IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v12y2019i4p718-d208160.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Life Cycle Assessment of Biomethane Production from Waste Feedstock Through Different Upgrading Technologies

Author

Listed:
  • Ciro Florio

    (Department of Science and Technology (DiST), University of Naples “Parthenope”, Centro Direzionale, ISOLA C4 80143 Naples, Italy)

  • Gabriella Fiorentino

    (Department of Science and Technology (DiST), University of Naples “Parthenope”, Centro Direzionale, ISOLA C4 80143 Naples, Italy)

  • Fabiana Corcelli

    (Department of Science and Technology (DiST), University of Naples “Parthenope”, Centro Direzionale, ISOLA C4 80143 Naples, Italy)

  • Sergio Ulgiati

    (Department of Science and Technology (DiST), University of Naples “Parthenope”, Centro Direzionale, ISOLA C4 80143 Naples, Italy
    School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai St., Haidian District, Beijing 100875, China)

  • Stefano Dumontet

    (Department of Science and Technology (DiST), University of Naples “Parthenope”, Centro Direzionale, ISOLA C4 80143 Naples, Italy)

  • Joshua Güsewell

    (Institute of Energy Economics and Rational Use of Energy (IER), University of Stuttgart, Heßbrühlstrasse 49a, 70565 Stuttgart, Germany)

  • Ludger Eltrop

    (Institute of Energy Economics and Rational Use of Energy (IER), University of Stuttgart, Heßbrühlstrasse 49a, 70565 Stuttgart, Germany)

Abstract

Upgrading consists of a range of purification processes aimed at increasing the methane content of biogas to reach specifications similar to natural gas. In this perspective, an environmental assessment, based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, of different upgrading technologies is helpful to identify the environmental characteristics of biomethane and the critical steps for improvement. The aim of this work is to conduct an LCA of biomethane production from waste feedstock, using the SimaPro software. The study focuses on the comparison of several upgrading technologies (namely, membrane separation, cryogenic separation, pressure swing adsorption, chemical scrubbing, high pressure water scrubbing) and the on-site cogeneration of electricity and heat, including the environmental benefits deriving from the substitution of fossil-based products. The results show a better environmental performance of the cogeneration option in most of the impact categories. The Fossil resource scarcity is the impact category which is mainly benefited by the avoided production of natural gas, with savings of about 0.5 kg oil eq/m 3 of biogas for all the investigated technologies, with an average improvement of about 76% compared to conventional cogeneration. The results show that the membrane upgrading technology is slightly more environmentally convenient than the other upgrading technologies.

Suggested Citation

  • Ciro Florio & Gabriella Fiorentino & Fabiana Corcelli & Sergio Ulgiati & Stefano Dumontet & Joshua Güsewell & Ludger Eltrop, 2019. "A Life Cycle Assessment of Biomethane Production from Waste Feedstock Through Different Upgrading Technologies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-12, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:4:p:718-:d:208160
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/4/718/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/4/718/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hijazi, O. & Munro, S. & Zerhusen, B. & Effenberger, M., 2016. "Review of life cycle assessment for biogas production in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1291-1300.
    2. Cellura, Maurizio & Longo, Sonia & Mistretta, Marina, 2011. "Sensitivity analysis to quantify uncertainty in Life Cycle Assessment: The case study of an Italian tile," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4697-4705.
    3. Lin, Long & Xu, Fuqing & Ge, Xumeng & Li, Yebo, 2018. "Improving the sustainability of organic waste management practices in the food-energy-water nexus: A comparative review of anaerobic digestion and composting," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 151-167.
    4. Collet, Pierre & Flottes, Eglantine & Favre, Alain & Raynal, Ludovic & Pierre, Hélène & Capela, Sandra & Peregrina, Carlos, 2017. "Techno-economic and Life Cycle Assessment of methane production via biogas upgrading and power to gas technology," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 282-295.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Hijazi, O. & Abdelsalam, E. & Samer, M. & Attia, Y.A. & Amer, B.M.A. & Amer, M.A. & Badr, M. & Bernhardt, H., 2020. "Life cycle assessment of the use of nanomaterials in biogas production from anaerobic digestion of manure," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 417-424.
    2. Abdelsalam, E. & Hijazi, O. & Samer, M. & Yacoub, I.H. & Ali, A.S. & Ahmed, R.H. & Bernhardt, H., 2019. "Life cycle assessment of the use of laser radiation in biogas production from anaerobic digestion of manure," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 130-136.
    3. M. Samer & O. Hijazi & E. M. Abdelsalam & A. El-Hussein & Y. A. Attia & I. H. Yacoub & H. Bernhardt, 2021. "Life cycle assessment of using laser treatment and nanomaterials to produce biogas through anaerobic digestion of slurry," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(10), pages 14683-14696, October.
    4. Muhamed Rasit Atelge & Halil Senol & Mohammed Djaafri & Tulin Avci Hansu & David Krisa & Abdulaziz Atabani & Cigdem Eskicioglu & Hamdi Muratçobanoğlu & Sebahattin Unalan & Slimane Kalloum & Nuri Azbar, 2021. "A Critical Overview of the State-of-the-Art Methods for Biogas Purification and Utilization Processes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-39, October.
    5. Engstam, Linus & Janke, Leandro & Sundberg, Cecilia & Nordberg, Åke, 2025. "Optimising power-to-gas integration with wastewater treatment and biogas: A techno-economic assessment of CO2 and by-product utilisation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PB).
    6. Qi, Chuanren & Cao, Dingge & Gao, Xingzu & Jia, Sumeng & Yin, Rongrong & Nghiem, Long D. & Li, Guoxue & Luo, Wenhai, 2023. "Optimising organic composition of feedstock to improve microbial dynamics and symbiosis to advance solid-state anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge and organic waste," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 351(C).
    7. Henrik B. Møller & Peter Sørensen & Jørgen E. Olesen & Søren O. Petersen & Tavs Nyord & Sven G. Sommer, 2022. "Agricultural Biogas Production—Climate and Environmental Impacts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-24, February.
    8. Medina, Oscar E. & Amell, Andrés A. & López, Diana & Santamaría, Alexander, 2025. "Comprehensive review of nickel-based catalysts advancements for CO2 methanation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    9. Sofia Dahlgren & Jonas Ammenberg, 2021. "Sustainability Assessment of Public Transport, Part II—Applying a Multi-Criteria Assessment Method to Compare Different Bus Technologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-30, January.
    10. 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.
    11. Jacopo Bacenetti, 2020. "Economic and Environmental Impact Assessment of Renewable Energy from Biomass," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-5, July.
    12. Gaballah, Eid S. & Abdelkader, Tarek Kh & Luo, Shuai & Yuan, Qiaoxia & El-Fatah Abomohra, Abd, 2020. "Enhancement of biogas production by integrated solar heating system: A pilot study using tubular digester," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    13. Rasheed, Rizwan & Tahir, Fizza & Yasar, Abdullah & Sharif, Faiza & Tabinda, Amtul Bari & Ahmad, Sajid Rashid & Wang, Yubo & Su, Yuehong, 2022. "Environmental life cycle analysis of a modern commercial-scale fibreglass composite-based biogas scrubbing system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 1261-1271.
    14. Ingrao, Carlo & Bacenetti, Jacopo & Adamczyk, Janusz & Ferrante, Valentina & Messineo, Antonio & Huisingh, Donald, 2019. "Investigating energy and environmental issues of agro-biogas derived energy systems: A comprehensive review of Life Cycle Assessments," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 296-307.
    15. Chengzhou Li & Ningling Wang & Hongyuan Zhang & Qingxin Liu & Youguo Chai & Xiaohu Shen & Zhiping Yang & Yongping Yang, 2019. "Environmental Impact Evaluation of Distributed Renewable Energy System Based on Life Cycle Assessment and Fuzzy Rough Sets," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-17, November.
    16. Daniel B. Sulis & Nathalie Lavoine & Heike Sederoff & Xiao Jiang & Barbara M. Marques & Kai Lan & Carlos Cofre-Vega & Rodolphe Barrangou & Jack P. Wang, 2025. "Advances in lignocellulosic feedstocks for bioenergy and bioproducts," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-13, December.
    17. Taitiya Kenneth Yuguda & Yi Li & Bobby Shekarau Luka & Goziya William Dzarma, 2020. "Incorporating Reservoir Greenhouse Gas Emissions into Carbon Footprint of Sugar Produced from Irrigated Sugarcane in Northeastern Nigeria," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-24, December.
    18. Bidart, Christian & Wichert, Martin & Kolb, Gunther & Held, Michael, 2022. "Biogas catalytic methanation for biomethane production as fuel in freight transport - A carbon footprint assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    19. Corey Duncan & Robin Roche & Samir Jemei & Marie-Cécile Péra, 2022. "Techno-economical modelling of a power-to-gas system for plant configuration evaluation in a local context," Post-Print hal-03692975, HAL.
    20. Kim, Jung-Hun & Oh, Jeong-Ik & Tsang, Yiu Fai & Park, Young-Kwon & Lee, Jechan & Kwon, Eilhann E., 2020. "CO2-assisted catalytic pyrolysis of digestate with steel slag," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).

    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:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:4:p:718-:d:208160. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.