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Centralised electricity production from winter cereals biomass grown under central-northern Spain conditions: Global warming and energy yield assessments

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  • Sastre, C.M.
  • Maletta, E.
  • González-Arechavala, Y.
  • Ciria, P.
  • Santos, A.M.
  • del Val, A.
  • Pérez, P.
  • Carrasco, J.

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to assess the sustainability of electricity production from winter cereals grown in one of the most important Spanish agricultural areas, Castilla y León Region, situated in central-northern Spain. This study analyses greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and energy balances of electricity production in a 25MWe power plant that was powered using straw biomass from three annual winter cereals (rye, triticale and oat) grown as dedicated energy crops. The results of these analyses were compared with those of electricity produced from natural gas in Spanish power plants. Assessments were performed using a wide range of scenarios, mainly based on the biomass yield variability obtained in demonstration plots of twelve different winter cereal genotypes. Demonstration plots were established in two different locations (provinces of Soria and León) of the Castilla y León Region during two crop seasons (2009/2010 and 2010/2011) using common management practices and input rates for rain-fed agriculture in these regions. Our results suggest that production of electricity from winter cereals biomass combustion yielded considerable reductions in terms of GHG emissions when compared to electricity from natural gas. Nevertheless, the results show that low biomass yields that are relatively frequent for Spanish farmers on low productivity lands may produce no significant reductions in GHG in comparison with electricity from natural gas. Consequently, the agronomic management of winter cereals should be re-examined in order to find potential improvements that achieve better energy balances and greater reductions in GHG emissions on land which is relatively uncompetitive in terms of crop yields and on existing low productivity scenarios.

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  • Sastre, C.M. & Maletta, E. & González-Arechavala, Y. & Ciria, P. & Santos, A.M. & del Val, A. & Pérez, P. & Carrasco, J., 2014. "Centralised electricity production from winter cereals biomass grown under central-northern Spain conditions: Global warming and energy yield assessments," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 737-748.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:114:y:2014:i:c:p:737-748
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.08.035
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    1. Monteleone, Massimo & Cammerino, Anna Rita Bernadette & Garofalo, Pasquale & Delivand, Mitra Kami, 2015. "Straw-to-soil or straw-to-energy? An optimal trade off in a long term sustainability perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 891-899.
    2. Sastre, Carlos M. & Carrasco, Juan & Barro, Ruth & González-Arechavala, Yolanda & Maletta, Emiliano & Santos, Ana M. & Ciria, Pilar, 2016. "Improving bioenergy sustainability evaluations by using soil nitrogen balance coupled with life cycle assessment: A case study for electricity generated from rye biomass," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 847-863.
    3. Beagle, E. & Belmont, E., 2019. "Comparative life cycle assessment of biomass utilization for electricity generation in the European Union and the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 267-275.
    4. Carlos S. Ciria & Marina Sanz & Juan Carrasco & Pilar Ciria, 2019. "Identification of Arable Marginal Lands under Rainfed Conditions for Bioenergy Purposes in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-17, March.
    5. Boschiero, Martina & Kelderer, Markus & Schmitt, Armin O. & Andreotti, Carlo & Zerbe, Stefan, 2015. "Influence of agricultural residues interpretation and allocation procedures on the environmental performance of bioelectricity production – A case study on woodchips from apple orchards," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 235-245.
    6. Garcia, Rita & Marques, Pedro & Freire, Fausto, 2014. "Life-cycle assessment of electricity in Portugal," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 563-572.
    7. Restrepo, Álvaro & Bazzo, Edson, 2016. "Co-firing: An exergoenvironmental analysis applied to power plants modified for burning coal and rice straw," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 107-119.
    8. Toka, Agorasti & Iakovou, Eleftherios & Vlachos, Dimitrios & Tsolakis, Naoum & Grigoriadou, Anastasia-Loukia, 2014. "Managing the diffusion of biomass in the residential energy sector: An illustrative real-world case study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 56-69.
    9. You, Siming & Tong, Huanhuan & Armin-Hoiland, Joel & Tong, Yen Wah & Wang, Chi-Hwa, 2017. "Techno-economic and greenhouse gas savings assessment of decentralized biomass gasification for electrifying the rural areas of Indonesia," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 495-510.
    10. Montuori, Lina & Alcázar-Ortega, Manuel & Álvarez-Bel, Carlos & Domijan, Alex, 2014. "Integration of renewable energy in microgrids coordinated with demand response resources: Economic evaluation of a biomass gasification plant by Homer Simulator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 15-22.
    11. Sastre, C.M. & González-Arechavala, Y. & Santos, A.M., 2015. "Global warming and energy yield evaluation of Spanish wheat straw electricity generation – A LCA that takes into account parameter uncertainty and variability," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 900-911.
    12. Song, Qingbin & Wang, Zhishi & Li, Jinhui & Duan, Huabo & Yu, Danfeng & Liu, Gang, 2018. "Comparative life cycle GHG emissions from local electricity generation using heavy oil, natural gas, and MSW incineration in Macau," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 2450-2459.
    13. Nian, Victor, 2016. "The carbon neutrality of electricity generation from woody biomass and coal, a critical comparative evaluation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1069-1080.

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