Paper details

Title:

Determination of Carbon Footprint for Thermal Use of Corn Waste

Author(s):

Miranda, M.T., Romero, P., Sepulveda, F.J., Arranz, J.I., Montero, I., García, R.

Document(s):

Abstract:

Circular economy is a production and consumption model that involves minimizing waste in order to combat global warming. Use of renewable sources is of special interest to contribute to this model and techniques such as Life Cycle Analysis provide information to assess the impacts of which this type of energy is not exempt. This work presents an environmental study on the production and use of pellets from biomass residues of corn cultivation, considering from growth in the field to ash disposal after combustion (3 subsystems: corn production, pre-treatment and densification and domestic consumption). Different methodologies are applied for the assessment. First, the LCA methodology CML-baseline is applied to obtain the global warming potential of whole process. Next, Carbon Footprint (CFP) is calculated for each of the subsystems using Greenhouse Gas Protocol and, finally, the amount of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emitted directly and indirectly to the atmosphere is obtained by applying three levels associated with the concept of scope. The results obtained show that 0.871 kg of carbon dioxide are emitted into the atmosphere to produce 1 kWh of thermal energy, with the second subsystem contributing the most to the balance.

Keywords:

biomass, corn, greenhouse gases (GHG), circular economy, carbon dioxide (CO₂), life cycle assessment (LCA)

Topic:

Sustainable Bioeconomy: Impacts and Policies

Subtopic:

Climate Impacts and GHG Performance

Event:

29th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

Session:

4AV.5.9

Pages:

1204 - 1212

ISBN:

978-88-89407-21-9

Paper DOI:

10.5071/29thEUBCE2021-4AV.5.9

Price:

FREE