IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v99y2019icp16-28.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The role of life cycle assessment in the sustainable transition to a decarbonised gas network through green gas production

Author

Listed:
  • Singlitico, Alessandro
  • Goggins, Jamie
  • Monaghan, Rory F.D.

Abstract

Green gas is a promising renewable energy carrier compatible with existing gas networks, whose environmental impact and capacity to decarbonise the energy sector is evaluated by life cycle assessment (LCA). This articles reviews 42 LCAs applied to biomethane, produced by anaerobic digestion, and bio-SNG, produced by gasification and methanation, discussing the main methodological choices and their effects on the results, and highlighting the limits of the use of LCA as a stand-alone approach in real-case applications. While uncertainty analysis was performed in 34 of the reviewed studies, only 3 studies integrated the LCA with process modelling or geospatial modelling. The lack of data for pre-commercial or newly-commercialised technologies has necessitated to the introduction of thermodynamic models giving mass and energy flows, especially in the case of bio-SNG. Limits due to geospatial case-specific constraints have been overcome by two studies introducing geographical information systems (GIS) based models to evaluate the impact of green gas production system on a regional level. Facility siting and sizing has been also found to be fundamentally important in evaluating the trade-off between profitability and environmental impact. Finally, this work highlights the need for a hybrid LCA, in which LCA is integrated with thermodynamic models of the process, GIS-based infrastructure design, and uncertainty quantification, in order to inform stakeholders of the economic, environmental and energy potential of green gas production systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Singlitico, Alessandro & Goggins, Jamie & Monaghan, Rory F.D., 2019. "The role of life cycle assessment in the sustainable transition to a decarbonised gas network through green gas production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 16-28.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:99:y:2019:i:c:p:16-28
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2018.09.040
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032118306889
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2018.09.040?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Holmgren, Kristina M. & Berntsson, Thore S. & Andersson, Eva & Rydberg, Tomas, 2016. "Comparison of integration options for gasification-based biofuel production systems – Economic and greenhouse gas emission implications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 272-294.
    2. Wang, Xiaoqiang & Nordlander, Eva & Thorin, Eva & Yan, Jinyue, 2013. "Microalgal biomethane production integrated with an existing biogas plant: A case study in Sweden," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 478-484.
    3. Vo, Truc T.Q. & Rajendran, Karthik & Murphy, Jerry D., 2018. "Can power to methane systems be sustainable and can they improve the carbon intensity of renewable methane when used to upgrade biogas produced from grass and slurry?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 1046-1056.
    4. Buratti, C. & Barbanera, M. & Fantozzi, F., 2013. "Assessment of GHG emissions of biomethane from energy cereal crops in Umbria, Italy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 128-136.
    5. De Meyer, Annelies & Cattrysse, Dirk & Rasinmäki, Jussi & Van Orshoven, Jos, 2014. "Methods to optimise the design and management of biomass-for-bioenergy supply chains: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 657-670.
    6. Murphy, Jerry D. & Browne, James & Allen, Eoin & Gallagher, Cathal, 2013. "The resource of biomethane, produced via biological, thermal and electrical routes, as a transport biofuel," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 474-479.
    7. Pierie, F. & van Someren, C.E.J. & Benders, R.M.J. & Bekkering, J. & van Gemert, W.J.Th. & Moll, H.C., 2015. "Environmental and energy system analysis of bio-methane production pathways: A comparison between feedstocks and process optimizations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 456-466.
    8. Speirs, Jamie & Balcombe, Paul & Johnson, Erin & Martin, Jeanne & Brandon, Nigel & Hawkes, Adam, 2018. "A greener gas grid: What are the options," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 291-297.
    9. Steubing, Bernhard & Ballmer, Isabel & Gassner, Martin & Gerber, Léda & Pampuri, Luca & Bischof, Sandro & Thees, Oliver & Zah, Rainer, 2014. "Identifying environmentally and economically optimal bioenergy plant sizes and locations: A spatial model of wood-based SNG value chains," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 57-68.
    10. Cong, Rong-Gang & Stefaniak, Irena & Madsen, Bjarne & Dalgaard, Tommy & Jensen, Jørgen Dejgård & Nainggolan, Doan & Termansen, Mette, 2017. "Where to implement local biotech innovations? A framework for multi-scale socio-economic and environmental impact assessment of Green Bio-Refineries," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 141-151.
    11. Czyrnek-Delêtre, Magdalena M. & Rocca, Stefania & Agostini, Alessandro & Giuntoli, Jacopo & Murphy, Jerry D., 2017. "Life cycle assessment of seaweed biomethane, generated from seaweed sourced from integrated multi-trophic aquaculture in temperate oceanic climates," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 34-50.
    12. Collet, Pierre & Flottes, Eglantine & Favre, Alain & Raynal, Ludovic & Pierre, Hélène & Capela, Sandra & Peregrina, Carlos, 2017. "Techno-economic and Life Cycle Assessment of methane production via biogas upgrading and power to gas technology," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 282-295.
    13. Holmgren, Kristina M. & Berntsson, Thore S. & Andersson, Eva & Rydberg, Tomas, 2015. "The influence of biomass supply chains and by-products on the greenhouse gas emissions from gasification-based bio-SNG production systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(P1), pages 148-162.
    14. Lantz, Mikael & Börjesson, Pål, 2014. "Greenhouse gas and energyassessment of the biogas from co-digestion injected into the natural gas grid: A Swedish case-study including effects on soil properties," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 387-395.
    15. Haro, Pedro & Johnsson, Filip & Thunman, Henrik, 2016. "Improved syngas processing for enhanced Bio-SNG production: A techno-economic assessment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 380-389.
    16. Feng, Fei & Song, Guohui & Shen, Laihong & Xiao, Jun, 2017. "Environmental benefits analysis based on life cycle assessment of rice straw-based synthetic natural gas in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 341-349.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Keogh, Niamh & Corr, D. & Monaghan, R.F.D, 2022. "Biogenic renewable gas injection into natural gas grids: A review of technical and economic modelling studies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    2. Zhang, Jinrui & Meerman, Hans & Benders, René & Faaij, André, 2022. "Potential role of natural gas infrastructure in China to supply low-carbon gases during 2020–2050," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(PA).
    3. Kolb, Sebastian & Plankenbühler, Thomas & Hofmann, Katharina & Bergerson, Joule & Karl, Jürgen, 2021. "Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of renewable gas technologies: A comparative review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    4. Wu, Juanjuan & Zhang, Jian & Yi, Weiming & Cai, Hongzhen & Li, Yang & Su, Zhanpeng, 2022. "Agri-biomass supply chain optimization in north China: Model development and application," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PD).
    5. D’Adamo, Idiano & Falcone, Pasquale Marcello & Huisingh, Donald & Morone, Piergiuseppe, 2021. "A circular economy model based on biomethane: What are the opportunities for the municipality of Rome and beyond?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 1660-1672.
    6. Singlitico, Alessandro & Kilgallon, Ian & Goggins, Jamie & Monaghan, Rory F.D., 2019. "GIS-based techno-economic optimisation of a regional supply chain for large-scale deployment of bio-SNG in a natural gas network," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 1036-1052.
    7. Ramirez, A.D. & Boero, A. & Rivela, B. & Melendres, A.M. & Espinoza, S. & Salas, D.A., 2020. "Life cycle methods to analyze the environmental sustainability of electricity generation in Ecuador: Is decarbonization the right path?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    8. Rebecka Ericsdotter Engström & Georgia Destouni & Mark Howells & Vivek Ramaswamy & Holger Rogner & Morgan Bazilian, 2019. "Cross-Scale Water and Land Impacts of Local Climate and Energy Policy—A Local Swedish Analysis of Selected SDG Interactions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-28, March.
    9. Idiano D’Adamo & Paolo Rosa, 2019. "A Structured Literature Review on Obsolete Electric Vehicles Management Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-17, December.
    10. Christopher Schmid & Thomas Horschig & Alexandra Pfeiffer & Nora Szarka & Daniela Thrän, 2019. "Biogas Upgrading: A Review of National Biomethane Strategies and Support Policies in Selected Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-24, October.
    11. Giulia Caruso & Emiliano Colantonio & Stefano Antonio Gattone, 2020. "Relationships between Renewable Energy Consumption, Social Factors, and Health: A Panel Vector Auto Regression Analysis of a Cluster of 12 EU Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-16, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kolb, Sebastian & Plankenbühler, Thomas & Hofmann, Katharina & Bergerson, Joule & Karl, Jürgen, 2021. "Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of renewable gas technologies: A comparative review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    2. Long, Aoife & Murphy, Jerry D., 2019. "Can green gas certificates allow for the accurate quantification of the energy supply and sustainability of biomethane from a range of sources for renewable heat and or transport?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    3. Long, A. & Bose, A. & O'Shea, R. & Monaghan, R. & Murphy, J.D., 2021. "Implications of European Union recast Renewable Energy Directive sustainability criteria for renewable heat and transport: Case study of willow biomethane in Ireland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    4. Patrizio, P. & Leduc, S. & Chinese, D. & Dotzauer, E. & Kraxner, F., 2015. "Biomethane as transport fuel – A comparison with other biogas utilization pathways in northern Italy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 25-34.
    5. Keogh, Niamh & Corr, D. & Monaghan, R.F.D, 2022. "Biogenic renewable gas injection into natural gas grids: A review of technical and economic modelling studies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    6. Patrizio, P. & Leduc, S. & Chinese, D. & Kraxner, F., 2017. "Internalizing the external costs of biogas supply chains in the Italian energy sector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 85-96.
    7. Holmgren, Kristina M. & Berntsson, Thore & Lönnqvist, Tomas, 2018. "Profitability and greenhouse gas emissions of gasification-based biofuel production - Analysis of sector specific policy instruments and comparison to conventional biomass conversion technologies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PA), pages 997-1007.
    8. Bidart, Christian & Wichert, Martin & Kolb, Gunther & Held, Michael, 2022. "Biogas catalytic methanation for biomethane production as fuel in freight transport - A carbon footprint assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    9. Singlitico, Alessandro & Goggins, Jamie & Monaghan, Rory F.D., 2018. "Evaluation of the potential and geospatial distribution of waste and residues for bio-SNG production: A case study for the Republic of Ireland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 288-301.
    10. Siwen Zhang & Haiming Gu & Jing Qian & Wioletta Raróg-Pilecka & Yuan Wang & Qijing Wu & Hao Zhao, 2023. "Techno-Economic Assessment of High-Safety and Cost-Effective Syngas Produced by O 2 -Enriched Air Gasification with 40–70% O 2 Purity," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-13, April.
    11. Inkeri, Eero & Tynjälä, Tero & Karjunen, Hannu, 2021. "Significance of methanation reactor dynamics on the annual efficiency of power-to-gas -system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 1113-1126.
    12. Witte, Julia & Calbry-Muzyka, Adelaide & Wieseler, Tanja & Hottinger, Peter & Biollaz, Serge M.A. & Schildhauer, Tilman J., 2019. "Demonstrating direct methanation of real biogas in a fluidised bed reactor," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 359-371.
    13. Ó Céileachair, Dónal & O'Shea, Richard & Murphy, Jerry D. & Wall, David M., 2021. "Alternative energy management strategies for large industry in non-gas-grid regions using on-farm biomethane," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    14. Singlitico, Alessandro & Kilgallon, Ian & Goggins, Jamie & Monaghan, Rory F.D., 2019. "GIS-based techno-economic optimisation of a regional supply chain for large-scale deployment of bio-SNG in a natural gas network," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 1036-1052.
    15. Holmgren, Kristina M. & Berntsson, Thore S. & Andersson, Eva & Rydberg, Tomas, 2016. "Comparison of integration options for gasification-based biofuel production systems – Economic and greenhouse gas emission implications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 272-294.
    16. Puricelli, S. & Cardellini, G. & Casadei, S. & Faedo, D. & van den Oever, A.E.M. & Grosso, M., 2021. "A review on biofuels for light-duty vehicles in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    17. Robert Bedoić & Goran Smoljanić & Tomislav Pukšec & Lidija Čuček & Davor Ljubas & Neven Duić, 2021. "Geospatial Analysis and Environmental Impact Assessment of a Holistic and Interdisciplinary Approach to the Biogas Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-20, August.
    18. Máté Zavarkó & Attila R. Imre & Gábor Pörzse & Zoltán Csedő, 2021. "Past, Present and Near Future: An Overview of Closed, Running and Planned Biomethanation Facilities in Europe," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-27, September.
    19. Adams, P.W.R. & Mezzullo, W.G. & McManus, M.C., 2015. "Biomass sustainability criteria: Greenhouse gas accounting issues for biogas and biomethane facilities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 95-109.
    20. Koj, Jan Christian & Wulf, Christina & Zapp, Petra, 2019. "Environmental impacts of power-to-X systems - A review of technological and methodological choices in Life Cycle Assessments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 865-879.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:99:y:2019:i:c:p:16-28. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.