The transition to a circular economy is a current key topic, which sets the objective of producing and consuming goods in a more efficient and sustainable way. The improvement of the efficiency and environmental performance of energy-related products assumes a crucial role in this new scenario, in which the increase of renewable energy production and the reduction of wastes and CO2 emissions are the main goals. In this perspective, the present paper aims at assessing the carbon and energy footprint of an energy process, in which the energy excess from intermittent renewable sources is used to produce hydrogen which reacts with the CO2 previously separated from an innovative biogas upgrading process. The process produces biomethane from the biogas enrichment and synthetic methane from the CO2 methanation. Data from an experimental setup were analyzed in order to provide an evaluation of the GHG emission and the energy consumption associated to the two sections of the process. The quantification of the Carbon and the Energy footprint, associated to the process, and a detailed discussion of the outputs is presented together with a comparison of the environmental performance of similar processes.
Carbon and energy footprint of the hydrate-based biogas upgrading process integrated with CO2 valorization
CASTELLANI, BEATRICE;RINALDI, SARA;BONAMENTE, EMANUELE;NICOLINI, ANDREA;ROSSI, Federico;COTANA, Franco
2017
Abstract
The transition to a circular economy is a current key topic, which sets the objective of producing and consuming goods in a more efficient and sustainable way. The improvement of the efficiency and environmental performance of energy-related products assumes a crucial role in this new scenario, in which the increase of renewable energy production and the reduction of wastes and CO2 emissions are the main goals. In this perspective, the present paper aims at assessing the carbon and energy footprint of an energy process, in which the energy excess from intermittent renewable sources is used to produce hydrogen which reacts with the CO2 previously separated from an innovative biogas upgrading process. The process produces biomethane from the biogas enrichment and synthetic methane from the CO2 methanation. Data from an experimental setup were analyzed in order to provide an evaluation of the GHG emission and the energy consumption associated to the two sections of the process. The quantification of the Carbon and the Energy footprint, associated to the process, and a detailed discussion of the outputs is presented together with a comparison of the environmental performance of similar processes.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
