Environmental and economic evaluation of bioenergy in Ontario, Canada
- University of Toronto, Toronto, ON (Canada)
We examined life cycle environmental and economic implications of two near-term scenarios for converting cellulosic biomass to energy, generating electricity from cofiring biomass in existing coal power plants, and producing ethanol from biomass in stand-alone facilities in Ontario, Canada. The study inventories near-term biomass supply in the province, quantifies environmental metrics associated with the use of agricultural residues for producing electricity and ethanol, determines the incremental costs of switching from fossil fuels to biomass, and compares the cost-effectiveness of greenhouse gas (GHG) and air pollutant emissions abatement achieved through the use of the bioenergy. Implementing a biomass cofiring rate of 10% in existing coal-fired power plants would reduce annual GHG emissions by 2.3 million metric tons (t) of CO{sub 2} equivalent (7% of the province's coal power plant emissions). The substitution of gasoline with ethanol/gasoline blends would reduce annual provincial light-duty vehicle fleet emissions between 1.3 and 2.5 million t of CO{sub 2} equivalent (3.5-7% of fleet emissions). If biomass sources other than agricultural residues were used, additional emissions reductions could be realized. At current crude oil prices ($70/barrel) and levels of technology development of the bioenergy alternatives, the biomass electricity cofiring scenario analyzed is more cost-effective for mitigating GHG emissions ($$22/t of CO{sub 2} equivalent for a 10% cofiring rate) than the stand-alone ethanol production scenario ($$92/t of CO{sub 2} equivalent). 67 refs., 5 figs., 7 tabs.
- OSTI ID:
- 20939553
- Journal Information:
- Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association, Vol. 57, Issue 8; Other Information: hmaclean@ecf.utoronto.ca; ISSN 1047-3289
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
09 BIOMASS FUELS
CANADA
ONTARIO
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
CELLULOSE
BIOMASS
COCOMBUSTION
COAL
ETHANOL
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
ORGANIC WASTES
AGRICULTURE
FUEL SUBSTITUTION
COST
CARBON DIOXIDE
EMISSION
MITIGATION
GASOLINE
GREENHOUSE GASES
PRICES
PETROLEUM
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
POWER GENERATION
WOOD WASTES
TRANSPORTATION SECTOR
DOMESTIC SUPPLIES
PLANTS
AUTOMOTIVE FUELS