TY - JOUR
T1 - Reducing life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of corn ethanol by integrating biomass to produce heat and power at ethanol plants
AU - Kaliyan, Nalladurai
AU - Morey, R. Vance
AU - Tiffany, Douglas G.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2011/3
Y1 - 2011/3
N2 - A life-cycle assessment (LCA) of corn ethanol was conducted to determine the reduction in the life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for corn ethanol compared to gasoline by integrating biomass fuels to replace fossil fuels (natural gas and grid electricity) in a U.S. Midwest dry-grind corn ethanol plant producing 0.19 hm3 y-1 of denatured ethanol. The biomass fuels studied are corn stover and ethanol co-products [dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), and syrup (solubles portion of DDGS)]. The biomass conversion technologies/systems considered are process heat (PH) only systems, combined heat and power (CHP) systems, and biomass integrated gasification combined cycle (BIGCC) systems. The life-cycle GHG emission reduction for corn ethanol compared to gasoline is 38.9% for PH with natural gas, 57.7% for PH with corn stover, 79.1% for CHP with corn stover, 78.2% for IGCC with natural gas, 119.0% for BIGCC with corn stover, and 111.4% for BIGCC with syrup and stover. These GHG emission estimates do not include indirect land use change effects. GHG emission reductions for CHP, IGCC, and BIGCC include power sent to the grid which replaces electricity from coal. BIGCC results in greater reductions in GHG emissions than IGCC with natural gas because biomass is substituted for fossil fuels. In addition, underground sequestration of CO2 gas from the ethanol plant's fermentation tank could further reduce the life-cycle GHG emission for corn ethanol by 32% compared to gasoline.
AB - A life-cycle assessment (LCA) of corn ethanol was conducted to determine the reduction in the life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for corn ethanol compared to gasoline by integrating biomass fuels to replace fossil fuels (natural gas and grid electricity) in a U.S. Midwest dry-grind corn ethanol plant producing 0.19 hm3 y-1 of denatured ethanol. The biomass fuels studied are corn stover and ethanol co-products [dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), and syrup (solubles portion of DDGS)]. The biomass conversion technologies/systems considered are process heat (PH) only systems, combined heat and power (CHP) systems, and biomass integrated gasification combined cycle (BIGCC) systems. The life-cycle GHG emission reduction for corn ethanol compared to gasoline is 38.9% for PH with natural gas, 57.7% for PH with corn stover, 79.1% for CHP with corn stover, 78.2% for IGCC with natural gas, 119.0% for BIGCC with corn stover, and 111.4% for BIGCC with syrup and stover. These GHG emission estimates do not include indirect land use change effects. GHG emission reductions for CHP, IGCC, and BIGCC include power sent to the grid which replaces electricity from coal. BIGCC results in greater reductions in GHG emissions than IGCC with natural gas because biomass is substituted for fossil fuels. In addition, underground sequestration of CO2 gas from the ethanol plant's fermentation tank could further reduce the life-cycle GHG emission for corn ethanol by 32% compared to gasoline.
KW - Combined heat and power
KW - Corn ethanol
KW - Corn stover
KW - Greenhouse gas emissions
KW - Life cycle assessment
KW - Zea mays
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79451474737&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79451474737&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.biombioe.2010.11.035
DO - 10.1016/j.biombioe.2010.11.035
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79451474737
SN - 0961-9534
VL - 35
SP - 1103
EP - 1113
JO - Biomass and Bioenergy
JF - Biomass and Bioenergy
IS - 3
ER -
