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Title: The role of Life Cycle Assessment in identifying and reducing environmental impacts of CCS

Abstract

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) should be used to assist carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) planners to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and avoid unintended environmental trade-offs. LCA is an analytical framework for determining environmental impacts resulting from processes, products, and services. All life cycle stages are evaluated including raw material sourcing, processing, operation, maintenance, and component end-of-life, as well as intermediate stages such as transportation. In recent years a growing number of LCA studies have analyzed CCS systems. We reviewed 50+ LCA studies, and selected 11 studies that compared the environmental performance of 23 electric power plants with and without CCS. Here we summarize and interpret the findings of these studies. Regarding overall climatemitigation effectiveness of CCS, we distinguish between the capture percentage of carbon in the fuels, the net carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction, and the net GHG emission reduction. We also identify trade-offs between the climate benefits and the potential increased non-climate impacts of CCS. Emissions of non-CO2 flue gases such as NOx may increase due to the greater throughput of fuel, and toxicity issues may arise due to the use of monoethanolamine (MEA) capture solvent, resulting in ecological and human health impacts. We discuss areas where improvementsmore » in LCA data or methods are needed. The decision to implement CCS should be based on knowledge of the overall environmental impacts of the technologies, not just their carbon capture effectiveness. LCA will be an important tool in providing that knowledge.« less

Authors:
; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
Environmental Energy Technologies Division
OSTI Identifier:
1016012
Report Number(s):
LBNL-4548E
TRN: US201112%%109
DOE Contract Number:  
DE-AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Conference
Resource Relation:
Conference: 10th Annual Conference on Carbon Capture and Sequestration, Pittsburgh, PA, May 2-5, 2011
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; 29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY; CARBON; CARBON DIOXIDE; CLIMATES; ELECTRIC POWER; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS; GASES; GREENHOUSE GASES; LIFE CYCLE; LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT; MAINTENANCE; PERFORMANCE; PROCESSING; RAW MATERIALS; TOXICITY; Carbon Cycle, Life Cycle Assessment

Citation Formats

Sathre, Roger, Masanet, Eric, Cain, Jennifer, and Chester, Mikhail. The role of Life Cycle Assessment in identifying and reducing environmental impacts of CCS. United States: N. p., 2011. Web.
Sathre, Roger, Masanet, Eric, Cain, Jennifer, & Chester, Mikhail. The role of Life Cycle Assessment in identifying and reducing environmental impacts of CCS. United States.
Sathre, Roger, Masanet, Eric, Cain, Jennifer, and Chester, Mikhail. 2011. "The role of Life Cycle Assessment in identifying and reducing environmental impacts of CCS". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1016012.
@article{osti_1016012,
title = {The role of Life Cycle Assessment in identifying and reducing environmental impacts of CCS},
author = {Sathre, Roger and Masanet, Eric and Cain, Jennifer and Chester, Mikhail},
abstractNote = {Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) should be used to assist carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) planners to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and avoid unintended environmental trade-offs. LCA is an analytical framework for determining environmental impacts resulting from processes, products, and services. All life cycle stages are evaluated including raw material sourcing, processing, operation, maintenance, and component end-of-life, as well as intermediate stages such as transportation. In recent years a growing number of LCA studies have analyzed CCS systems. We reviewed 50+ LCA studies, and selected 11 studies that compared the environmental performance of 23 electric power plants with and without CCS. Here we summarize and interpret the findings of these studies. Regarding overall climatemitigation effectiveness of CCS, we distinguish between the capture percentage of carbon in the fuels, the net carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction, and the net GHG emission reduction. We also identify trade-offs between the climate benefits and the potential increased non-climate impacts of CCS. Emissions of non-CO2 flue gases such as NOx may increase due to the greater throughput of fuel, and toxicity issues may arise due to the use of monoethanolamine (MEA) capture solvent, resulting in ecological and human health impacts. We discuss areas where improvements in LCA data or methods are needed. The decision to implement CCS should be based on knowledge of the overall environmental impacts of the technologies, not just their carbon capture effectiveness. LCA will be an important tool in providing that knowledge.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1016012}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Apr 20 00:00:00 EDT 2011},
month = {Wed Apr 20 00:00:00 EDT 2011}
}

Conference:
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