Life Cycle Analysis of Coal Exports from the Powder River Basin

Technical Report · Thu Aug 04 04:00:00 EDT 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1576781· OSTI ID:1576781

Skone, Timothy J. ^[1]; Cooney, Greg ^[2]; Marriott, Joe ^[2]; Mutchek, Michele ^[2]; Krynock, Michelle ^[2]

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1. National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Morgantown, WV (United States)
2. Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, VA (United States)

This study seeks to evaluate and understand potential environmental consequences of exporting Powder River Basin (PRB) coal compared to global alternative sources of coal. Some of the questions that arise in regards to environmental impacts of PRB exports to Asia include the following. (1) Which stages of the life cycle (e.g., mining, transport, power plant combustion) contribute the most to environmental impacts? (2) How do environmental impacts at each stage differ between the PRB and competing countries? (3) Do environmental impacts differ substantially based on the importing country? (4) Is there a definitive difference between the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) profiles between sourcing coal from the U.S. (PRB), Australia, or Indonesia for Japan, South Korea, or Taiwan?

• Research Organization: National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
• DOE Contract Number: FE0025912; FE0004001
• OSTI ID: 1576781
• Report Number(s): DOE/NETL--2016/1806
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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