This report discusses the development of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions estimates for the production of Fischer-Tropsch (FT) derived fuels (in particular, FT diesel), makes comparisons of these estimates to reported literature values for petroleum-derived diesel, and outlines strategies for substantially reducing these emissions. This report is the product of the first phase of a comprehensive assessment being conducted by Energy and Environmental Solutions (E2S), LLC, for the National Energy Technology Center (NETL) to characterize the impact, both short and long term, of FT fuel production on the environment and on human health and well-being. This study involved the development of GHG inventories for a number of conceptual FT process designs. It also included the development of preliminary estimates for criteria pollutant emissions. The next phase of this assessment will address life-cycle improvements for FT fuels by targeting specific process changes aimed at reducing GHG emissions. Preliminary results have identified promising reduction strategies and these estimates have been included in this document. Future research will be focused on expanding the current emissions inventory to include a broader range of multimedia emissions of interest to NETL programs, and on performing economic analyses corresponding to the new low-emission FT process designs developed.
lca
A series of life cycle assessments (LCA) have been conducted on biomass, coal, and natural gas systems in order to quantify the environmental benefits and drawbacks of each. The power generation options that were studied are: (1) a biomass-fired integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) system using a biomass energy crop, (2) a direct-fired biomass power plant using biomass residue, (3) a pulverized coal (PC) boiler representing an average U.S. coal-fired power plant, (4) a system cofiring biomass residue with coal, and (5) a natural gas combined cycle power plant.
Electric power production from biomass has the potential to make significant contributions to the power mix in the U.S., and to do so with substantially fewer environmental impacts than current technologies. Using dedicated energy crops for power production will significantly close the carbon cycle, reduce and stabilize feedstock costs, increase the feasible size of biomass power plants, and provide economic benefits to agricultural communities.
Coal has the largest share of utility power generation in the U.S., accounting for approximately 56% of all utility-produced electricity (U.S. DOE, 1998). Therefore, understanding the environmental implications of producing electricity from coal is an important component of any plan to reduce total emissions and resource consumption.
Biodiesel is a renewable diesel fuel substitute. It can be made from a variety of natural oils and fats. Biodiesel is made by chemically combining any natural oil or fat with an alcohol such as methanol or ethanol. Methanol has been the most commonly used alcohol in the commercial production of biodiesel. In Europe, biodiesel is widely available in both its neat form (100% biodiesel, also know as B100) and in blends with petroleum diesel. European biodiesel is made predominantly from rapeseed oil (a cousin of canola oil). In the U.S., initial interest in producing and using biodiesel has focused on the use of soybean oil as the primary feedstock mainly because the U.S. is the largest producer of soybean oil in the world.