TY - JOUR
T1 - Choosing co-substrates to supplement biogas production from animal slurry - a life cycle assessment of the environmental consequences
AU - Croxatto Vega, Giovanna Catalina
AU - ten Hoeve, Marieke
AU - Birkved, Morten
AU - Sommer, Sven G.
AU - Bruun, Sander
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Biogas production from animal slurry can provide substantial contributions to reach renewable energy targets, yet due to the low methane potential of slurry, biogas plants depend on the addition of co-substrates to make operations profitable. The environmental performance of three underexploited co-substrates, straw, organic household waste and the solid fraction of separated slurry, were assessed against slurry management without biogas production, using LCA methodology. The analysis showed straw, which would have been left on arable fields, to be an environmentally superior co-substrate. Due to its low nutrient content and high methane potential, straw yields the lowest impacts for eutrophication and the highest climate change and fossil depletion savings. Co-substrates diverted from incineration to biogas production had fewer environmental benefits, due to the loss of energy production, which is then produced from conventional fossil fuels. The scenarios can often provide benefits for one impact category while causing impacts in another.
AB - Biogas production from animal slurry can provide substantial contributions to reach renewable energy targets, yet due to the low methane potential of slurry, biogas plants depend on the addition of co-substrates to make operations profitable. The environmental performance of three underexploited co-substrates, straw, organic household waste and the solid fraction of separated slurry, were assessed against slurry management without biogas production, using LCA methodology. The analysis showed straw, which would have been left on arable fields, to be an environmentally superior co-substrate. Due to its low nutrient content and high methane potential, straw yields the lowest impacts for eutrophication and the highest climate change and fossil depletion savings. Co-substrates diverted from incineration to biogas production had fewer environmental benefits, due to the loss of energy production, which is then produced from conventional fossil fuels. The scenarios can often provide benefits for one impact category while causing impacts in another.
KW - Biogas
KW - Life cycle assessment
KW - Organic fraction household waste
KW - Separated slurry
KW - Straw
U2 - 10.1016/j.biortech.2014.08.099
DO - 10.1016/j.biortech.2014.08.099
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 25226057
AN - SCOPUS:84907647261
SN - 0960-8524
VL - 171
SP - 410
EP - 420
JO - Bioresource Technology
JF - Bioresource Technology
ER -
