How to calculate the emission of greenhouse gases
How to calculate the emission
of greenhouse gases
of greenhouse gases
At present, there is no clear methodology for determining the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for gasification plants of municipal solid waste.
Therefore, for the calculation we use similar methods given in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (https://ghgprotocol.org/calculation-tools#sector_specific_tools_id), in the Global Methane Initiative (https://www.globalmethane.org/index.aspx), in the United States Environmental Protection Agency (https://www.epa.gov/lmop/basic-information-about-landfill-gas), World Bank working materials (https://www.wastedive.com/news/world-bank-global-waste-generation-2050/533031/), data from our own research and international scientific materials.
In our opinion, an integrated assessment of GHG emission should be applied.
According to the analysis, the following factors impact the efficiency level of gasification complexes for generating electricity:
Therefore, for the calculation we use similar methods given in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (https://ghgprotocol.org/calculation-tools#sector_specific_tools_id), in the Global Methane Initiative (https://www.globalmethane.org/index.aspx), in the United States Environmental Protection Agency (https://www.epa.gov/lmop/basic-information-about-landfill-gas), World Bank working materials (https://www.wastedive.com/news/world-bank-global-waste-generation-2050/533031/), data from our own research and international scientific materials.
In our opinion, an integrated assessment of GHG emission should be applied.
According to the analysis, the following factors impact the efficiency level of gasification complexes for generating electricity:
Thus, the assessment of the impact of the gasification complex on the balance of greenhouse gas emissions should be calculated as an integral indicator.
We will calculate the efficiency of gasification of waste for the project (data from the project of a power plant in Puebla, Mexico were used as basic data).
We will calculate the efficiency of gasification of waste for the project (data from the project of a power plant in Puebla, Mexico were used as basic data).
As the main integral indicator allowing a comparative assessment of the environmental impact of the project, it is worth taking the amount of CO2 produced (in equivalent) per 1 GW/h of electricity generated.
The project provides for the generation of
148.8 million kWh per year. Of these,
17,340,000 kWh is used for own needs.
131 460 000 kWh are transmitted to the network.
To produce this amount of electricity,
64,000 tons of solid waste per year are used.
External sources of energy are not used in the project.
This amount of solid waste provides emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere:
• Methane (СН4) - 1683.2 tons
• Carbon dioxide (CO2) - 24128 tons.
In terms of CO2 equivalent, this will amount to 59,471 tons per year (such an amount would be emitted into the atmosphere).
In the process of generating electricity, the total CO2 emissions from the entire complex will amount to 128,000 tons per year.
Given the reduction in potential emissions of CO2 equivalent during storage at the landfill, the total balance of CO2 emissions will be positive and amount to
68 529 tons per year. Accordingly, CO2 emissions per 1 kWh of electricity will amount to 521 tonnes\ GW/h of generated electricity (521 tons \ GW/h)
The table shows the World Bank data on CO2 emissions per 1 GWh of electricity for various types of generation (red – result of calculation and our tests):
The project provides for the generation of
148.8 million kWh per year. Of these,
17,340,000 kWh is used for own needs.
131 460 000 kWh are transmitted to the network.
To produce this amount of electricity,
64,000 tons of solid waste per year are used.
External sources of energy are not used in the project.
This amount of solid waste provides emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere:
• Methane (СН4) - 1683.2 tons
• Carbon dioxide (CO2) - 24128 tons.
In terms of CO2 equivalent, this will amount to 59,471 tons per year (such an amount would be emitted into the atmosphere).
In the process of generating electricity, the total CO2 emissions from the entire complex will amount to 128,000 tons per year.
Given the reduction in potential emissions of CO2 equivalent during storage at the landfill, the total balance of CO2 emissions will be positive and amount to
68 529 tons per year. Accordingly, CO2 emissions per 1 kWh of electricity will amount to 521 tonnes\ GW/h of generated electricity (521 tons \ GW/h)
The table shows the World Bank data on CO2 emissions per 1 GWh of electricity for various types of generation (red – result of calculation and our tests):
According to the table, it can be seen that in terms of efficiency in terms of greenhouse gas emissions by CO2 equivalent, the production of electricity through gasification of waste in the Puebla, Mexico project in terms of efficiency corresponds to the efficiency of electricity generation obtained when using natural gas as fuel (excluding carbon footprint for its extraction and transportation).
Compared with the generation of electricity from coal, the gasification of municipal solid waste using UNIVASTUM WARP® technology can reduce CO2 emissions by 7,520 to 25,000 tons per year compared with the production of the same amount of electricity in a coal-fired power plant (generating more than 30% of all global electricity).
As a conclusion, we can confidently say that the project for generating electricity in the Puebla region, based on the technology of gasification of solid waste from the point of view of greenhouse gas emissions, is environmentally friendly and, in comparison with other generation technologies, will lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions with an increase in the region's energy saturation.
And in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero, UNIVASTUM has developed a variant of the plant that uses exhaust gas purification using monoethanolamine purification.
Compared with the generation of electricity from coal, the gasification of municipal solid waste using UNIVASTUM WARP® technology can reduce CO2 emissions by 7,520 to 25,000 tons per year compared with the production of the same amount of electricity in a coal-fired power plant (generating more than 30% of all global electricity).
As a conclusion, we can confidently say that the project for generating electricity in the Puebla region, based on the technology of gasification of solid waste from the point of view of greenhouse gas emissions, is environmentally friendly and, in comparison with other generation technologies, will lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions with an increase in the region's energy saturation.
And in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero, UNIVASTUM has developed a variant of the plant that uses exhaust gas purification using monoethanolamine purification.