Atmospheric Emissions from Thermal (Coal-Fired) Power Plants and Associated Environmental Impacts

2018 ◽  
pp. 53-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gyanesh Kumar Singh ◽  
Pradhi Rajeev ◽  
Debajyoti Paul ◽  
Tarun Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Atmospheric Emissions ◽  
Thermal Coal

scholarly journals Direct environmental impacts of solar power in two arid biomes: An initial investigation

2017 ◽  
Vol 113 (11/12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Justine Rudman ◽  
Paul Gauché ◽  
Karen J. Esler
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Total Power ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Research Areas

According to recent national energy plans and policy documents, the number of renewable energy developments is expected to increase in South Africa, thus contributing to the diversification of the country’s energy system. Consequently, numerous solar power developments are being deployed in the sunny arid interior – areas generally represented by the Nama-Karoo and Savanna Biomes. These developments come with a range of novel environmental impacts, providing opportunities for multidimensional exploratory research. Here, a mixed-method approach was used to identify and investigate possible environmental impacts associated with two types of solar power plants: concentrating solar power and photovoltaic. Structured interviews conducted with experts and experienced professionals, together with observations from site visits generated complementary findings. In addition to the risk of cumulative ecological impacts associated with individual solar plant developments, landscape impacts of multiple power plants and the direct impact on avifauna were found to be the most significant environmental impacts. These direct impacts appear to be most significant during the construction stage, which represents an intensive 10% of the total power plant lifespan. This investigation provides an early, broad and informative perspective on the experienced and expected impacts of solar power in South African arid regions as well as insights to possible future research areas.

scholarly journals The reduction of atmospheric emissions after the implementation of first Polish nuclear power plant

2018 ◽  
Vol 177 ◽  
pp. 01001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciej Cholewiński
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Solid Fuel ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Combustion Model ◽  
Hard Coal ◽  
Atmospheric Emissions ◽  
Solid Biomass ◽  
Representative Samples

In this work the environmental benefits in the atmospheric emissions after the implementation of 3,000 MW nuclear power plants were assessed and presented. To determine the quantity of avoided emissions of CO2, NOx, SO2 and Hg compounds, harmonised stoichiometric combustion model dedicated to solid fuel fired power plant was created. To increase the credibility of the studies, future strict emission standards (Directive 2010/75/EU, BAT documents for LCP) were included as well. In conducted studies, representative samples of 3 different Polish solid fuels were examined (by comprehensive proximate and ultimate analysis) and used in assessment. It was proven that by the replacement of thermal solid fuel power plant by nuclear unit (with annual production rate of 22.4 TWh net) up to 16.4 million tonnes of lignite, 8.9 million tonnes of hard coal or 13.1 million tonnes of solid biomass can be saved. Further, for the case of lignite, the emission, at least, of 21.29 million tonnes of CO2 (6.9% of all Polish emission in 2015), 1,610 tonnes of dust (0.4%), 16,102 tonnes of NOx (2.2%), 16,102 tonnes of SO2 (2.0%) and 564 kg of mercury (5.9%) can be avoided. For selected hard coal, calculated emission savings were equal to 17.60 million tonnes of CO2 (5.7%), 1,357 tonnes of dust (0.4%), 13,566 tonnes of NOx (1.9%), 13,566 tonnes of SO2 (1.7%), 271 kg of mercury (2.9%), and for biomass - equal to 20.04 million tonnes of CO2 (6.5%), 1,471 tonnes of dust (0.4%), 14,712 tonnes of NOx (2.0%), 14,712 tonnes of SO2 (1.8%) and 294 kg of mercury (3.1%).

scholarly journals Parques Eólicos e Transformações Espaciais: uma Análise dos Impactos Socioambientais na Região de Sento Sé/BA (Parks Wind and Spatial Transformations: an Analysis of Environmental Impacts in the Region of Sento Sé/BA )

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1243
Author(s):  
Clecia Simone Gonçalves Rosa Pacheco ◽  
Reinaldo Pacheco dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Energy Matrix ◽  
Spatial Transformations ◽  
Social And Environmental Impacts

O presente artigo objetiva discutir e apresentar os resultados das análises feitas sobre a implantação de parques eólicos na região de Sento Sé/BA, seus impactos positivos para a matriz energética brasileira, a relevância do licenciamento ambiental visando evitar os impactos socioambientais negativos e as medidas de mitigação para combater tais impactos. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa e de caráter exploratório, e, para delineamento da mesma, utilizou-se de pesquisa bibliográfica para fundamentação teórica. No que diz respeito à coleta de dados, este se deu por meio das técnicas de observação in loco, e análise de discurso da população local. Mediante o que foi pesquisado é possível afirmar que é de fundamental importância a implementação de usinas de energia consideradas limpas e renováveis que possam contribuir para o desenvolvimento sustentável do país, sendo que o Brasil já foi apontado por um estudo do Programa das Nações Unidas para o Meio Ambiente como maior mercado mundial de energia renovável. No entanto, é importante enfatizar a necessidade de considerar as peculiaridades locais, principalmente as do Semiárido brasileiro e, efetivar um rigoroso Estudo de Impacto Ambiental (EIA) e seu consequente Relatório de Impacto Ambiental (RIMA) ao invés de Relatório Ambiental Simplificado (RAS). Palavras-chave: Energia eólica, Impactos Ambientais, Transformações Espaciais.  Parks Wind and Spatial Transformations: an Analysis of Environmental Impacts in the Region of Sento Sé/BA  ABSTRACT This article aims to discuss and present the results of analyzes made on the siting of wind farms in the region of Sento Se / BA, its positive impacts on the Brazilian energy matrix, the relevance of environmental licensing in order to avoid the negative social and environmental impacts and measures mitigation to address such impacts. This is a qualitative research and exploratory, and, for the same design was used for the theoretical literature. With regard to data collection, this was through the techniques of on-site observation and discourse analysis of the local population. By what has been researched is possible to affirm that it is of fundamental importance to the implementation of power plants considered clean and renewable that can contribute to sustainable development of the country, while Brazil has already been pointed out by a study of the United Nations Program for Environment as the largest global market for renewable energy. However, it is important to emphasize the need to consider local peculiarities, especially in the Semi and enforce a rigorous Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and subsequent Environmental Impact Report (RIMA) instead of Simplified Environmental Report (RAS).Keywords: Wind Energy, Environmental Impacts, Spatial Transformations. 

scholarly journals Life Cycle Performance of Various Energy Sources Used in the Czech Republic

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 5833
Author(s):  
Markéta Šerešová ◽  
Jiří Štefanica ◽  
Monika Vitvarová ◽  
Kristina Zakuciová ◽  
Petr Wolf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Cycle Performance ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Black Coal ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Impact

As both the human population and living standards grow, so does the worldwide electricity demand. However, the power sector is also one of the biggest environmental polluters. Therefore, options are currently being sought aimed at reducing environmental impacts, one of the potential tools for which concerns the use of life cycle assessment. This study, therefore, focuses on the most commonly used nonrenewable (black coal, lignite, natural gas and nuclear) and renewable sources (wind, hydro and photovoltaic) in the Czech Republic in terms of their construction, operation, and decommissioning periods. Environmental impacts are assessed via the use of selected impact categories by way of product environmental footprint methodology. The results highlight the potential environmental impacts associated with electricity generation for each of the primary energy sources. Black coal and lignite power plants were found to contribute most to the global warming, resource use, energy carriers and respiratory inorganics categories. On the other hand, the impact on water depletion and resource use, mineral and metals categories were found to be most significantly affected by the production of electricity from photovoltaic power plants. Finally, it is proposed that the results be employed to design scenarios for the future energy mix.

scholarly journals Environmental Performance Analysis of Cement Production with CO2 Capture and Storage Technology in a Life-Cycle Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing An ◽  
Richard S. Middleton ◽  
Yingnan Li
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Combined Heat And Power ◽  
Cement Industry ◽  
Cement Production ◽  
Storage Technology ◽  
And Storage

Cement manufacturing is one of the most energy and CO2 intensive industries. With the growth of cement production, CO2 emissions are increasing rapidly too. Carbon capture and storage is the most feasible new technology option to reduce CO2 emissions in the cement industry. More research on environmental impacts is required to provide the theoretical basis for the implementation of carbon capture and storage in cement production. In this paper, GaBi software and scenario analysis were employed to quantitatively analyze and compare the environmental impacts of cement production with and without carbon capture and storage technology, from the perspective of a life-cycle assessment; aiming to promote sustainable development of the cement industry. Results of two carbon capture and storage scenarios show decreases in the impacts of global warming potential and some environmental impacts. However, other scenarios show a significant increase in other environmental impacts. In particular, post-combustion carbon capture technology can bring a more pronounced increase in toxicity potential. Therefore, effective measures must be taken into account to reduce the impact of toxicity when carbon capture and storage is employed in cement production. CO2 transport and storage account for only a small proportion of environmental impacts. For post-combustion carbon capture, most of the environmental impacts come from the unit of combined heat and power and carbon capture, with the background production of MonoEthanolAmine contributing significantly. In combined heat and power plants, natural gas is more advantageous than a 10% coal-saving, and thermal efficiency is a key parameter affecting the environmental impacts. Future research should focus on exploring cleaner and effective absorbents or seeking the alternative fuel in combined heat and power plants for post-combustion carbon capture. If the power industry is the first to deploy carbon capture and storage, oxy-combustion carbon capture is an excellent choice for the cement industry.

Comparison of Coal-fired and Natural Gas-fired Power Plants as Economically Viable and Ecologically Sustainable Power Generation Systems

2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sate Sampattagul ◽  
Seizo Kato ◽  
Tanongkiat Kiatsiriroat ◽  
Naoki Maruyama ◽  
Akira Nishimura
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Power Generation ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Productivity Index ◽  
Sustainable Power

To achieve a sustainable power generation industry it is necessary to study the environmental impacts and economic costs of all aspects of a power generation plants’ lifecycle - from mining to electricity distribution, and, ultimately, decommission (from cradle to grave). One key component in improving and maintaining quality of life for consumers is the application of the Green Productivity Index (GPI) in order to evaluate the related factors of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC). The goal of this research is to appraise the efficacy of decision-making tools in accurately assessing the potential results of ‘green’ improvements to coal-fired and natural gas-fired power plants in both ecological and economic terms. The recently developed Numerical Eco-load Total Standardization (LCA-NETS) evaluates environmental impacts by identifying and quantifying input energy and output waste released to the environment throughout the life cycle of a power plant. Environmental impacts caused by global and regional environmental issues are numerically calculated in the units of NETS. Environmental assessment tools such as LCA, LCC and GPI can be used to improve the ‘environmental friendliness’ of electricity generation by demonstrating the future sustainability of ‘green’ power generation plants and their contribution to the quality of life of consumer.

Technologies that contribute to reducing environmental impacts of electrical production

2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 19-24
Author(s):  
M T E Kahn ◽  
W Fritz
Keyword(s):  
Research And Development ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Distributed Generation ◽  
Alternative Energy ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
Energy Applications ◽  
Energy Technologies ◽  
Active Research

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) was attended by approximately 21 000 international delegates in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002. The aim was to institute ecologically sound environmental management. Research has shown that fossil fuel or coal fired power plants are the major cause of air pollution in electricity generation. This paper seeks to show technologies that can contribute to reducing the environmental impacts of electricity production, via emission control systems, industry energy policy, renewable energy technologies etc. and the promotion of active research and development in alternative energy applications in Africa. Innovative energy technology research and development and applications such as smaller scale distributed generation and solid state lighting (SSL) are seen as capable of adding a positive contribution in this area.

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