Environmental sustainability of small-scale biomass power technologies for agricultural communities in developing countries

RENEWABLE ENERGY

卷:141

Article

Aberilla, Jhud Mikhail^1,2  Gallego-Schmid, Alejandro^1,3  Azapagic, Adisa¹ 

[1] Univ Manchester, Sch Chem Engn & Analyt Sci, Sustainable Ind Syst, Sackville St, Manchester M13 9PL, Lancs, England

[2] Univ Philippines, Dept Chem Engn, CP Garcia Ave, Quezon City 1101, Philippines

[3] Univ Manchester, Sch Mech Aerosp & Civil Engn, Tyndall Ctr Climate Change Res, Pariser Bldg,Sackville St, Manchester M13 9PL, Lancs, England

关键词: Biomass electricity;    Rural electrification;    Agricultural waste;    Gasification;    Anaerobic digestion;    Combustion;    Life cycle assessment (LCA);   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.renene.2019.04.036

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Agricultural wastes are readily available in farming communities and can be utilised for off-grid electrification as an alternative to diesel generators. This work evaluates for the first time the life cycle environmental sustainability of these small-scale systems in the context of Southeast Asia. Rice and coconut residues are considered for direct combustion and gasification, and livestock manure for anaerobic digestion. Overall, anaerobic digestion is the best option for 14 out of 18 impacts estimated through life cycle assessment. The results also suggest that gasification has up to 12 times lower impacts per kWh than combustion, except for resource depletion. Combustion and gasification have 85% to two times lower impacts than diesel generators, except for eutrophication, ecotoxicity and human toxicity. Depending on the feedstock, global warming potential of anaerobic digestion ranges from being 170% lower to 41% higher than that of the diesel generator. Overall, providing power from residual biomass in small agricultural communities would reduce environmental impacts significantly while improving waste management practices. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

【 授权许可】

Free