EROI of different fuels and the implications for society

Hall, Charles A. S.; Lambert, Jessica G.; Balogh, Stephen

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.05.049

Cited by 576 publications

(368 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…It is reported that the energy -return-on-energy-invested (EROEI), for the RDF from India is in the range of 10 to 15. This is referred to as the ratio between the energy provided by a certain fuel and the energy required in the acquiring and delivery of this energy [15]. The 10 to 15 range can be compared to the EROEI of a crude oil well of approximately 2000m in depth which is quite significant [14].…”

Section: A Calorific Valuementioning

confidence: 99%

Thermochemical Conversion of Municipal Solid Waste — An Energy Potential and Thermal Degradation Behavior Study

Hlaba¹,

Rabiu²,

Osibote³

2016

IJESD

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Abstract-Solid waste management has become an ever growing problem world-wide due to rapid urbanization and population growth. South Africa was found to have generated 59 million tons of general waste in 2011 with the Western Cape generating 675kg/capita/annum. The convention of management has been that of landfilling, however this method is fast becoming insignificant due to the lack of space and detrimental nature to environment. In light of the energy security issue South Africa is facing, and the global drive of finding alternate sources of fuel with the depletion of fossil fuel, attention has turned to MSW as a sustainable source of energy while remediating its effect on the environment. Thermochemical conversions of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), thus presents an attractive means of harnessing the potential value in this waste stream thus thermochemical conversion pose an attractive means of converting this waste stream into valuable fuel products. Study was conducted making use of RDF pellets produced from the MSW. Pellet density was varied by varying the starch binder to MSW ratio, thus the effect of this on energy content and thermal degradation behavior was studied. The energy content of MSW in Cape Town was investigated using a bomb calorimeter and the thermal degradation behavior was studied using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). The MSW calorific value was found to average at 19MJ/kg and 3 distinguishable major mass loss regions were found between temperatures 55 -265

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Section: A Calorific Valuementioning

confidence: 99%

Thermochemical Conversion of Municipal Solid Waste — An Energy Potential and Thermal Degradation Behavior Study

Hlaba¹,

Rabiu²,

Osibote³

2016

IJESD

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…However, we have now become aware that the EROI, and hence the amount of energy surplus of fossil fuels to society, has changed relatively recently, due to the rapid depletion of high-quality fossil fuels after about the year 2000 (Wang et al 2017). Currently, there are an increasing number of studies analysing this issue (for example, Murphy and Hall 2010;Gupta and Hall 2011;Hall et al 2014). However, there are limited studies on this issue in China.…”

Section: Eroi Analysis For China's Fossil Fuelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of physical supply and EROI of fossil fuels in China

et al. 2017

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This paper reviews China's future fossil fuel supply from the perspectives of physical output and net energy output. Comprehensive analyses of physical output of fossil fuels suggest that China's total oil production will likely reach its peak, at about 230 Mt/year (or 9.6 EJ/year), in 2018; its total gas production will peak at around 350 Bcm/year (or 13.6 EJ/year) in 2040, while coal production will peak at about 4400 Mt/year (or 91.9 EJ/year) around 2020 or so. In terms of the forecast production of these fuels, there are significant differences among current studies. These differences can be mainly explained by different ultimately recoverable resources assumptions, the nature of the models used, and differences in the historical production data. Due to the future constraints on fossil fuels production, a large gap is projected to grow between domestic supply and demand, which will need to be met by increasing imports. Net energy analyses show that both coal and oil and gas production show a steady declining trend of EROI (energy return on investment) due to the depletion of shallow-buried coal resources and conventional oil and gas resources, which is generally consistent with the approaching peaks of physical production of fossil fuels. The peaks of fossil fuels production, coupled with the decline in EROI ratios, are likely to challenge the sustainable development of Chinese society unless new abundant energy resources with high EROI values can be found.

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“…The low energy return on investment for biofuels is concerning as prior studies have suggested that a liquid technical fuel must achieve minimum threshold energy return on investment (EROI) values to sustain society. Failure to meet this minimum EROI criterion could result in widespread economic and social ramifications as more useful work must be expended by society for fuel production and thus cannot sustain other economic activities [154,155]. Recently, Bakshi and colleagues have developed a conceptual framework for designing technological and ecological systems that encourages synergy between human activity and nature [70,156].…”

Section: Ecosystems Scalementioning

confidence: 99%

Design of Sustainable Biofuel Processes and Supply Chains: Challenges and Opportunities

et al. 2015

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Abstract:The current methodological approach for developing sustainable biofuel processes and supply chains is flawed. Life cycle principles are often retrospectively incorporated in the design phase resulting in incremental environmental improvement rather than selection of fuel pathways that minimize environmental impacts across the life cycle. Further, designing sustainable biofuel supply chains requires joint consideration of economic, environmental, and social factors that span multiple spatial and temporal scales. However, traditional life cycle assessment (LCA) ignores economic aspects and the role of ecological goods and services in supply chains, and hence is limited in its ability for guiding decisionmaking among alternatives-often resulting in sub-optimal solutions. Simultaneously incorporating economic and environment objectives in the design and optimization of emerging biofuel supply chains requires a radical new paradigm. This work discusses key research opportunities and challenges in the design of emerging biofuel supply chains and provides a high-level overview of the current "state of the art" in environmental sustainability assessment of biofuel production. Additionally, a bibliometric analysis of over 20,000 biofuel research articles from 2000-to-present is performed to identify active topical areas of research in the biofuel literature, quantify the relative strength of connections between various biofuels research domains, and determine any potential research gaps. OPEN ACCESSProcesses 2015, 3 635

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EROI of different fuels and the implications for society

Cited by 576 publications

References 30 publications

Thermochemical Conversion of Municipal Solid Waste — An Energy Potential and Thermal Degradation Behavior Study

Thermochemical Conversion of Municipal Solid Waste — An Energy Potential and Thermal Degradation Behavior Study

A review of physical supply and EROI of fossil fuels in China

Design of Sustainable Biofuel Processes and Supply Chains: Challenges and Opportunities

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