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Life-cycle energy and climate benefits of energy recovery from wastes and biomass residues in the United States

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  • Bo Liu

    (University of California)

  • Deepak Rajagopal

    (University of California)

Abstract

Agricultural and forestry residues, animal manure and municipal solid waste are replenishable and widely available. However, harnessing these heterogeneous and diffuse resources for energy requires a holistic assessment of alternative conversion pathways, taking into account spatial factors. Here, we analyse, from a life-cycle assessment perspective, the potential renewable energy production, net energy gain and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction for each distinct type of waste feedstock under different conversion technology pathways. The utilization of all available wastes and residues in the contiguous United States can generate 3.1–3.8 exajoules (EJ) of renewable energy, but only deliver 2.4–3.2 EJ of net energy gain, and displace 103–178 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent GHG emissions. For any given waste feedstock, looking across all US counties where it is available, except in rare instances, no single conversion pathway simultaneously maximizes renewable energy production, net energy gain and GHG mitigation.

Suggested Citation

  • Bo Liu & Deepak Rajagopal, 2019. "Life-cycle energy and climate benefits of energy recovery from wastes and biomass residues in the United States," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(8), pages 700-708, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:4:y:2019:i:8:d:10.1038_s41560-019-0430-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-019-0430-2
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    Cited by:

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    3. Peng, Valerie & Slocum, Alexander, 2020. "Endemic Water and Storm Trash to energy via in-situ processing," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    4. Byun, Jaewon & Han, Jee-hoon, 2023. "Economic feasible hydrogen production system from carbohydrate-rich food waste," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    5. He, Ke & Zhang, Junbiao & Wang, Anbang & Chang, Huayi, 2020. "Rural households’ perceived value of energy utilization of crop residues: A case study from China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 286-295.
    6. Klimenko, V.V. & Krasheninnikov, S.M. & Fedotova, E.V., 2022. "CHP performance under the warming climate: a case study for Russia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(PB).
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    8. Mahmoud G. Hemeida & Ashraf M. Hemeida & Tomonobu Senjyu & Dina Osheba, 2022. "Renewable Energy Resources Technologies and Life Cycle Assessment: Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-36, December.
    9. Aby Cheruvathoor Poulose & Miroslav Medveď & Vasudeva Rao Bakuru & Akashdeep Sharma & Deepika Singh & Suresh Babu Kalidindi & Hugo Bares & Michal Otyepka & Kolleboyina Jayaramulu & Aristides Bakandrit, 2023. "Acidic graphene organocatalyst for the superior transformation of wastes into high-added-value chemicals," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    10. Han, Jeehoon & Byun, Jaewon & Kwon, Oseok & Lee, Jechan, 2022. "Climate variability and food waste treatment: Analysis for bioenergy sustainability," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    11. Chiolerio, Alessandro & Garofalo, Erik & Mattiussi, Fabio & Crepaldi, Marco & Fortunato, Giuseppe & Iovieno, Michele, 2020. "Waste heat to power conversion by means of thermomagnetic hydrodynamic energy harvester," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    12. Byun, Jaewon & Han, Jeehoon, 2021. "Economically feasible production of green methane from vegetable and fruit-rich food waste," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    13. Leonel J. R. Nunes & Liliana M. E. F. Loureiro & Letícia C. R. Sá & Hugo F. C. Silva, 2020. "Waste Recovery through Thermochemical Conversion Technologies: A Case Study with Several Portuguese Agroforestry By-Products," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-15, September.
    14. Yao, Fengpei & Shen, Fei & Wan, Xue & Hu, Changwei, 2020. "High yield and high concentration glucose production from corncob residues after tetrahydrofuran + H2O co-solvent pretreatment and followed by enzymatic hydrolysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    15. Yu, Bo & Liu, Xueqing & Ji, Chao & Sun, Hua, 2023. "Greenhouse gas mitigation strategies and decision support for the utilization of agricultural waste systems: A case study of Jiangxi Province, China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    16. Deepayan Debnath & Madhu Khanna & Deepak Rajagopal & David Zilberman, 2019. "The Future of Biofuels in an Electrifying Global Transportation Sector: Imperative, Prospects and Challenges," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(4), pages 563-582, December.
    17. Rasheed, Rizwan & Tahir, Fizza & Yasar, Abdullah & Sharif, Faiza & Tabinda, Amtul Bari & Ahmad, Sajid Rashid & Wang, Yubo & Su, Yuehong, 2022. "Environmental life cycle analysis of a modern commercial-scale fibreglass composite-based biogas scrubbing system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 1261-1271.
    18. Cao, Yang & He, Mingjing & Dutta, Shanta & Luo, Gang & Zhang, Shicheng & Tsang, Daniel C.W., 2021. "Hydrothermal carbonization and liquefaction for sustainable production of hydrochar and aromatics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    19. Ren, Lei & Zhou, Sheng & Ou, Xunmin, 2023. "The carbon reduction potential of hydrogen in the low carbon transition of the iron and steel industry: The case of China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    20. Yang, Yang & Liang, Sai & Yang, Yi & Xie, Guang Hui & Zhao, Wei, 2022. "Spatial disparity of life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions from corn straw-based bioenergy production in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    21. Mohsen Ramezanzade & Hossein Karimi & Khalid Almutairi & Hoa Ao Xuan & Javad Saebi & Ali Mostafaeipour & Kuaanan Techato, 2021. "Implementing MCDM Techniques for Ranking Renewable Energy Projects under Fuzzy Environment: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-38, November.
    22. Zailan, Roziah & Lim, Jeng Shiun & Manan, Zainuddin Abdul & Alwi, Sharifah Rafidah Wan & Mohammadi-ivatloo, Behnam & Jamaluddin, Khairulnadzmi, 2021. "Malaysia scenario of biomass supply chain-cogeneration system and optimization modeling development: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).

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