CO2: valuable source of carbon

Coordinator of the Working Group “Carbon Capture and Storage“ Italian Association Chemical Engineering (AIDIC)

Ezio Nicola D’Addario

April 16th, 2012 Rome – Campus Bio-Medico University

SUSTAINABILITY IN CARBON CAPTURE AND UTILIZATION

1. Main Options of Carbon Capture and Utilization

2. Direct Use of Solar Energy: photosynthesis, microalgae

3. Sustainability and Life Cycle Analysis

4. Biodiesel from Microalgae, Different LCA Literature Case Studies

5. Concluding Remarks

AGENDA

2

USES OF CARBON DIOXIDE

http://extsearch1.netl.doe.gov

ESTIMATED EMISSIONS REDUCTIONGt CO2/y 1

2°, 3° Generation biofuel 0.4*

Building Material 1.6**Chemical Feedstocksand Intermediates 0.3

EOR 1.4TOTAL 3,7 ***

1. DNV position paper 7-2011, * 5% liquid fuel replacement 50% CO2 saving, ** 10 % global building material demand, *** 10 % total annual current emission

CCU and RESOURCES REQUIREMENT

PROS: Revenues from captured CO2

CONS: Rather new compared to CCS, CO2 scarcely reactive, energy requirements to be determined

DNV position paper 7-2011

DIRECT USE OF SOLAR RADIATION

DIFFUSE CO2 SOURCES Traffic, Residential, SME

LARGE CO2 STATIONARY SOURCES PG, Oil and Heavy Industry

ENERGY

& CHEMICALS

TRANSPORTATION DISTRIBUTION

CO2

CAPTURE

TERRESTRIAL, AQUATIC PLANT

and MACROALGAE

MICROALGAE

PHOTOSYNTHESYS

Cellulose, Hemicellulose, Lignin

Lipids, Carbohydrates, Protein

EXAMPLES OF HIGH PRODUCTIVITY BIOMASS

M. Tredici. Symposium “ I Biocarburanti di seconda e terza generazione” Roma 14 April 2011

Biomass community Location Yield (t d.w. ha-1 y-1)

Photosynthetic efficiency (%)

Hybrid poplar (Populus spp.) (C3) Minnesota 8 -11 0.3- 0.4Water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) Mississippi 11 – 33 (>150) 0.3- 0.9Switch grass (Panicum virgatum) (C4) Texas 8-20 0.2- 0.6Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) (C4) Texas-California 22 - 47 0.6-1.0Coniferous forest England 34 1.8Maize (Zea mays) (C4) Israel 34 0.8Tree plantation Congo 36 1.0Tropical forest West Indies 60 1.6

Algae Different locations 70 2-2.5

Sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum) Hawaii-Java 64-87 1.8-2.6Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum)

Hawaii, Puerto Rico 85-106 2.2-2.8

SUSTAINABILITY AND LCA

Inventory

ImpactAssessment

LCA FRAMEWORK

ISO 14040:2006

Goal and scope

ISO 14044:2006

I. Gavilan, BP Sustainability in biofuel, 2008

MAIN IMPACT CATEGORIES

GLOBALGLOBAL

Soil and groundwater

contamination

LOCALLOCALToxic emissions

NoiseElettromagnetic

pollution

REGIONALREGIONAL

Greenhouse Gas Effect

Depletion

of ozone

layer

Depletion of no renewable resources

Acid rain

Water

euthrophicationVisual pollution

Land Use Change Photochemical oxidant

formation

MAIN LCA INDICATORS

CO2; CH4; N20…[grams, gi]

GHG Effect(100 years)[g CO2 eq]

GLOBAL WARMINGPOTENTIALΣ GWPi * gi

GASi GWP100

g CO2 eq/gi

CO2 1

CH4 23

N20 296

Halon 1301 5600Carbon

tetrafluoride 6500

Dry extraction: feasible, Wet extraction: to be checked, consumptions proportional to inlet

TYPICAL DIAGRAM FOR BIODIESEL PRODUCTION FROM MICROALGAE

L. Lardon et al. Environmental Science & Technology, 43, 17, 2009

10*100*0.3 mConcrete PVC

0.25 m/s

Washing water(each 2 months)Water from dewatering

22.2 Wh/kg CO250 MW Coal Power

Station, dehydration and compression

1000 ha ponds

L. Lardon et al. Environmental Science & Technology, 43, 17, 2009

CULTIVATION OF Chlorella vulgaris BASIC DATA

Lipid content, growth rate and productivity in the range of typical literature sourcesProtein content much lower in low Nitrogen culturesLower productivity showed by low N cultures balanced by their higher heating value (photosynthetic efficiency almost the same)

• Lower mass downstream efficiency implies higher biomass production for wet cultures which requires higher energy and fertilizer in comparison to dry cultivation• All configurations, except low N wet, have high energetic requirements compared to energy in the biofuel (37.8 MJ/kg) • Overall balance negative only for normal dry option

CULTIVATION OF Chlorella v. PRELIMINARY INVENTORY Base 1 Kg Biodiesel

L. Lardon et al. Environmental Science & Technology, 43, 17, 2009

CUMULATIVE ENERGY DEMAND Chlorella v. Base 1 MJ Biodiesel

Cumulative Energy Demand: Ecoinvent data base, Electricity produced with the European mix, Heat produced with natural gas, Buildings 30-year lifespan then dismantled and concrete landfilled, steel based materials and plastics recycled, Electrical engines changed every 10 years Low N wet confirms the most favorable option (higher fertilizers and cultivation requirements not compensated by lower drying energy of low N dry)

L. Lardon et al. Environmental Science & Technology, 43, 17, 2009

POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF BIODIESEL AND PETROLEUM DIESEL Base 1 MJ Fuel

Assessment carried out by using the CML method *, Reference fuel: Ecoinvent database, Rapeseed Europe, Palm Oil Malaysia, Soybean USA, Byproducts emissions allocated on the base of energy content

Algae show:• very low impacts for eutrophication (better control of fertilizers) and land use (higher biomass productivity),• worst impacts for GWP (except soybean), mineral resource, ozone depletion, ionizing radiation and photochemical oxidation (higher use of fertilizers and electricity including 30 % nuclear) • GHG reduction (58,7 g CO2 eq / MJ) in line with current EU targets (54.5 g CO2 eq / MJ), but lower than 2017 EU targets (41. 9 for exiting plants, and 33.5 g CO2 eq / MJ for new plants)

* Guine´e, J. B. Handbook on Life Cycle Assessment Springer: New York, 2002

EU ref value: 83,8 gCO2 eq / MJ

COMPARISON OF LIFE CYCLE ENERGY DEMAND MJ/MJ Biodiesel

Lardon, 2009 low N dry case 2.32 MJ

H. H. Khoo et al Bioresource Technology 102 (2011) 5800–5807

R. Baliga and Susan E. Powers. Sustainable Algae Biodiesel Production in Cold Climates. International Journal of Chemical Engineering Volume 2010, Article ID 102179.

Algae biodiesel production in New York State (USA) based on life cycle energy and environmental impact parameters. Upstate NY was chosen as a challenging case for algae biodiesel production due to shorter days and cold temperatures during winter months.

RECENT STUDIES

Edward D Frank, et al. Methane and nitrous oxide emissions affect the life-cycle analysis of algal biofuels. Environ. Res. Lett. 7 (2012) Article ID 014030. Accepted for publication 20 February 2012 Published 13 March 2012

Parameters included in the sensitivity: lipid content: 12, 25, 50 %, Productivity:12.5, 25, 50 g/m2/d, CHP electrical efficiency: 28, 33, 38 %, Mixing Power: 2, 48, 83 kWh/ha/d, …

CONCLUDING REMARKS

LCA case studies biodiesel production from microalgae confirm that environmental impacts depend on process and technology aspects as well as on energy supply options, location and possible scenarios

Helpful inputs for research still going on this subject could derive from preliminary LCA including indicators related to the depletion of non renewable resources and climate change as well as to water eutrophication, land requirements, toxicity (human and marine), etc.

These conclusions suggest that environmental aspects should be integrated in any technical economical studies usually carried out to compare different CCU research options

LCA appears an useful tools usable at this purpose

Thank you for your attention

FOR MORE INFORMATIONName Surname: Ezio Nicola D’Addario

Job Title: FreelancerContact: ezio.daddario@libero.it