LCS-FY2021-PP-16
Life Cycle Evaluation of CO2 Emission Reduction of BECCS in the Coal-Biomass Co-Firing Power Plant
Summary
BECCS, bio-energy with carbon dioxide capture and storage, is expected to be a promising technology for reducing atmospheric CO2. However, to achieve negative net CO2 emissions through BECCS, it is necessary to understand the impact of the conditions of each process involved in BECCS and design the entire process properly. This report focuses on co-firing of woody biomass in a pulverized coal-fired power plant from the perspective of reducing the carbon footprint of said plant and effectively utilizing biomass energy, and evaluated the net CO2 emissions from coupling the co-firing power plant with CCS based upon LCA.
GHGs emissions associated with the collection of raw woody biomass, chip production, transportation to the power plant, and drying, grinding, and coal pulverization at the power plant, power generation from their combustion, flue gas purification including denitrification and desulfurization, CO2 capture from the flue gas using chemical absorption, and CO2 compression processes for transportation and storage, were calculated using LCA. The results showed that for a 550 MWe pulverized coal-fired power plant with a CO2 capture rate of 90%, a biomass co-firing ratio higher than 13.6% (by heat) is required to achieve negative net CO2 emissions. It was also found that the co-firing ratio required to achieve negative net CO2 emissions increases as the CO2 capture rate decreases.