Energy, Sustainability and Society最新文献

{"title":"Tackling gender disparities in energy research: a diagnostic tool for equality in research centres","authors":"Sara Sánchez-López,&nbsp;Rocío Poveda-Bautista,&nbsp;Carmen Corona-Sobrino,&nbsp;Paula Otero-Hermida,&nbsp;Mónica García-Melón","doi":"10.1186/s13705-024-00479-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-024-00479-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>In a case study in Spain, the unequal proportion of men and women in a research organization in the energy sector is severe, and long-established dynamics that might determine differences in access to leadership positions and inequalities in research careers are evident. The gender gap in historically masculinized fields, such as energy engineering reflects more than simply the differences in male and female values and personalities. This study seeks to explore the gender gap in energy research centres and to identify barriers that potentially hinder the research careers of women. It proposes the development of a diagnostic tool, based upon indicators, to monitor and evaluate gender roles and inequalities in the management of research centres for identifying and addressing the dynamics and obstacles that hinder women's progress in the energy sector and their potential contribution to the field. This participatory multicriteria-based tool prioritizes the proposed indicators by their influence and importance in the context of energy research and applies it to the monitoring of a specific Spanish energy research centre.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>The results are threefold: (i) the methodology is adaptable to different research centres; (ii) the analysis of indicators’ prioritization could lead to recommendations that should be addressed first; (iii) the diagnostic tool used in this in-depth case study of an energy research centre in Spain allowed results to be achieved in terms of gender dynamics. Two indicators stand out as the most relevant in our analysis: gender diversity in leadership positions and uncomplicated application of work–life balance measures. In this case study, the measurement of the first indicator has drawn unsatisfactory results, and the research of the latter is considered still insufficient. In conclusion, this difference becomes a vicious or negative circle for attracting and retaining more women to the research centre. Despite these results, no gender gap seems to be recognized and thus, no measures are being taken to improve the situation.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Comprehensive data and contextualized monitoring are necessary to effectively study and enhance the presence and participation of women in the energy science sector. This approach, combining quantitative and qualitative techniques, is suitable for any research centre that would like to monitor its gender gap, identify potential sources of inequity and address them.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-024-00479-8","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142045153","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessment of agricultural residue potential for electrification of off-grid communities in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District of Ghana","authors":"Edward A. Awafo,&nbsp;Gilbert A. Akolgo,&nbsp;Augustine Awaafo","doi":"10.1186/s13705-024-00476-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-024-00476-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>There is a close link between the lack of electricity access and poverty indicators such as illiteracy, high infant mortality, lack of access to health care and malnutrition among others. Most rural farming communities in Ghana lack access to electricity due to the high cost of extending the grid to these communities. This lack of access tends to worsen the gap between urban and rural inhabitants regarding access to education, healthcare and development.</p><h3>Methods</h3><p>This study assessed the technical and theoretical potential of agricultural residues in providing electricity to off-grid communities. The study used crop production figures of maize, cassava, millet and groundnut in the Soma and Goyiri farming communities in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District to conduct an assessment of the theoretical and technical potential of residues from the crops. The production figures of these crops were obtained from the District Office of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Expected electricity demand of households, schools and health centers in the study communities were collected and employed for the projected load demand estimates.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>The study found that 312.23 MWh/day of electricity could be generated from the combined residues of maize, cassava, millet and groundnut from the two communities. This amount of electricity is capable of providing ~ 202 to 263 times the peak electricity demand of the studied communities. Out of the total electricity demand of the two communities, only about 91 kWh/day is needed for use in a school and Community Health Promotion and Services (CHPS) compound, implying that the electricity from crop residues can also help to improve education and health provision in the rural communities.</p><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>It is concluded that the potential of crop residues in meeting the electricity demand of off-grid communities is enormous. Hence, it must be considered in Ghana’s energy development plans to achieve universal electricity access.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-024-00476-x","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141985980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Scenario-based LCA for assessing the future environmental impacts of wind offshore energy: An exemplary analysis for a 9.5-MW wind turbine in Germany","authors":"Alicia Benitez,&nbsp;Christina Wulf,&nbsp;Bernhard Steubing,&nbsp;Jutta Geldermann","doi":"10.1186/s13705-024-00474-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-024-00474-z","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Background&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;Offshore wind energy (OWE) will play a significant role in achieving climate neutrality. For example, several scenarios for Germany (e.g., Kopernikus base, Kopernikus 1.5 degree, Prognos CN65, and CN60) depict substantial OWE annual installed capacity additions, especially after 2030. This tendency promotes OWE technology development as deployment expands, allowing manufacturers to gain expertise and optimize wind turbine construction. The global trend towards ever-larger components (e.g., hub height and rotor diameter) is critical to achieving higher-rated capacities. These aspects and others, such as wind quality, influence not only OWE annual electricity production but also its environmental performance. In addition, future supply chains might reduce their environmental impacts and enhance OWE climate change mitigation. In this paper, a prospective life cycle assessment (pLCA) is developed and applied exemplarily for a 9.5-MW offshore wind turbine (OWT) on the North Sea coast of Germany for the years 2030 and 2050. Considering that the current OWTs under construction in Europe have an average capacity of 10 MW, Germany plans to instal OWTs of 9.5-MW. This exemplary OWT describes the potential advances for offshore wind turbines in 2030 and 2050, considering component scale-up and learning effects. Yet, the methodology is adaptable to various installed capacities and regions. This approach allows us to analyse not only the potential future characteristics of wind turbines, but also future developments in OWE supply chains. Therefore, relevant parameters related to OWT construction and operation (e.g., rotor diameter, hub height, distance to the shore, lifetime, etc.) as well as prospective life cycle inventory data for background systems that reflect potential future developments in the broader economy are considered. In this way, scenarios (e.g., optimistic, moderate, and pessimistic) for OWE elucidate the expected environmental impacts, such as climate change, marine eutrophication, and abiotic depletion potential, in 2030 and 2050.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Results&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;The findings describe the variability of the environmental impacts of a 9.5-MW offshore wind turbine representing the technologies expected to be available in Germany in 2030 and 2050 and show that climate change impacts could vary between 7 and 18 g CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;-eq per kWh produced in 2030 and between 5 and 17 g CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;-eq per kWh in 2050. However, marine eutrophication could experience a significant increase (100% increase), depending on the consideration of hydrogen as a fuel in the electricity mix, as demonstrated in the climate-neutral scenarios adopted for Germany. Overall, construction efficiency improvements in 2050 might reduce the required materials, leading to a 6% decrease in abiotic depletion potential compared to 2030 values.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Conclusions&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;This paper highlights the need to consider temporal improvements in LCA studies, particularly","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-024-00474-z","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141973608","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Improving the performance of PV/diesel microgrids via integration of a battery energy storage system: the case of Bilgo village in Burkina Faso","authors":"Daniel Yamegueu,&nbsp;Henri Thomas Nelson,&nbsp;Amidou Singho Boly","doi":"10.1186/s13705-024-00480-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-024-00480-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>PV/diesel microgrids are getting more popular in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa, where the national grid is often unavailable. Most of the time, for economic purposes, these hybrid PV/diesel power plants in rural areas do not include any storage system. This is the case in the Bilgo village in Burkina Faso, where a PV/diesel microgrid without any battery storage system has been set up. This power plant is composed of three diesel generators operating in parallel (two of 16 kW and one of 24 kW), coupled with a photovoltaic field of 30 kWp. It was observed that for such power plants, the grid management is not always efficient due to constantly fluctuating solar output and loads. This inconsistency in energy output raises the question if integrating battery energy storage systems could improve the grid's performance. While many studies in the literature focus on hybrid energy systems, only a few of them have tackled the optimization of existing and operational systems.</p><h3>Methods</h3><p>This study investigated three scenarios based on the existing microgrid's characteristics: conventional standalone diesel generators, PV/diesel without battery storage and PV/diesel with a battery storage system which are the main technologies used for off-grid rural electrification in Burkina Faso. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) was used to assess the economic performance of each scenario, and the calculations were made using the HOMER software.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>It was found that the best among the scenarios considered is the PV/diesel/battery configuration which has the lowest LCOE of US$ 0.524/kWh. The battery storage system for the optimal configuration has a capacity of 182 kWh with about 8 h of autonomy.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>It can be inferred from this study that a storage unit is necessary for an optimal management of a PV/diesel microgrid. Indeed, the storage unit significantly reduces the operating and maintenance costs associated with running diesel generators, as well as the excess electricity. The storage system also allows for a greater reduction in CO₂ emissions compared to systems without storage.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-024-00480-1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141943433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Justice concerns in large-scale renewable energy projects: a case study echoing the importance of procedural justice in wind energy development in Kenya","authors":"Frankline A. Ndi","doi":"10.1186/s13705-024-00482-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-024-00482-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Large-scale renewable energy projects are increasingly being rolled out across rural Kenya, with the government playing a frontline role in attracting energy investors through various state-led and state-centric policies and investment incentives such as feed-in-tariffs and power purchase agreements. While these policies are commendable, and are indeed attracting many private investors, existing studies document how social and environmental justice concerns are often overlooked—sometimes causing local contestations against energy projects. However, to date, there has been less attention given to cases where procedural justice elements (e.g., access to information, access to meaningful participation, access to justice, and respect for local culture) led to a successful land negotiation for energy development without outright conflict. Using a case study in Kenya, this article aims to bridge this gap by showing how a fair application of various elements of procedural justice in land consultation has facilitated the establishment of the Kipeto wind farm. This qualitative research is based on semi-structured interviews that took place from February to March 2023, with a follow-up visit in December the same year, supplemented with review of secondary data sources.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>The results indicate that for energy projects to be accommodated in and by communities, access to land must be properly negotiated, particularly with the actual landowners whose livelihoods are most likely to be implicated by the project. Second, local people’s perception of what they regard as a <i>‘just’</i> or ‘<i>fair</i>’ process of land consultation constitutes the basis for their acquiescence and compliance.</p><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Ensuring a ‘just’ procedure in land consultation with the actual landowners is a key strategy to avoid conflicts. Land investors, governments, and policy-makers who interface and negotiate with communities must ensure the provision of procedural justice, particularly in contexts where local livelihood is tied to land and where land is individually owned. Although the findings suggest a positive case of wind energy development in Kenya, the project is barely 4 years old; things may change overtime if agreed conditions are not met as specified in the MoU. Therefore, additional follow-up research is needed to ascertain the extent to which both KEL and landowners live up to their promises.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-024-00482-z","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141884060","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Characterization of necessary elements for a definition of resilience for the energy system","authors":"Bernhard-Johannes Jesse,&nbsp;Gert Jan Kramer,&nbsp;Vinzenz Koning","doi":"10.1186/s13705-024-00478-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-024-00478-9","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>To reduce the effects of climate change, the current fossil-based energy system must transition to a low-carbon system based largely on renewables. In both academic literature and non-academic discourse concerning the energy transition, resilience is frequently mentioned as an additional objective or requirement. Despite its frequent use, resilience is a very malleable term with different meanings in different contexts.</p><h3>Main text</h3><p>This paper seeks to identify how resilience is understood in the field of the energy system and whether there are similar aspects in the different ways the term is understood. To this end, we review more than 130 papers for definitions of energy system resilience. In addition, we use different aspects to categorize and examine these. The results paint a diverse picture in terms of the definition and understanding of resilience in the energy system. However, a few definition archetypes can be identified. The first uses a straightforward approach, in which the energy system has one clearly defined equilibrium state. Here, resilience is defined in relation to the response of the energy system to a disturbance and its ability to quickly return to its equilibrium. The second type of resilience allows for different equilibriums, to which a resilient energy system can move after a disruption. Another type of resilience focuses more on the process and the actions of the system in response to disruption. Here, resilience is defined as the ability of the system to adapt and change. In the papers reviewed, we find that the operational definition of resilience often encompasses aspects of different archetypes. This diversity shows that resilience is a versatile concept with different elements.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>With this paper, we aim to provide insight into how the understanding of resilience for the energy system differs depending on which aspect of the energy system is studied, and which elements might be necessary for different understandings of resilience. We conclude by providing information and recommendations on the potential usage of the term energy system resilience based on our lessons learned.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2024-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-024-00478-9","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141865322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reply to “Analysis of some of the statements of L. Holmlid about T + D fusion, D + D fusion and ultra-dense hydrogen” by Mikhail L. Shmatov","authors":"Leif Holmlid","doi":"10.1186/s13705-024-00477-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-024-00477-w","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-024-00477-w","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141754210","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prospective life cycle assessment of an electric vehicle equipped with a model magnesium battery","authors":"Sebastián Pinto-Bautista,&nbsp;Manuel Baumann,&nbsp;Marcel Weil","doi":"10.1186/s13705-024-00475-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-024-00475-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Concerns about the sustainability of commercially available batteries have driven the development of post-lithium systems. While previous studies on Magnesium batteries have explored both the potential environmental footprint of battery production and their possible use in stationary applications, their environmental impact in electromobility remains unexplored. This study provides an initial prospective evaluation of the environmental performance of a theoretical Mg–S battery for potential use in electric vehicles (EVs). Utilizing life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, various scenarios are analyzed and compared to conventional systems. The analysis focuses on potential environmental impacts, including climate change, resource criticality, acidification of the biosphere, and particulate matter emissions.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>In the battery pack level, the Magnesium anode and its respective supply chain have been identified as main drivers of environmental burdens. Additional concerns arise from the uneven geographical distribution of Mg production, which leads to dependency on few producers. In terms of resource criticality, the Mg–S battery could carry significant advantages over benchmark systems. A look into the use-phase via theoretical implementation in an electric vehicle (EV) also suggests that the Magnesium based EV could perform on a comparable level to an LIB EV, also outperforming conventional ICEVs in several impact categories.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>This study is based on optimistic assumptions, acknowledging several remaining technical challenges for the Mg battery. Consequently, the results are indicative and carry a significant degree of uncertainty. Nonetheless, they suggest that the Mg–S system shows promising environmental sustainability performance, comparable to other reference systems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2024-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-024-00475-y","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141725736","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The role of specific energy consumption in a heat recovery system for cassava starch production using an integrated agro-industrial system","authors":"Vo Van Giau,&nbsp;Tran Trung Kien,&nbsp;Tran Van Thanh,&nbsp;Tran Thi Hieu,&nbsp;Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao,&nbsp;Le Thanh Son,&nbsp;Hans Schnitzer,&nbsp;Tran Le Luu,&nbsp;Le Thanh Hai","doi":"10.1186/s13705-024-00473-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-024-00473-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>Reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is a crucial issue in the cassava starch processing industry. In this study, the integrated system combining livestock, cassava cultivation and cassava production in the same area leads to both a zero emission goal and economic efficiency, a typical example of an effective agro-industrial symbiosis. A heat exchange/recovery system was applied including the economizer, heat exchanger tank, biogas tank, and boiler. The economizer attached to the boiler’s chimney transfers heat from exhaust gases for pre-heating feed water entering the boiler. The biogas tank recovers energy from the wastewater of starch production and livestock, and the generated biogas was used as fuel for the boiler.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>The energy and exergy efficiency, energy losses, and exergy destruction for the heat recovery system were analyzed. The specific energy consumption was used to evaluate the overall energy efficiency for a cassava starch factory with a capacity of 20 tons/day. The results show that there is a high potential to recycle waste into energy in the cassava starch industry. The total energy saving and reduced greenhouse gas emissions per year of the cassava starch factory were 0.054%/year and 123,564 kgCO₂/per year, respectively.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Cassava starch factories can save energy and reduce emissions when applying a heat recovery system in the integrated agro-industrial system. Excess heat from the production was used for evaporating (removal of) NH₃ in wastewater flow from the biogas tank, and for heating the biogas system to enhance the efficiency of methane production. A biochar filter was attached to the economizer for adsorption of released ammonium, and the biochar after adsorption was combined with sludge from the biogas tank to produce a solid biofertilizer.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2024-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-024-00473-0","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141639785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trade-offs in biomethane production by substrate mixture optimization under German market conditions","authors":"Joshua Güsewell,&nbsp;Milad Rousta,&nbsp;Ludger Eltrop","doi":"10.1186/s13705-024-00471-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13705-024-00471-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>New regulations and market conditions in Germany affect the profitability of biomethane upgrading as a repowering option for existing biogas plants following on-site CHP utilization. These conditions present trade-off challenges between higher sustainability requirements, maintaining production capacity and new revenue opportunities. Optimization methods, such as linear programming (LP), are essential for determining the ideal substrate mixture and profitable solutions amidst multiple market conditions, plant-specific process constraints, and substrate properties.</p><h3>Methods</h3><p>We updated a substrate mixture optimization model within an assessment framework for the repowering of existing biogas plants (BGPs), which focuses on the operator’s perspective. By integrating multiple German biomethane markets for various BGPs, we assessed changes in the substrate mixture, GHG emissions, contribution margins, and constraint parameters to derive conclusions for operators and future framework design.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>Integrating market revenues and constraints can increase contribution margins by 12–55%. Additional gains can be achieved by considering multiple markets simultaneously but limited to a few BGPs. The plant-specific LP solution space and used benchmark market are decisive. The former limits the potential of high substrate-specific contribution margins, which has a significantly higher impact than the relation between plant-specific characteristics and process constraints. The advanced fuel market is currently the lead market for biomethane, incentivizing GHG-emission extensive substrates, decreasing gas production and GHG emissions but increasing levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and partially CO₂ abatement costs.</p><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The key to improve profitability and to supply an increasing biomethane demand while fulfilling new requirements is a large LP solution space. Increasing market options, substrate availability, and digestion system capacity achieve this on the operator’s side. Policy makers could reduce normative requirements such as the maize cap or double counting of advanced fuels and favor high but uniform GHG requirements. Operators can prepare robustly for the future substrate mixture by adding digester volume and pre-treatment tech, ensuring long-term and diverse substrate availability, and contracts with flexible components. Although current market conditions can improve specific GHG emissions, they do not necessarily increase manure usage when other options, such as straw, are viable. Other regulatory support systems will be required to do so.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":539,"journal":{"name":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2024-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s13705-024-00471-2","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141615020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}