Life-cycle assessment of the use of peach pruning residues for electricity generation

Boer, J.D. ; Dyjakon, A. ; Boer, E.D. ; García-Galindo, D. ; Bosona, T. ; Gebresenbet, G.

Resumen: Biomass residues from permanent crops might be an alternative fuel for energy generation in a local market with limited transport distances. Moreover, as activities related to CO2 reduction are of special attention in the European Union (EU), sustainable use of resources plays an important role in climate change mitigation. In this paper, a life-cycle assessment (LCA) of the integrated value chain from peach pruning residues for electricity generation is presented and compared with the common practice including the mulching process of the pruned biomass in an orchard. It was shown that biomass harvesting, chipping and its delivery to a power plant-the Pruning-to-Energy (PtE) scenario - is feasible from an environmental point of view. The total global warming potential (GWP) of this value chain was 200 kg CO2 eq.·ha-1 (or 27 kg CO2 eq.·GJ-1). In turn, the mulching and leaving of the pruned biomass in an orchard-the pruning-to-soil (PtS) scenario - is characterized by a CO2 equivalent of 2360 kg-ha-1. Other impact categories showed a lower environmental impact for the PtE scenario as well. When considering the Spanish electricity-mix instead of coal-based electricity, the PtS scenario score better in most impact categories, but the GWP for the PtE scenario remains lower.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.3390/en13112734

Año: 2020

Publicado en: Energies 13, 11 (2020), 2734 [16 pp.]
ISSN: 1996-1073

Factor impacto JCR: 3.004 (2020)

Categ. JCR: ENERGY & FUELS rank: 70 / 114 = 0.614 (2020) - Q3 - T2

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 0.597 - Control and Optimization (Q2) - Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Q2) - Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment (Q2) - Energy Engineering and Power Technology (Q2) - Fuel Technology (Q2) - Energy (miscellaneous) (Q2)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/312078/EU/Development and implementation of a new, and non existent, logistics chain for biomass from pruning/EUROPRUNING

Tipo y forma: Artículo (Versión definitiva)