DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Negative Emission Energy Production Technologies: A Techno‐Economic and Life Cycle Analyses Review

Abstract

Negative emission technologies (NETs) are of growing importance for society to meet the atmospheric carbon levels required to maintain global temperatures under sustainable limits. A wide range of NETs have been proposed, but there are limited NET assessments that integrate life cycle analysis (LCA) and techno‐economic analysis (TEA). This Review gathers NET TEA/LCA findings and compares their costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Eight different NET‐producing transportation fuels and power‐generation technologies are considered: anaerobic digestion (lignocellulosic), fermentation, torrefaction, combustion, fast pyrolysis, gasification, and hydrothermal liquefaction. Most of these technologies sequester carbon either as carbon dioxide or as biochar. Some are carbon negative by virtue of avoided or displaced emissions. Overall, results indicate that NET energy production costs range between $20 and $80 GJ −1 and have emissions from −400 to 100 kg CO 2,eq  GJ −1 . These results suggest that there are potential tradeoffs to consider when developing NETs. These results also show that future TEA/LCA studies of NETs are needed to decrease their uncertainty and improve their technology readiness level.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]
  1. Computational Engineering Division Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 7000 East Avenue Livermore CA 94550 USA
  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering Iowa State University Ames IA 50011 USA, Bioeconomy Institute Iowa State University Ames IA 50011 USA
Publication Date:
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1567916
Resource Type:
Publisher's Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Energy Technology
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Energy Technology Journal Volume: 8 Journal Issue: 11; Journal ID: ISSN 2194-4288
Publisher:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Country of Publication:
Germany
Language:
English

Citation Formats

Li, Wenqin, and Wright, Mark M. Negative Emission Energy Production Technologies: A Techno‐Economic and Life Cycle Analyses Review. Germany: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1002/ente.201900871.
Li, Wenqin, & Wright, Mark M. Negative Emission Energy Production Technologies: A Techno‐Economic and Life Cycle Analyses Review. Germany. https://doi.org/10.1002/ente.201900871
Li, Wenqin, and Wright, Mark M. Tue . "Negative Emission Energy Production Technologies: A Techno‐Economic and Life Cycle Analyses Review". Germany. https://doi.org/10.1002/ente.201900871.
@article{osti_1567916,
title = {Negative Emission Energy Production Technologies: A Techno‐Economic and Life Cycle Analyses Review},
author = {Li, Wenqin and Wright, Mark M.},
abstractNote = {Negative emission technologies (NETs) are of growing importance for society to meet the atmospheric carbon levels required to maintain global temperatures under sustainable limits. A wide range of NETs have been proposed, but there are limited NET assessments that integrate life cycle analysis (LCA) and techno‐economic analysis (TEA). This Review gathers NET TEA/LCA findings and compares their costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Eight different NET‐producing transportation fuels and power‐generation technologies are considered: anaerobic digestion (lignocellulosic), fermentation, torrefaction, combustion, fast pyrolysis, gasification, and hydrothermal liquefaction. Most of these technologies sequester carbon either as carbon dioxide or as biochar. Some are carbon negative by virtue of avoided or displaced emissions. Overall, results indicate that NET energy production costs range between $20 and $80 GJ −1 and have emissions from −400 to 100 kg CO 2,eq  GJ −1 . These results suggest that there are potential tradeoffs to consider when developing NETs. These results also show that future TEA/LCA studies of NETs are needed to decrease their uncertainty and improve their technology readiness level.},
doi = {10.1002/ente.201900871},
journal = {Energy Technology},
number = 11,
volume = 8,
place = {Germany},
year = {Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1002/ente.201900871

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 22 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Techno-economic assessment of the effect of torrefaction on fast pyrolysis of pine: TEA of torrefaction on fast pyrolysis of pine
journal, January 2016

  • Winjobi, Olumide; Shonnard, David R.; Bar-Ziv, Ezra
  • Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, Vol. 10, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1002/bbb.1624

Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Electricity Generation: Systematic Review and Harmonization
journal, March 2012


CO2 capture and storage from a bioethanol plant: Carbon and energy footprint and economic assessment
journal, September 2011


Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycles With Low CO2 Emissions
journal, May 2000

  • Chiesa, Paolo; Consonni, Stefano
  • Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, Vol. 122, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1115/1.1287496

Techno-economic analysis of monosaccharide production via fast pyrolysis of lignocellulose
journal, January 2013


A comparative global assessment of potential negative emissions technologies
journal, November 2012


Screening and techno-economic assessment of biomass-based power generation with CCS technologies to meet 2050 CO2 targets
journal, March 2017


Life cycle assessment of bio-jet fuel from hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae
journal, June 2014


Life cycle assessment comparison of technical solutions for CO2 emissions reduction in power generation
journal, January 2003


Techno-economic and life cycle analysis of a farm-scale anaerobic digestion plant in Iowa
journal, April 2019


CO2 Emission Abatement in IGCC Power Plants by Semiclosed Cycles: Part A—With Oxygen-Blown Combustion
journal, October 1999

  • Chiesa, P.; Lozza, G.
  • Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, Vol. 121, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1115/1.2818519

Electricity generation comparison of food waste-based bioenergy with wind and solar powers: A mini review
journal, September 2016

  • Thi, Ngoc Bao Dung; Lin, Chiu-Yue; Kumar, Gopalakrishnan
  • Sustainable Environment Research, Vol. 26, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.serj.2016.06.001

Life cycle assessment (LCA) of an integrated biomass gasification combined cycle (IBGCC) with CO2 removal
journal, July 2005


Techno-economic analysis of transportation fuels from defatted microalgae via hydrothermal liquefaction and hydroprocessing
journal, January 2015


Techno-economic analysis of a production-scale torrefaction system for cellulosic biomass upgrading
journal, October 2011

  • Shah, Ajay; Darr, Matthew J.; Medic, Dorde
  • Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, Vol. 6, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1002/bbb.336

Techno-Economic Analysis of the Stabilization of Bio-Oil Fractions for Insertion into Petroleum Refineries
journal, December 2016


Biomass-based negative emissions difficult to reconcile with planetary boundaries
journal, January 2018


Regional differences in the economic feasibility of advanced biorefineries: Fast pyrolysis and hydroprocessing
journal, June 2013


Techno-economic uncertainty quantification of algal-derived biocrude via hydrothermal liquefaction
journal, May 2019


A techno-economic review of thermochemical cellulosic biofuel pathways
journal, February 2015


Process intensification of biomass fast pyrolysis through autothermal operation of a fluidized bed reactor
journal, September 2019


From geology to economics: Technico-economic feasibility of a biofuel-CCS system
journal, January 2011


Co-production of synfuels and electricity from coal + biomass with zero net carbon emissions: An Illinois case study
journal, February 2009


A Path Forward for Low Carbon Power from Biomass
journal, February 2015


Negative emissions physically needed to keep global warming below 2 °C
journal, August 2015

  • Gasser, T.; Guivarch, C.; Tachiiri, K.
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 6, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8958

Life cycle comparison of hydrothermal liquefaction and lipid extraction pathways to renewable diesel from algae
journal, June 2012

  • Frank, Edward D.; Elgowainy, Amgad; Han, Jeongwoo
  • Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Vol. 18, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1007/s11027-012-9395-1

Life cycle assessment
journal, July 2004


Life cycle analysis of power cycle configurations in bioenergy with carbon capture and storage
journal, January 2019


Life Cycle Environmental Impacts of Wastewater-Based Algal Biofuels
journal, September 2014

  • Mu, Dongyan; Min, Min; Krohn, Brian
  • Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 48, Issue 19
  • DOI: 10.1021/es5027689

Life cycle analysis of fuel production from fast pyrolysis of biomass
journal, April 2013


Turning carbon dioxide into fuel
journal, July 2010

  • Jiang, Z.; Xiao, T.; Kuznetsov, V. L.
  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 368, Issue 1923
  • DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2010.0119

Field-to-Fuel Performance Testing of Lignocellulosic Feedstocks for Fast Pyrolysis and Upgrading: Techno-economic Analysis and Greenhouse Gas Life Cycle Analysis
journal, October 2016


A review on hydrothermal co-liquefaction of biomass
journal, September 2019


The feasibility of low CO2 concentration targets and the role of bio-energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)
journal, May 2010

  • Azar, Christian; Lindgren, Kristian; Obersteiner, Michael
  • Climatic Change, Vol. 100, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1007/s10584-010-9832-7

Review of fast pyrolysis of biomass and product upgrading
journal, March 2012


Catalysing a political shift from low to negative carbon
journal, August 2017


Techno-economic analysis of polygeneration systems with carbon capture and storage and CO2 reuse
journal, March 2013


Life Cycle Analysis of Energy Production from Food Waste through Anaerobic Digestion, Pyrolysis and Integrated Energy System
journal, October 2017

  • Opatokun, Suraj Adebayo; Lopez-Sabiron, Ana; Ferreira, German
  • Sustainability, Vol. 9, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.3390/su9101804

An assessment of the torrefaction of North American pine and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions
journal, April 2016


Torrefaction of Conservation Reserve Program biomass: A techno-economic evaluation
journal, November 2014


Betting on negative emissions
journal, September 2014

  • Fuss, Sabine; Canadell, Josep G.; Peters, Glen P.
  • Nature Climate Change, Vol. 4, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1038/nclimate2392

Review of design works for the conversion of sugarcane to first and second-generation ethanol and electricity
journal, August 2018

  • Bechara, Rami; Gomez, Adrien; Saint-Antonin, Valérie
  • Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 91
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2018.02.020

Life cycle assessment and nutrient analysis of various processing pathways in algal biofuel production
journal, April 2017


Life cycle assessment (LCA) of electricity generation technologies: Overview, comparability and limitations
journal, December 2013

  • Turconi, Roberto; Boldrin, Alessio; Astrup, Thomas
  • Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 28
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2013.08.013

Life-cycle assessment of transportation biofuels from hydrothermal liquefaction of forest residues in British Columbia
journal, February 2018


Comparative economics of biorefineries based on the biochemical and thermochemical platforms
journal, January 2007

  • Wright, Mark M.; Brown, Robert C.
  • Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, Vol. 1, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1002/bbb.8

Production of Hydrocarbon Fuel Using Two-Step Torrefaction and Fast Pyrolysis of Pine. Part 2: Life-Cycle Carbon Footprint
journal, May 2017


Economic and energetic analysis of capturing CO2 from ambient air
journal, December 2011

  • House, K. Z.; Baclig, A. C.; Ranjan, M.
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 108, Issue 51
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1012253108

Techno-economic analysis of liquid fuel production from woody biomass via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) and upgrading
journal, September 2014


Life cycle evaluation of emerging lignocellulosic ethanol conversion technologies
journal, January 2010


A Review of Environmental Life Cycle Assessments of Liquid Transportation Biofuels in the Pan American Region
journal, June 2015

  • Shonnard, David R.; Klemetsrud, Bethany; Sacramento-Rivero, Julio
  • Environmental Management, Vol. 56, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1007/s00267-015-0543-8

Consequential life cycle assessment: a review
journal, March 2011

  • Earles, J. Mason; Halog, Anthony
  • The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, Vol. 16, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1007/s11367-011-0275-9