Improving the carbon footprint of water treatment with renewable energy: a Western Australian case study

Biswas, Wahidul K.; Yek, Pauline

doi:10.1186/s40807-016-0036-2

Cited by 25 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Desalination plants accounting for Western Australia's largest water supply in the metropolitan area have been found to be a more carbon intensive water supply option compared to other existing options. For example, a local WA study found that to produce 1 GL of desalinated water, 3,890 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions would be evolved when grid electricity is the main source of energy, which is extremely high compared to other water supply options (Biswas and Yek 2016). This is also similar to a study in Denmark that found that groundwater was the least polluting in terms of greenhouse effect while desalination was the greatest polluting source (Godskeseen et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Carbon footprint assessment of Western Australian Groundwater Recycling Scheme

Simms

Hamilton

Biswas

2017

Environmental Management

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This research has determined the carbon footprint or the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO eq) of potable water production from a groundwater recycling scheme, consisting of the Beenyup wastewater treatment plant, the Beenyup groundwater replenishment trial plant and the Wanneroo groundwater treatment plant in Western Australia, using a life cycle assessment approach. It was found that the scheme produces 1300 tonnes of CO eq per gigalitre (GL) of water produced, which is 933 tonnes of CO eq higher than the desalination plant at Binningup in Western Australia powered by 100% renewable energy generated electricity. A Monte Carlo Simulation uncertainty analysis calculated a Coefficient of Variation value of 5.4%, thus confirming the accuracy of the simulation. Electricity input accounts for 83% of the carbon dioxide equivalent produced during the production of potable water. The chosen mitigation strategy was to consider the use of renewable energy to generate electricity for carbon intensive groundwater replenishment trial plant. Depending on the local situation, a maximum of 93% and a minimum of 21% greenhouse gas saving from electricity use can be attained at groundwater replenishment trial plant by replacing grid electricity with renewable electricity. In addition, the consideration of vibrational separation (V-Sep) that helps reduce wastes generation and chemical use resulted in a 4.03 tonne of CO eq saving per GL of water produced by the plant.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Carbon footprint assessment of Western Australian Groundwater Recycling Scheme

Simms

Hamilton

Biswas

2017

Environmental Management

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“…The ve phases of the evaluated SWRO process are seawater pumping and intake, pretreatment, reverse osmosis operation, post treatment and water storage and distribution. Figure 3 shows the total carbon footprint of 3.5 × 10 −2 kg CO 2 -eq/year, with the assumption that the contribution was not signi cant and way smaller than the reported values of 1.599-5.63 kg CO 2 -eq for Spain, 2.208-7.46 kg CO 2 -eq for Israel, 2.562 kg CO 2 -eq for China, and 2.1-3.6 kg CO 2 -eq for Singapore (Pablo et al 2014;Jiahong Liu et al 2015;Biswas et al 2016;Xuexiu Jia et al 2019). The other contributing factors are plant capacity, adaptation of technology, fuel type, and the selection of attribute calculation in scopes 1, 2, and 3.…”

Section: C0 2-eq Emissions In the Operation Processmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…As mentioned earlier, SWRO sustainability is related to the alternative selection to minimise environmental impact, and the integration between the different sources of energy with a renewable energy was fundamentally selected to meet the objective. In other literature reviews, the energy reduction via membrane technology increases up to 38% with the integration of the hybridised SWRO and other renewable energies (Biswas et al 2016). The replacement of fossil fuel in a current desalination process is expected to reduce the cost of clean water production in Senak as well.…”

Section: Relationship Between Limitations Strategies and Adaptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential Reduction of Carbon Burden for Senak Seawater Desalination Plant in Malaysia

Ghani

Nazaran

Ali

et al. 2020

Preprint

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PurposeCarbon footprint calculation is one of the approaches available in the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) system, which can be considered as a decision support tool for environmental sustainability management. Hence, this purpose of this study is to examine the potential contribution of the product, namely water through carbon footprint measurement. Seawater has been selected as the source for clean water transformation in Senak due to its ability to meet the growing demands of the local population and its ability to be recycled in the long term.MethodsIn this study, carbon footprint assessment was used to investigate seawater production systems from a desalination plant in Senok, Kelantan, Malaysia. Three stages of the desalination plant processing system have been investigated and the inventory database has been developed using the relevant model framework. The LCA method, in accordance with ISO14040-43 guidelines has been simplified with working unit selected is 1 per cubic meter of treated water produced from a salt water desalination source.Results and discussionOverall, the results of the study indicate that the Revolutionary Osmotic (RO) technology that has been used in the desalination plant in the study area is one of the best options to meet the demands of the environmental sustainability agenda (SDGs). This is due to a lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emission of about 3.5 × 10−2 kg of CO2 eq per m3/year that has been recorded for the entire operation of the system. The other pollutants involved the emission of NOx and Sox, which were considered to be insignificant. However, if the plant continues to operate completely on fossil fuel for the next 25 years, the emission is expected to affect the health of the community.ConclusionsSeveral factors that influence important errors in carbon footprint decisions such as the lack of EIA reporting data and the literature on carbon footprint in the Malaysian scenario. The total dependency of electrical source for SWRO process of fossil fuel is the most critical factor in the carbon footprint issue in this study. These findings can be used to develop a carbon footprint model that can commercialise carbon tax, carbon economy capital, energy security assurance, and standard carbon regulation and legislation in the context of local desalination projects.

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“…These two renewable energy resources along with the skilled workforce of WA could assist in the implementation of the renewable hydrogen projects in the state. Wind electricity is, however, more feasible in WA near the coastline area due to the availability of more wind resources [43,44]. Hydrogen plant location for the current study was also considered to be near the shoreline of the sea.…”

Section: Scenario Analysis Using Wind-energy-based Hydrogen Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability Implications of Using Hydrogen as an Automotive Fuel in Western Australia

Hoque¹,

Biswas²,

Mazhar³

et al. 2020

JEPT

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Hydrogen is regarded as a potential solution to address future energy demands and environmental protection challenges. This study assesses the triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability performance of hydrogen as an automotive fuel for Western Australia (WA) using a life cycle approach. Hydrogen is considered to be produced through water electrolysis. Two scenarios, current grid electricity and future renewable-based hydrogen, were compared with gasoline as a base case. The results show that locally produced grid electricity-based hydrogen is good for local jobs but exhibits higher environmental impacts and negative economic benefits for consumers when compared to gasoline. After incorporating windgenerated electricity, reductions of around 69% and 65% in global warming potential (GWP) and fossil fuel depletion (FFD), respectively were achieved compared to the base case gasoline. The land utilization for the production of hydrogen is not a problem as Western Australia has plenty of land to accommodate renewable energy projects. Water for hydrogen feedstock could be sourced through seawater desalination or from wastewater treatment

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Improving the carbon footprint of water treatment with renewable energy: a Western Australian case study

Cited by 25 publications

References 20 publications

Carbon footprint assessment of Western Australian Groundwater Recycling Scheme

Carbon footprint assessment of Western Australian Groundwater Recycling Scheme

Potential Reduction of Carbon Burden for Senak Seawater Desalination Plant in Malaysia

Sustainability Implications of Using Hydrogen as an Automotive Fuel in Western Australia

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