The use of primary energy factors and CO2 intensities for electricity in the European context - A systematic methodological review and critical evaluation of the contemporary literature

Hamels, Sam; Himpe, Eline; Laverge, Jelle; Delghust, Marc; Brande, Kjartan Van den; Janssens, Arnold; Albrecht, Johan

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2021.111182

Cited by 24 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 135 publications

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“…On the contrary to that, it yielded CO 2 production increase, considering the CHP only. This further documents the need to evaluate the environmental impact of repowering activities very carefully and to consider more evaluation alternatives whenever possible, which is in line with recommendations formulated in [102].…”

Section: Repowering Results: Energetic and Environmental Evaluationsupporting

confidence: 70%

“…To quantify the environmental impact of such an action, power production emission factors are used [14,100], expressing the released carbon dioxide emissions (or emissions of several important greenhouse gases recalculated to CO 2 equivalent) per unit of produced electricity [101]. While this concept is clear, there is a lively debate on its proper application to find a unified approach to this emission factor estimation [102]. Several researchers use a single average country-related value while others incorporate power import and export and yet others recommend using marginal factors [103] that might vary seasonally as well as during a single day depending on the actual balance of the grid [104].…”

Section: Energetic and Environmental Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Repowering Industrial Combined Heat and Power Units: a Contribution to Cleaner Energy Production

Variny¹,

Kšiňanová²

2022

Pol. J. Environ. Stud.

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Repowering of industrial combined heat and power units allows reducing industrial greenhouse gases emissions. An existing industrial unit served as model in the gas turbines-based repowering study, aiming at fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions reduction. Following unit's model setup and verification, two conservative repowering options (hot windbox and separate gas turbine + heat recovery steam generator) were assessed from economic, energetic, and environmental point of view, including seasonal impact. Hot windbox option leads to annual power production increase by 14.3% (72.8 GWh/year), accompanied by carbon dioxide emissions reduction by 3.9 % (29.5 ktons/year) compared to the base case. The second option delivered more significant power production increase (+261.9 to +298.6 GWh/year) with CO 2 emissions, either slightly higher (+1.5 %) or modestly lower (-4.0%), than in base case depending on heat recovery efficiency from gas turbine exhaust. Both options show feasible economics with simple payback period as low as four years under favorable combination of fuel and electricity prices and CO 2 costs. External CO 2 emissions change due to the change in unit's power production further reduces the total CO 2 emissions, strongly depending on the applied power production emission factor.

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Section: Repowering Results: Energetic and Environmental Evaluationsupporting

confidence: 70%

Section: Energetic and Environmental Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repowering Industrial Combined Heat and Power Units: a Contribution to Cleaner Energy Production

Variny¹,

Kšiňanová²

2022

Pol. J. Environ. Stud.

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“…Making the operation of an ASU more efficient thus means cutting down its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions are considered as the most relevant ones in this regard and a lively debate on the correct attitude towards calculation and evaluation of its emission factors is in progress [49,50]. It is generally agreed that marginal emission factors (MEF) should better represent the real impact of power consumption change on the related CO2 emissions [51,52].…”

Section: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Attributable To Asu Operationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, recent studies employing the MEF always relate them to a specific period and country [52,59], thus requiring reliable structural data about power sources and transmission system operation [60]. A recent extensive review by Hamels et al [49] evaluating over 100 related studies revealed both the absence of a unified approach to the estimation of GHG emissions related to power production and consumption and the significant variability of individual emission factors.…”

Section: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Attributable To Asu Operationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cutting Oxygen Production-Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Improved Compression Heat Management in a Cryogenic Air Separation Unit

Variny

Jediná

Rimár

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Oxygen production in cryogenic air separation units is related to a significant carbon footprint and its supply in the medicinal sphere became critical during the recent COVID-19 crisis. An improved unit design was proposed, utilizing a part of waste heat produced during air pre-cooling and intercooling via absorption coolers, to reduce power consumption. Variable ambient air humidity impact on compressed air dryers’ regeneration was also considered. A steady-state process simulation of a model 500 t h−1 inlet cryogenic air separation unit was performed in Aspen Plus® V11. Comparison of a model without and with absorption coolers yielded an achievable reduction in power consumption for air compression and air dryer regeneration by 6 to 9% (23 to 33 GWh year−1) and a favorable simple payback period of 4 to 10 years, both depending on air pressure loss in additional heat exchangers to be installed. The resulting specific oxygen production decrease amounted to EUR 2–4.2 t−1. Emissions of major gaseous pollutants from power production were both calculated by an in-house developed thermal power plant model and adopted from literature. A power consumption cut was translated into the following annual greenhouse gas emission reduction: CO2 16 to 30 kilotons, CO 0.3 to 2.3 tons, SOx 4.7 to 187 tons and NOx 11 to 56 tons, depending on applied fossil fuel-based emission factors. Considering a more renewable energy sources-containing energy mix, annual greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 50 to over 80%, varying for individual pollutants.

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“…Decarbonising the power sector plays a key role in Europe's ambition to be the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 [1,2]. For the required reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the electricity system, it is crucial to make detailed and transparent emission data available to consumers, regulators, and other stakeholders [3]. Regulators, for instance, need to keep track of the average emission intensity of the electricity mix in their domain to monitor the fulfillment of given climate targets.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Open-data based carbon emission intensity signals for electricity generation in European countries -- top down vs. bottom up approach

Unnewehr¹,

Weidlich²,

Leonhard³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Dynamic grid emission factors provide a temporally resolved signal about the carbon intensity of electricity generation in the power system. Since actual carbon dioxide emission measurements are usually lacking, such a signal has to be derived from systemspecific emission factors combined with power generation time series. We present a bottom-up method which allows deriving per country and per technology emission factors for European countries based on power generation time series and reported emissions from the European emissions trading mechanism. The resulting values for historical per country carbon intensity of electricity generation are compared with corresponding results from a top-down approach, which uses statistical data on emissions and power generation on national scales. All calculations are based on publicly available data, so that the analysis is transparent and the method can be replicated, adjusted and expanded in a flexible way.

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The use of primary energy factors and CO2 intensities for electricity in the European context - A systematic methodological review and critical evaluation of the contemporary literature

Cited by 24 publications

References 135 publications

Repowering Industrial Combined Heat and Power Units: a Contribution to Cleaner Energy Production

Repowering Industrial Combined Heat and Power Units: a Contribution to Cleaner Energy Production

Cutting Oxygen Production-Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Improved Compression Heat Management in a Cryogenic Air Separation Unit

Open-data based carbon emission intensity signals for electricity generation in European countries -- top down vs. bottom up approach

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