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From Secondary Biomass to Bio-Methanol through CONVERGE Technology: An Environmental Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Stefan Cristian Galusnyak

    (Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, 11 Arany Janos, 400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Letitia Petrescu

    (Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, 11 Arany Janos, 400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Dora Andreea Chisalita

    (Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, 11 Arany Janos, 400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Calin-Cristian Cormos

    (Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, 11 Arany Janos, 400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Marco Ugolini

    (CA.RE. FOR. Engineering, 50133 Firenze, Italy)

Abstract

Owing to residual biomass availability, the share of advanced biofuels produced from secondary biomass is forecasted to increase and significantly contribute towards achieving net-zero emissions. The current work investigates bio-methanol production through a new process configuration designed to improve the environmental performance when compared to the state-of-the art technologies (Base Case). The environmental evaluation is conducted according to the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. ReCiPe was employed as an impact assessment method with the aid of GaBi software. Depending on the plant geographical location, wooden biomass and exhausted olive pomace were evaluated as biomass sources. A scenario analysis targeting different energy sources was performed as well. The outcome of the environmental evaluation highlights a better performance in eight of a total of nine impact categories studied in the wooden biomass scenarios compared to the exhausted olive pomace. Moreover, two of the CONVERGE technology cases were compared against the Base Case. As the results show, CONVERGE technology registers a lower score in at least six of the impact categories studied. Concerning the total CO 2 emissions, CONVERGE exhibits a better performance compared to the Base Case, if the additional amount of CO 2 is either stored, sold as a by-product or vented into the atmosphere.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Cristian Galusnyak & Letitia Petrescu & Dora Andreea Chisalita & Calin-Cristian Cormos & Marco Ugolini, 2023. "From Secondary Biomass to Bio-Methanol through CONVERGE Technology: An Environmental Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-18, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:6:p:2726-:d:1097490
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Cormos, Calin-Cristian & Dragan, Mihaela & Petrescu, Letitia & Cormos, Ana-Maria & Dragan, Simion & Bathori, Arthur-Maximilian & Galusnyak, Stefan-Cristian, 2024. "Synthetic natural gas (SNG) production by biomass gasification with CO2 capture: Techno-economic and life cycle analysis (LCA)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).

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