario conducted to cover the demand capacity range of 250–5000 MW. This scenario shows that due to the importation of coal from a different jurisdiction and based on the average values, the savings in water demand is 87%, the savings in land area is 95%, the mitigation of GHG emissions is 6%. In contrast, the corresponding average increase in LCOE is 14%.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2588912520300345SustainabilityGHG emissionsCoalWaterLandLevelized cost of electricity |
| spellingShingle | Babkir Ali Development of sustainability indicators for the assessment of coal-based power generation pathways Water-Energy Nexus Sustainability GHG emissions Coal Water Land Levelized cost of electricity |
| title | Development of sustainability indicators for the assessment of coal-based power generation pathways |
| title_full | Development of sustainability indicators for the assessment of coal-based power generation pathways |
| title_fullStr | Development of sustainability indicators for the assessment of coal-based power generation pathways |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development of sustainability indicators for the assessment of coal-based power generation pathways |
| title_short | Development of sustainability indicators for the assessment of coal-based power generation pathways |
| title_sort | development of sustainability indicators for the assessment of coal based power generation pathways |
| topic | Sustainability GHG emissions Coal Water Land Levelized cost of electricity |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2588912520300345 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT babkirali developmentofsustainabilityindicatorsfortheassessmentofcoalbasedpowergenerationpathways |