Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Waste Coal and Biomass/Torrefied Biomass Co-Fired Power Plant With Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies

Climate change is currently one of the prominent worldwide issues that has garnered significant attention. The primary sources of fuel for generating utility-scale electricity in the US include coal, natural gas, petroleum, and other gases. Global warming arises from the extensive release of greenhouse gases, specifically CO₂, from the burning of fossil fuels. Nonetheless, the rapid expansion of biomass-based heat and electricity generation is contributing significantly to the attainment of the goal of zero carbon emissions, mostly because of their reduced carbon footprint. In this study, the life cycle impact assessment (LCA) of the 100 MW subcritical pulverized coal-fired power plants that utilize anthracite waste coal and loblolly pine biomass/torrefied biomass as the power plant feedstocks have been assessed with and without the implementation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology considering the corresponding material, energy, and transportation inputs and outputs. The findings demonstrate that as the biomass fraction in the power plant feed increases, the global warming potential (GWP) decreases, and an addition of CCS further reduces GWP. Moreover, it is observed that the acidification potential, particulate matter formation potential, and ozone depletion potential typically exhibit a diminishing trend with the increment of the biomass/torrefied biomass ratio in co-fired power plants. However, the eutrophication potential and photochemical smog formation potential show an escalated value in waste coal and torrefied biomass co-firing cases. Nonetheless, the water consumption of waste coal and biomass/torrefied biomass co-fired power plants escalates as the ratio of biomass/torrefied biomass increases, and the integration of CCS further increases the water consumption potential.