IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i15p5697-d1206407.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Life Cycle Assessment of Bioenergy Production Using Wood Pellets: A Case Study of Remote Communities in Canada

Author

Listed:
  • Saghar Sadaghiani

    (Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada)

  • Fereshteh Mafakheri

    (Ecole Nationale D’administration Publique (ENAP), Université du Québec, Montréal, QC H2T 2C8, Canada)

  • Zhi Chen

    (Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada)

Abstract

In remote communities of Canada, diesel is the primary source of electricity and heat. Promoting sustainable and diverse means of heat and power generation is essential to providing reliable and less carbon-intensive energy supply to remote communities. Among renewable energy sources in Canada, biomass is a major source of energy, with wood pellets being a notable contributor. In this study, using wood pellets in a remote community of Canada is investigated using life cycle analysis (LCA). Furthermore, wood pellet combustion is compared with diesel combustion, the most common fossil fuel in these regions. SimaPro (version 8.4.0.0) was used with Ecoinvent 3 as the primary library because of the nature of the feedstock. Harvesting, transportation, sawmill operation, pelletization, and combustion stages are considered in LCA. In doing so, first, life cycle data related to each of these stages are collected with respect to eight impact categories of global warming, ozone depletion, carcinogenic, non-carcinogenic, smog, respiratory effects, acidification, eutrophication, ecotoxicity, and fossil fuel depletion. The results indicate that pelletization and combustion stages have the greatest environmental impact, specifically in terms of non-carcinogenic effects from pelletization and respiratory effects from pellet combustion. Additionally, when comparing wood pellets to diesel, wood pellet combustion exhibits superior performance across various impact categories, particularly in non-carcinogenic effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Saghar Sadaghiani & Fereshteh Mafakheri & Zhi Chen, 2023. "Life Cycle Assessment of Bioenergy Production Using Wood Pellets: A Case Study of Remote Communities in Canada," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-14, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:15:p:5697-:d:1206407
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/15/5697/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/15/5697/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. McKechnie, Jon & Saville, Brad & MacLean, Heather L., 2016. "Steam-treated wood pellets: Environmental and financial implications relative to fossil fuels and conventional pellets for electricity generation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 637-649.
    2. Laschi, Andrea & Marchi, Enrico & González-García, Sara, 2016. "Environmental performance of wood pellets' production through life cycle analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 469-480.
    3. Cambero, Claudia & Hans Alexandre, Mariane & Sowlati, Taraneh, 2015. "Life cycle greenhouse gas analysis of bioenergy generation alternatives using forest and wood residues in remote locations: A case study in British Columbia, Canada," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 105(PA), pages 59-72.
    4. Shohre Khoddami & Fereshteh Mafakheri & Yong Zeng, 2021. "A System Dynamics Approach to Comparative Analysis of Biomass Supply Chain Coordination Strategies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-35, May.
    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. Jelena Topić Božič & Urška Fric & Ante Čikić & Simon Muhič, 2024. "Life Cycle Assessment of Using Firewood and Wood Pellets in Slovenia as Two Primary Wood-Based Heating Systems and Their Environmental Impact," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-14, February.
    2. Penka Zlateva & Angel Terziev & Nevena Milcheva Mileva, 2024. "Sustainable Solutions for Energy Production from Biomass Materials," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-14, September.
    3. Zygmunt Stanula & Marek Wieruszewski & Adam Zydroń & Krzysztof Adamowicz, 2023. "Optimizing Forest-Biomass-Distribution Logistics from a Multi-Level Perspective—Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Rita Petlickaitė & Algirdas Jasinskas & Kęstutis Venslauskas & Kęstutis Navickas & Marius Praspaliauskas & Egidijus Lemanas, 2024. "Evaluation of Multi-Crop Biofuel Pellet Properties and the Life Cycle Assessment," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-20, July.

    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. Martín-Gamboa, Mario & Marques, Pedro & Freire, Fausto & Arroja, Luís & Dias, Ana Cláudia, 2020. "Life cycle assessment of biomass pellets: A review of methodological choices and results," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    2. Peyman Alizadeh & Lope G. Tabil & Edmund Mupondwa & Xue Li & Duncan Cree, 2023. "Technoeconomic Feasibility of Bioenergy Production from Wood Sawdust," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-18, February.
    3. Emily Hope & Bruno Gagnon & Vanja Avdić, 2020. "Assessment of the Impact of Climate Change Policies on the Market for Forest Industrial Residues," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-20, February.
    4. Pietro Pandolfi & Ivan Notardonato & Sergio Passarella & Maria Pia Sammartino & Giovanni Visco & Paolo Ceci & Loretta De Giorgi & Virgilio Stillittano & Domenico Monci & Pasquale Avino, 2023. "Characteristics of Commercial and Raw Pellets Available on the Italian Market: Study of Organic and Inorganic Fraction and Related Chemometric Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(16), pages 1-14, August.
    5. Vitale, Ignacio & Dondo, Rodolfo G. & González, Matías & Cóccola, Mariana E., 2022. "Modelling and optimization of material flows in the wood pellet supply chain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    6. Vikas Menghwani & Chad Walker & Tim Kalke & Bram Noble & Greg Poelzer, 2022. "Harvesting Local Energy: A Case Study of Community-Led Bioenergy Development in Galena, Alaska," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-17, June.
    7. Mostafa, Mohamed E. & Hu, Song & Wang, Yi & Su, Sheng & Hu, Xun & Elsayed, Saad A. & Xiang, Jun, 2019. "The significance of pelletization operating conditions: An analysis of physical and mechanical characteristics as well as energy consumption of biomass pellets," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 332-348.
    8. Piyarath Saosee & Boonrod Sajjakulnukit & Shabbir H. Gheewala, 2020. "Life Cycle Assessment of Wood Pellet Production in Thailand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-23, August.
    9. Ding, Ning & Liu, Jingru & Yang, Jianxin & Yang, Dong, 2017. "Comparative life cycle assessment of regional electricity supplies in China," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 47-59.
    10. Wang, Zhiwei & Lei, Tingzhou & Yang, Miao & Li, Zaifeng & Qi, Tian & Xin, Xiaofei & He, Xiaofeng & Ajayebi, Atta & Yan, Xiaoyu, 2017. "Life cycle environmental impacts of cornstalk briquette fuel in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 83-94.
    11. Proskurina, Svetlana & Alakangas, Eija & Heinimö, Jussi & Mikkilä, Mirja & Vakkilainen, Esa, 2017. "A survey analysis of the wood pellet industry in Finland: Future perspectives," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 692-704.
    12. Boris Zezelj & Rado Maksimovic & Tanja Todorovic & Djordje Djatkov, 2020. "Analysis of the Possibilities for Using Renewable Energy Sources in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-18, July.
    13. Bello, Sara & Galán-Martín, Ángel & Feijoo, Gumersindo & Moreira, Maria Teresa & Guillén-Gosálbez, Gonzalo, 2020. "BECCS based on bioethanol from wood residues: Potential towards a carbon-negative transport and side-effects," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    14. Jing, Qi & Wang, Dan & Shi, Congling, 2023. "Effects of aluminum powder additives on deflagration and detonation performance of JP-10/DEE mixed fuel under weak and strong ignition conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    15. Giusilene Costa de Souza Pinho & João Luiz Calmon, 2023. "LCA of Wood Waste Management Systems: Guiding Proposal for the Standardization of Studies Based on a Critical Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, January.
    16. Lenka Štofová & Petra Szaryszová & Bohuslava Mihalčová, 2021. "Testing the Bioeconomic Options of Transitioning to Solid Recovered Fuel: A Case Study of a Thermal Power Plant in Slovakia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-20, March.
    17. Nicolás M. Clauser & Giselle González & Carolina M. Mendieta & Julia Kruyeniski & María C. Area & María E. Vallejos, 2021. "Biomass Waste as Sustainable Raw Material for Energy and Fuels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-21, January.
    18. Julia Szulecka, 2019. "Towards Sustainable Wood-Based Energy: Evaluation and Strategies for Mainstreaming Sustainability in the Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-21, January.
    19. Martínez-Guido, Sergio Iván & Ríos-Badrán, Inés María & Gutiérrez-Antonio, Claudia & Ponce-Ortega, José María, 2019. "Strategic planning for the use of waste biomass pellets in Mexican power plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 622-632.
    20. Leonel J. R. Nunes & Margarida Casau & Marta Ferreira Dias, 2021. "Portuguese Wood Pellets Market: Organization, Production and Consumption Analysis," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-24, December.

    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:16:y:2023:i:15:p:5697-:d:1206407. 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.