IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v108y2013icp128-136.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessment of GHG emissions of biomethane from energy cereal crops in Umbria, Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Buratti, C.
  • Barbanera, M.
  • Fantozzi, F.

Abstract

Biomethane from energy crops is a renewable energy carrier and therefore it potentially contributes to climate change mitigation. However, significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from cultivation and processing must be considered. Among those, the production and use of nitrogen fertilizers, the resulting nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, the methane emissions from digestate storage and the energy consumption of the biogas plant are crucial factors. In the present paper an integrated life cycle assessment (LCA) of GHG emissions from biomethane production is carried out, taking into account own measurements and experience data from a modern biogas plant located in Umbria, Italy. The study is also focused on the electricity consumption of the biogas plant, assessing the specific absorption power of each machinery. The analysis is based on the methodology defined by the European Union Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28/EC (RED). The main result is that the biomethane chain exceeds the minimum value of GHG saving (35%) mainly due to the open storage of digestate. However by varying the system, using heat and electricity from a biogas CHP plant and covering digestate storage tank, a reduction of 68.9% could be obtained.

Suggested Citation

  • Buratti, C. & Barbanera, M. & Fantozzi, F., 2013. "Assessment of GHG emissions of biomethane from energy cereal crops in Umbria, Italy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 128-136.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:108:y:2013:i:c:p:128-136
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.03.011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261913001979
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.03.011?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Koponen, Kati & Soimakallio, Sampo & Tsupari, Eemeli & Thun, Rabbe & Antikainen, Riina, 2013. "GHG emission performance of various liquid transportation biofuels in Finland in accordance with the EU sustainability criteria," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 440-448.
    2. Thamsiriroj, Thanasit & Murphy, Jerry D., 2011. "A critical review of the applicability of biodiesel and grass biomethane as biofuels to satisfy both biofuel targets and sustainability criteria," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(4), pages 1008-1019, April.
    3. Smyth, Beatrice M. & Murphy, Jerry D. & O'Brien, Catherine M., 2009. "What is the energy balance of grass biomethane in Ireland and other temperate northern European climates?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(9), pages 2349-2360, December.
    4. Pöschl, Martina & Ward, Shane & Owende, Philip, 2010. "Evaluation of energy efficiency of various biogas production and utilization pathways," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(11), pages 3305-3321, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sgroi, Filippo & Foderà, Mario & Trapani, Anna Maria Di & Tudisca, Salvatore & Testa, Riccardo, 2015. "Economic evaluation of biogas plant size utilizing giant reed," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 403-409.
    2. Patrizio, P. & Leduc, S. & Chinese, D. & Kraxner, F., 2017. "Internalizing the external costs of biogas supply chains in the Italian energy sector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 85-96.
    3. Kolb, Sebastian & Plankenbühler, Thomas & Hofmann, Katharina & Bergerson, Joule & Karl, Jürgen, 2021. "Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of renewable gas technologies: A comparative review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    4. Andrey Kiselev & Elena Magaril & Romen Magaril & Deborah Panepinto & Marco Ravina & Maria Chiara Zanetti, 2019. "Towards Circular Economy: Evaluation of Sewage Sludge Biogas Solutions," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-19, May.
    5. Pierie, F. & van Someren, C.E.J. & Benders, R.M.J. & Bekkering, J. & van Gemert, W.J.Th. & Moll, H.C., 2015. "Environmental and energy system analysis of bio-methane production pathways: A comparison between feedstocks and process optimizations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 456-466.
    6. Elena Tamburini & Mattias Gaglio & Giuseppe Castaldelli & Elisa Anna Fano, 2020. "Is Bioenergy Truly Sustainable When Land-Use-Change (LUC) Emissions Are Accounted for? The Case-Study of Biogas from Agricultural Biomass in Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-20, April.
    7. Sales Silva, Sara Talita & Barros, Regina Mambeli & Silva dos Santos, Ivan Felipe & Maria de Cassia Crispim, Adriele & Tiago Filho, Geraldo Lúcio & Silva Lora, Electo Eduardo, 2022. "Technical and economic evaluation of using biomethane from sanitary landfills for supplying vehicles in the Southeastern region of Brazil," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 1142-1157.
    8. Singlitico, Alessandro & Goggins, Jamie & Monaghan, Rory F.D., 2019. "The role of life cycle assessment in the sustainable transition to a decarbonised gas network through green gas production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 16-28.
    9. Boldrin, Alessio & Baral, Khagendra Raj & Fitamo, Temesgen & Vazifehkhoran, Ali Heidarzadeh & Jensen, Ida Græsted & Kjærgaard, Ida & Lyng, Kari-Anne & van Nguyen, Quan & Nielsen, Lise Skovsgaard & Tri, 2016. "Optimised biogas production from the co-digestion of sugar beet with pig slurry: Integrating energy, GHG and economic accounting," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 606-617.
    10. Adams, P.W.R. & Mezzullo, W.G. & McManus, M.C., 2015. "Biomass sustainability criteria: Greenhouse gas accounting issues for biogas and biomethane facilities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 95-109.
    11. Bacenetti, Jacopo & Sala, Cesare & Fusi, Alessandra & Fiala, Marco, 2016. "Agricultural anaerobic digestion plants: What LCA studies pointed out and what can be done to make them more environmentally sustainable," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 669-686.
    12. Noussan, Michel & Negro, Viviana & Prussi, Matteo & Chiaramonti, David, 2024. "The potential role of biomethane for the decarbonization of transport: An analysis of 2030 scenarios in Italy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 355(C).
    13. Ingrao, Carlo & Rana, Roberto & Tricase, Caterina & Lombardi, Mariarosaria, 2015. "Application of Carbon Footprint to an agro-biogas supply chain in Southern Italy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 75-88.
    14. Robert Czubaszek & Agnieszka Wysocka-Czubaszek & Piotr Banaszuk, 2020. "GHG Emissions and Efficiency of Energy Generation through Anaerobic Fermentation of Wetland Biomass," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-25, December.
    15. Vo, Truc T.Q. & Rajendran, Karthik & Murphy, Jerry D., 2018. "Can power to methane systems be sustainable and can they improve the carbon intensity of renewable methane when used to upgrade biogas produced from grass and slurry?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 1046-1056.
    16. Tabatabaei, Meisam & Aghbashlo, Mortaza & Valijanian, Elena & Kazemi Shariat Panahi, Hamed & Nizami, Abdul-Sattar & Ghanavati, Hossein & Sulaiman, Alawi & Mirmohamadsadeghi, Safoora & Karimi, Keikhosr, 2020. "A comprehensive review on recent biological innovations to improve biogas production, Part 2: Mainstream and downstream strategies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 1392-1407.
    17. Su, Meirong & Pauleit, Stephan & Yin, Xuemei & Zheng, Ying & Chen, Shaoqing & Xu, Chao, 2016. "Greenhouse gas emission accounting for EU member states from 1991 to 2012," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 759-768.
    18. Ricciardi, P. & Belloni, E. & Cotana, F., 2014. "Innovative panels with recycled materials: Thermal and acoustic performance and Life Cycle Assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 150-162.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bekkering, J. & Hengeveld, E.J. & van Gemert, W.J.T. & Broekhuis, A.A., 2015. "Will implementation of green gas into the gas supply be feasible in the future?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 409-417.
    2. Malça, João & Coelho, António & Freire, Fausto, 2014. "Environmental life-cycle assessment of rapeseed-based biodiesel: Alternative cultivation systems and locations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 837-844.
    3. Browne, James & Nizami, Abdul-Sattar & Thamsiriroj, T & Murphy, Jerry D., 2011. "Assessing the cost of biofuel production with increasing penetration of the transport fuel market: A case study of gaseous biomethane in Ireland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4537-4547.
    4. Strzalka, Rafal & Schneider, Dietrich & Eicker, Ursula, 2017. "Current status of bioenergy technologies in Germany," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 801-820.
    5. Moset, Veronica & Fontaine, Doline & Møller, Henrik B., 2017. "Co-digestion of cattle manure and grass harvested with different technologies. Effect on methane yield, digestate composition and energy balance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 451-460.
    6. Montingelli, Maria E. & Benyounis, Khaled Y. & Quilty, Brid & Stokes, Joseph & Olabi, Abdul G., 2016. "Optimisation of biogas production from the macroalgae Laminaria sp. at different periods of harvesting in Ireland," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 671-682.
    7. Vo, Truc T.Q. & Xia, Ao & Wall, David M. & Murphy, Jerry D., 2017. "Use of surplus wind electricity in Ireland to produce compressed renewable gaseous transport fuel through biological power to gas systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 495-504.
    8. Ericsson, Niclas & Nordberg, Åke & Sundberg, Cecilia & Ahlgren, Serina & Hansson, Per-Anders, 2014. "Climate impact and energy efficiency from electricity generation through anaerobic digestion or direct combustion of short rotation coppice willow," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 86-98.
    9. Gray, Nathan & O'Shea, Richard & Smyth, Beatrice & Lens, Piet N.L. & Murphy, Jerry D., 2022. "What is the energy balance of electrofuels produced through power-to-fuel integration with biogas facilities?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    10. Hakawati, Rawan & Smyth, Beatrice M. & McCullough, Geoffrey & De Rosa, Fabio & Rooney, David, 2017. "What is the most energy efficient route for biogas utilization: Heat, electricity or transport?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 1076-1087.
    11. O'Shea, Richard & Lin, Richen & Wall, David M. & Browne, James D. & Murphy, Jerry D, 2020. "Using biogas to reduce natural gas consumption and greenhouse gas emissions at a large distillery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    12. Nzila, Charles & Dewulf, Jo & Spanjers, Henri & Tuigong, David & Kiriamiti, Henry & van Langenhove, Herman, 2012. "Multi criteria sustainability assessment of biogas production in Kenya," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 496-506.
    13. Czyrnek-Delêtre, Magdalena M. & Smyth, Beatrice M. & Murphy, Jerry D., 2017. "Beyond carbon and energy: The challenge in setting guidelines for life cycle assessment of biofuel systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 436-448.
    14. Moreda, Iván López, 2016. "The potential of biogas production in Uruguay," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1580-1591.
    15. Huopana, Tuomas & Song, Han & Kolehmainen, Mikko & Niska, Harri, 2013. "A regional model for sustainable biogas electricity production: A case study from a Finnish province," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 676-686.
    16. Scholz, Marco & Melin, Thomas & Wessling, Matthias, 2013. "Transforming biogas into biomethane using membrane technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 199-212.
    17. Grzegorz Ślusarz & Barbara Gołębiewska & Marek Cierpiał-Wolan & Jarosław Gołębiewski & Dariusz Twaróg & Sebastian Wójcik, 2021. "Regional Diversification of Potential, Production and Efficiency of Use of Biogas and Biomass in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-20, January.
    18. Zhang, Chen & Sun, Zongxuan, 2017. "Trajectory-based combustion control for renewable fuels in free piston engines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 72-83.
    19. Thompson, T.M. & Young, B.R. & Baroutian, S., 2020. "Pelagic Sargassum for energy and fertiliser production in the Caribbean: A case study on Barbados," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    20. Yan Bai & Xingyi Ma & Jing Zhang & Lei Zhang & Jing Bai, 2024. "Energy Efficiency Assessment and Prediction Based on Indicator System, PSO + AHP − FCE Model and Regression Algorithm," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-23, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:108:y:2013:i:c:p:128-136. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.