Net environmental impacts of low-share wood pellet co-combustion in an existing coal-fired CHP (combined heat and power) production in Helsinki, Finland

Judl, Jáchym; Koskela, Sirkka; Korpela, Timo; Karvosenoja, Niko; Häyrinen, Anna; Rantsi, Jari

doi:10.1016/j.energy.2014.09.068

Cited by 23 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…/  (1) Where the emergy sustainability index is a ratio between the emergy yield ratio, EYR, and the environmental loading ratio, ELR; see Eq. (2) and Eq.…”

Section: Elr Eyr Esimentioning

confidence: 99%

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Methodologies Used for Scaling-up From a Single Energy Production Unit to State Energy Sector

Cimdiņa

Timma

Veidenbergs

et al. 2015

Environmental and Climate Technologies

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In a well-functioning and sustainable national energy sector, each of its elements should function with maximum efficiency. To ensure maximum efficiency and study possible improvement of the sector, a scaling-up framework is presented in this work. The scaling-up framework means that the starting point is a CHP unit and its operation, the next step of aggregation is in a district heating network, followed by a municipal energy plan and finally leading to a low carbon strategy. In this framework the authors argue, that the successful, innovative practices developed and tested at the lower level of aggregation can be then transferred to the upper levels of aggregation, thus leading to a scaling-up effect of innovative practices. The work summarizes 12 methodologies used in the energy sector, by dividing these methodologies among the levels of aggregation in a scaling-up framework.Environmental and Climate Technologies ____________________________________________________________________________ 2015 / 15 6 electricity can be held together, but also because fuel savings can be achieved and therefore more an efficient overall conversion process is possible.Çakir et al. [9] estimate that fuel savings via a cogeneration regime can reach 50 %. Since CHP plants and biofuel production require the same feedstock, Leduc et al. [10] investigated whether the use of biomass should be supported in the EU. The results showed that the CHP plants are preferred over biofuel production plants in cases when carbon costs more than 50 EUR per tCO2 and the support for biofuel is below 10 EUR per GJ. Moreover, the highest potential for both biofuel and CHP was found in the countries around the Baltic Sea, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. The sustainable development of biomass CHP plants in Latvia was studied by Cimdina et al. [11].Nevertheless the installation of CHP and the conversion of energy production units to renewables are not enough. In sustainable energy production systems, the analysis of operational performance is vital. The literature review traces a wide range of factors affecting the performance of the cogeneration power plant. Cimdina et al. [12] determines the essential factors of the operation performance in biomass cogeneration power by presenting quantitative equations.Biomass CHP can be assessed using various indicators such as efficiency [13], primary energy savings [14], emergy efficiency [10], internal rate of return (IRR) and net present value (NPV) [15], as well as the costs of heat and power production [16]. Nevertheless, traditionally applied assessment methods of energy and mass flows and economic analysis do not provide an integral assessment. In this case another methodology should be applied. Emergy and exergy analysis could serve as such an integral assessment method [17].Exergy is defined as the maximal useful work obtained from a system while the system interacts with environment. Nowadays energy and exergy analyses are done for power plants [18] and for various energy technologies, such as i...

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“…/  (1) Where the emergy sustainability index is a ratio between the emergy yield ratio, EYR, and the environmental loading ratio, ELR; see Eq. (2) and Eq.…”

Section: Elr Eyr Esimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the ways to use energy production units in a sustainable way in the short term is to substitute fossil fuels with biomass [1]. Currently, bio-energy usage in the world makes only around 10 % of total primary energy supply; therefore the potential to expand use of bioresources is vast [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methodologies Used for Scaling-up From a Single Energy Production Unit to State Energy Sector

Cimdiņa

Timma

Veidenbergs

et al. 2015

Environmental and Climate Technologies

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“…Actually, at present the ReCiPe Midpoint method in our field, apart from the already mentioned Ref. [17], has been mainly adopted for the evaluation of the environmental impact of big pelletisation plants [28,29] or of large scale CHP plants [30] so that our results are among the first results of application of this method on residential pellet boilers. In addition, our input data not only come from literature (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Life cycle analysis of small scale pellet boilers characterized by high efficiency and low emissions

et al. 2015

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“…However, some aspects of the wood pellet industry bring challenges as regards environmental issues. Despite the advantages of wood pellet use in CHP plants, Judl et al [35] note possible negative impacts on air quality due to the required truck transportation of the wood pellets. Presenting a sustainability impact assessment on the production and use of different wood and fossil fuels in North Karelia, Finland, Den Herder et al [37] conclude that pellet production and combustion cause more GHG emissions (about 470 kg CO 2 eq./MWh) than the production of other solid biofuels such as wood chips and firewood (about 420 kg CO 2 eq./MWh).…”

Section: Environmental Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Describing Finnish wood pellet markets, Selkimäki et al [34] concluded that Finland has significant scope not only to increase production, but also to increase consumption. Judl et al [35] studied the issue of wood pellet use replacing fossil fuels in combined heat and power (CHP) and heat production in Helsinki. Their study concluded that burning wood pellets with coal, even with a low share (7%), could be a step forward in reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from energy generation in the city of Helsinki.…”

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A survey analysis of the wood pellet industry in Finland: Future perspectives

Proskurina

Alakangas

Heinimö

et al. 2017

Energy

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Finland has the greatest forest cover of western European countries and thus considerable raw material potential for wood pellet market development. Wood pellet production and consumption volumes in the country have increased steadily during the last decades. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the current status of the Finnish wood pellet business and discuss the main opportunities and challenges facing future development of the industry. The paper collects and revises data on the Finnish wood pellet market based on the results of a survey of nearly 60 wood pellet experts. The results show that neglect of policy support and a lack of suitable regulation are the key factors inhibiting Finnish wood pellet industry development. Currently, wood pellets are not economically competitive with other fuels. However, Finnish wood pellet markets seem promising if challenges such as high raw material costs and competitiveness with other fuels, especially for household users, are addressed. The country has the potential to become a more important producer and consumer on European wood pellet markets if effective policy support and a suitable regulatory framework are formulated.Keyword: Pellets; market; Finland; bioenergy; power energy; biomass IntroductionGrowing demand for CO 2 -free energy, concerns around environmental sustainability, and a desire to decrease dependence on fossil fuels are increasing the role of biomass in energy production. Finland is one of the leading countries in the European Union (EU) in terms of bioenergy utilization and, primarily due to the large share of biomass-based energy in the energy mix, Finland reached a 39% share of renewable energy in final energy consumption in 2014 [1]. The country has plans of reaching 100% renewables by 2050 [2]. Achieving this target is not easy and requires efficient technologies, especially for bioenergy, as this form of energy will likely provide the backbone of energy for transport. Discussing a 100% renewable energy economy, Mathiesen et al.[3] present a Smart Energy Systems concept that may provide a more feasible energy economy structure and enable more sustainable use of bioenergy than current approaches. For Denmark, for example, an overall energy system analysis of a 100% renewable energy system and an energy economy model based on linear programming for the optimal sizing of 100% renewable supply systems are presented by Lund and Mathiesen [4] and Milan et al. [5] respectively. 100% renewable energy system scenarios have also been presented for Japan [6], Macedonia [7] and Portugal [8]. Describing existing studies on 100% renewable energy systems, Olabi [9] concluded that despite major progress in the field, more research and development are required if te aim of 100% renewable energy by 2050 is to be achieved. Bioenergy will clearly play an important role in many EU countries, including Finland, in any 100% renewable energy future. Biomass is a variable and complex material with considerable challenges when used directly, i.e. i...

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Net environmental impacts of low-share wood pellet co-combustion in an existing coal-fired CHP (combined heat and power) production in Helsinki, Finland

Cited by 23 publications

References 31 publications

Methodologies Used for Scaling-up From a Single Energy Production Unit to State Energy Sector

Methodologies Used for Scaling-up From a Single Energy Production Unit to State Energy Sector

Life cycle analysis of small scale pellet boilers characterized by high efficiency and low emissions

A survey analysis of the wood pellet industry in Finland: Future perspectives

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