Life cycle assessment of pulverized coal power plants with CO2 post-combustion capture, transport and storage

CAU, GIORGIO;CIPOLLONE R;COCCO, DANIELE;GIOVANNANGELO V.

2009-01-01

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Abstract

In this study, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach has been adopted to evaluate the main global impacts of three pulverized coal fired electricity supply chains with and without CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS), taking into account the overall primary energy consumption and environmental emissions. The CCS system considered in this study is based on CO2 post-combustion capture with monoethanolamine, followed by CO2 compression, transport by pipeline and storage in a geological reservoir. The EDIP (Environmental Design of Industrial Products) methodology implemented in a update database (DELCA – Development of EDIP program for Life Cycle Assessment) has been utilized to evaluate and compare the main global impacts of different systems. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis varying the main systems parameters has been conducted, to define their influence in the environmental performance of each energy chain. The LCA study demonstrates that the presence of the CCS system leads to an increase in primary energy and raw materials consumption and in atmospheric acidification, due to the presence of the auxiliary infrastructures and to the reduction in net generating plant efficiency. However, the LCA results show that the greenhouse gas emissions per kWh are reduced by about 70%, thanks to CCS systems.