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Title: Comparative life-cycle air emissions of coal, domestic natural gas, LNG, and SNG for electricity generation

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that in the coming decades the United States' natural gas (NG) demand for electricity generation will increase. Estimates also suggest that NG supply will increasingly come from imported liquefied natural gas (LNG). Additional supplies of NG could come domestically from the production of synthetic natural gas (SNG) via coal gasification-methanation. The objective of this study is to compare greenhouse gas (GHG), SOx, and NOx life-cycle emissions of electricity generated with NG/LNG/SNG and coal. This life-cycle comparison of air emissions from different fuels can help us better understand the advantages and disadvantages of using coal versus globally sourced NG for electricity generation. Our estimates suggest that with the current fleet of power plants, a mix of domestic NG, LNG, and SNG would have lower GHG emissions than coal. If advanced technologies with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) are used, however, coal and a mix of domestic NG, LNG, and SNG would have very similar life-cycle GHG emissions. For SOx and NOx we find there are significant emissions in the upstream stages of the NG/LNG life-cycles, which contribute to a larger range in SOx and NOx emissions for NG/LNG than for coal and SNG. 38more » refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs.« less

Authors:
; ;  [1]
  1. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
20961483
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Environmental Science and Technology
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 41; Journal Issue: 17; Other Information: pjaramil@andrew.cmu.edu; Journal ID: ISSN 0013-936X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS; NATURAL GAS; COAL; COAL GASIFICATION; POWER GENERATION; GREENHOUSE GASES; SULFUR OXIDES; NITROGEN OXIDES; EMISSION; LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT; AIR POLLUTION ABATEMENT; LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS; SYNTHESIS GAS; COAL GAS

Citation Formats

Jaramillo, Paulina, Griffin, W Michael, and Matthews, H Scott. Comparative life-cycle air emissions of coal, domestic natural gas, LNG, and SNG for electricity generation. United States: N. p., 2007. Web. doi:10.1021/es063031o.
Jaramillo, Paulina, Griffin, W Michael, & Matthews, H Scott. Comparative life-cycle air emissions of coal, domestic natural gas, LNG, and SNG for electricity generation. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/es063031o
Jaramillo, Paulina, Griffin, W Michael, and Matthews, H Scott. 2007. "Comparative life-cycle air emissions of coal, domestic natural gas, LNG, and SNG for electricity generation". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/es063031o.
@article{osti_20961483,
title = {Comparative life-cycle air emissions of coal, domestic natural gas, LNG, and SNG for electricity generation},
author = {Jaramillo, Paulina and Griffin, W Michael and Matthews, H Scott},
abstractNote = {The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that in the coming decades the United States' natural gas (NG) demand for electricity generation will increase. Estimates also suggest that NG supply will increasingly come from imported liquefied natural gas (LNG). Additional supplies of NG could come domestically from the production of synthetic natural gas (SNG) via coal gasification-methanation. The objective of this study is to compare greenhouse gas (GHG), SOx, and NOx life-cycle emissions of electricity generated with NG/LNG/SNG and coal. This life-cycle comparison of air emissions from different fuels can help us better understand the advantages and disadvantages of using coal versus globally sourced NG for electricity generation. Our estimates suggest that with the current fleet of power plants, a mix of domestic NG, LNG, and SNG would have lower GHG emissions than coal. If advanced technologies with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) are used, however, coal and a mix of domestic NG, LNG, and SNG would have very similar life-cycle GHG emissions. For SOx and NOx we find there are significant emissions in the upstream stages of the NG/LNG life-cycles, which contribute to a larger range in SOx and NOx emissions for NG/LNG than for coal and SNG. 38 refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs.},
doi = {10.1021/es063031o},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/20961483}, journal = {Environmental Science and Technology},
issn = {0013-936X},
number = 17,
volume = 41,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2007},
month = {Sat Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2007}
}