Life cycle assessment of Organic Rankine Cycles for geothermal power generation considering low-GWP working fluids

Geothermal potential in Indonesia estimate can produced renewable energy 29 GW, and until 2016 it still used 5% or about 1643 MW in. From that result, about 227 MW produced by Wayang Windu geothermal power plant. The Input were raw material, energy and water. These input produced electricity as main product, by product, and also other output that related to environment i.e. emission, solid waste and waste water. All environmental impacts should be controlled to comply with environmental standard, and even go beyond compliance and perform continual improvement. This research will use Life Cycle Assessment method based on ISO 14040 and use cradle to gate concept with boundary from liquid steam production until electricity produced, and Megawatt Hours as the functional unit. Life Cycle Inventory has been done with direct input and output in the boundary and resulted that subsystem of Non Condensable Gas and condensate production have the largest environmental impact. LCI also show that every MWh electricity produced, it needed 6.87 Ton dry steam or 8.16 Ton liquid steam. Global Warming Potential (GWP) value is 0.155 Ton CO2eq./MWh, Acidification Potential (AP) 1.69 kg SO2eq./MWh, Eutrophication Potential (EP) 5.36 gPO4 eq./MWh and land use impacts 0.000024 PDF/m2. Life Cycle Impact Assessment resulted that AP contribute 78% of environmental impact and 98% resulted from H2S Non Condensable Gas. Comparison results with another dry steam geothermal power plant show that impact potential result of the company in good position and there’s a strong relation between gross production, GWP and AP value.Keywords: Life cycle assessment; Geothermal; Continual Improvement; Global Warming Potential; Acidification Potential

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Integrating life cycle assessment and emergy synthesis for the evaluation of a dry steam geothermal power plant in Italy

Energy ◽

10.1016/j.energy.2015.04.048 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 86 ◽

pp. 476-487 ◽

Cited By ~ 50

Author(s):

Elvira Buonocore ◽

Laura Vanoli ◽

Alberto Carotenuto ◽

Sergio Ulgiati

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Power Plant ◽

Geothermal Power Plant ◽

Emergy Synthesis ◽

Geothermal Power

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Sustainability assessment of gas based power generation using a life cycle assessment approach

Management of Environmental Quality An International Journal ◽

10.1108/meq-02-2018-0034 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 29 (5) ◽

pp. 826-841 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Binita Shah ◽

Seema Unnikrishnan

Keyword(s):

Power Generation ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Power Plant ◽

Natural Gas ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Electricity Generation ◽

Lca Methodology ◽

Iso 14040 ◽

Content Type

Purpose India is a developing economy along with an increasing population estimated to be the largest populated country in about seven years. Simultaneously, its power consumption is projected to increase more than double by 2020. Currently, the dependence on coal is relatively high, making it the largest global greenhouse gas emitting sector which is a matter of great concern. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the environmental impacts of the natural gas electricity generation in India and propose a model using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. Design/methodology/approach LCA is used as a tool to evaluate the environmental impact of the natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plant, as it adopts a holistic approach towards the whole process. The LCA methodology used in this study follows the ISO 14040 and 14044 standards (ISO 14040: 2009; ISO 14044: 2009). A questionnaire was designed for data collection and validated by expert review primary data for the annual environmental emission was collected by personally visiting the power plant. The study follows a cradle to gate assessment using the CML (2001) methodology. Findings The analysis reveals that the main impacts were during the process of combustion. The Global warming potential is approximately 0.50 kg CO2 equivalents per kWh of electricity generation from this gas-based power plant. These results can be used by stakeholders, experts and members who are authorised to probe positive initiative for the reduction of environmental impacts from the power generation sector. Practical implications Considering the pace of growth of economic development of India, it is the need of the hour to emphasise on the patterns of sustainable energy generation which is an important subject to be addressed considering India’s ratification to the Paris Climate Change Agreement. This paper analyzes the environmental impacts of gas-based electricity generation. Originality/value Presenting this case study is an opportunity to get a glimpse of the challenges associated with gas-based electricity generation in India. It gives a direction and helps us to better understand the right spot which require efforts for the improvement of sustainable energy generation processes, by taking appropriate measures for emission reduction. This paper also proposes a model for gas-based electricity generation in India. It has been developed following an LCA approach. As far as we aware, this is the first study which proposes an LCA model for gas-based electricity generation in India. The model is developed in line with the LCA methodology and focusses on the impact categories specific for gas-based electricity generation.

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