Urban Pruning Waste: Carbon Footprint Associated With Energy Generation and Prospects for Clean Development Mechanisms

Abstract

Modern society experiences a progressive transition towards less harmful environmental behavior to foster sustainability. This study evaluated the carbon footprint associated with three types of urban pruning waste disposal: sanitary landfill (usual destination), generation of electricity, and generation of heat. A study case was carried out in the municipality of João Pessoa, Northeast Brazil. The Life Cycle Assessment methodology was applied to the material and energy inputs associated with each urban pruning waste disposal scenario, and the impact evaluation method selected was IPCC 2013 GWP 100y, which expresses environmental impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. From the analyses carried out herein, it was concluded that the current practice (sanitary landfilling) presented the highest carbon footprint within the studied scenarios. The best scenario was the utilization of urban pruning waste for the generation of electricity, which presented a negative carbon footprint (avoided emissions).

Energy, exergy and exergoenvironmental analyses of a sugarcane bagasse power cogeneration system

“…There are important missed opportunities for the generation of energy from urban pruning waste, as reported by Araújo et al [5] . Significant environmental advantages were obtained when bioelectricity was generated, with possibilities for implementation of clean development mechanisms [6] . Coconut husk residues proved to be a technically and socially viable solution to produce electricity and fresh water for a small municipality [7] .…”

Life-Cycle Assessment of the Use of Peach Pruning Residues for Electricity Generation

“…In terms of environmental aspects, the life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a very popular method of process evaluation in the agriculture sector [22][23][24][25][26][27][28] as well as in the energy sector. For instance, applying LCA analysis, Carvalho et al [7] showed that the electricity generation using urban pruning waste from the municipality resulted in a much lower carbon footprint than their disposal at landfill site (without methane management) or incineration for heat generation. Perilhon et al [29] performed LCA analysis comparing the electricity generation from biomass in 2 MW and 10 MW boilers, using an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) plant and steam plant, respectively.…”

“…It is important to ensure that the biomass is used locally, in other words to minimize activities related to long-distance transportation (increased environmental impacts) and long-term storage (risk of biomass losses). Moreover, the local use of biomass is in line with the sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas [4][5][6][7], although many aspects must be considered with due care. These aspects may be the harvesting yield of biomass waste and its dispersion, the method of the harvesting process and transportation management, the distance between the place of acquisition and their utilization, the utilization method, as well as the impact of the removed biomass share on the yield of food products [8,9].…”

Produção científica sobre resíduos de poda urbana: uma análise cienciométrica

“…De acordo com a Secretaria Nacional de Saneamento Ambiental do Brasil, os resíduos de poda urbana representam de 7 a 10% do volume total dos resíduos sólidos, um destino comum a esse tipo de material é a disposição em aterros sanitários ou lixões (SNSA, 2016;Vale et al, 2016). O transporte desse tipo de material costuma ser feito em caminhões específicos, separados da coleta de lixo doméstico, o que pode acarretar em altos custos, além disso, essa destinação é um desperdício do potencial de energético e da matéria orgânica das podas (Carvalho et al, 2019).…”