• Energy Research

Polymers reinforced with virgin carbon fibers (VCF) are being used to make spar caps of wind turbine (WT) blades and polymers with glass fibers (GF) to make skins of the blade components. Here, we assess the life cycle environmental performance of the hybrid blades with spar caps based on VCF and the shells and shear webs based on RCF (recycled CF) composites (RCF-hybrid). The production of the WT blades and associated reinforced polymers is assumed to occur in Sweden, with their uses and end-of-life management in the European region. The functional unit is equivalent to three blades in an offshore WT with the market incumbent blades solely based on the GF composite or the hybrid option. The RCF-hybrid blades offer 12-89% better environmental performance in nine out of 10 impact categories and 6-26% better in six out of 10 impact categories. The RCF-hybrid blades exhibit optimum environmental performance when the VCF manufacturing facilities are equipped with pollution abatement systems including regenerative thermal oxidizers to reduce ammonia and hydrogen cyanide emissions; spar caps are made using VCF epoxy composites through pultrusion and resin infusion molding, and the blade scrap is mechanically recycled at the end of life. The energy and carbon payback times for the RCF-hybrid blades were found to be 5-13% lower than those of the market incumbents.

© 2020 Mechanical heat treatment of municipal solid waste offers a route for the production and separation of a biofiber fraction with high organic content, which is a potential source of sugars for biochemical conversion to chemicals and fuels. This paper describes a study of the enzymatic digestion of this biofiber fraction using a 50L commercial vertical mixer, applying a commercial cellulase. Power measurements, with calibration of mixer constants using standard Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids were used to determine apparent viscosity of biofiber mixtures, effective shear rate and Reynolds and Power Numbers. Measurements could be easily carried out at high solids contents, >25% dry weight, where initial biofiber mixtures had high viscosity, typically 100–150 Pa S, with strong shear thinning behavior. Microscopy showed that the biofiber contained many individual wood and other plant fibers, which would entangle and so resist shear forces. Partial alignment of these fibers would be responsible for the shear-thinning effect. The fibers were repeatedly cut and reduced in length as a result of enzymatic hydrolysis, responsible for the large fall in viscosity during digestion. The viscosity of the biofiber slurries were monitored up to 48 h digestion time, with analysis of samples to determine sugar monomer content. Digestion kinetics were analyzed using an exponential recovery model, where glucose yields of around 35% were found for digestion of a biofiber derived from standard and also high paper MSW mixtures. Further yield optimization would be required to achieve commercial viability.

1,3-butadiene (butadiene) is a by-product produced during naphtha steam cracking, predominantly used in tyre manufacturing. Recently, steam crackers have converted to using more cost effective, lighter feedstocks such as shale gas, yielding less butadiene. The potential shortfall, coupled with concerns around increasing greenhouse gas emissions, provides a unique opportunity for renewable production. This study investigated the techno-economics and greenhouse gas emissions associated with renewable butadiene production routes within the context of a China located pulp mill. A hybrid bio-catalytic route, utilising black liquor, was compared against two chemo-catalytic routes using forestry residues and pulpwood. The hybrid bio-catalytic route uses a novel aerobic gas fermentation platform, employing heat integrated supercritical water gasification and aerobic gas fermentation to produce acetaldehyde, followed by chemo-catalytic upgrading (Acet-BD). The two chemo-catalytic routes catalytically upgrade biomass derived syngas; where one route (Eth-BD) passes through an ethanol intermediate, and the other (Syn-BD) utilises a series of commercialised catalytic technologies with propene as an intermediate. The hybrid bio/chemo-catalytic route, Acet-BD, was the only route profitable using the nominal techno-economic inputs, producing a Net Present Value of $2.8 million and Minimum Selling Price of $1367 tn−1. In contrast, the two chemo-catalytic routes produced Minimum Selling Prices of $1954 tn−1 (Eth-BD) and $2196 tn−1 (Syn-BD), demonstrating the competitiveness of this novel platform. Sensitivity analyses highlighted the equipment capital as the main contributor to increased Minimum Selling Price for all cases, and the Acet-BD route presented a 19% probability of achieving a positive net present value. Moreover, owed to the low process emissions and sequestration of biogenic carbon, all routes produced net negative emissions within a cradle-to-gate framework. As such, renewable butadiene production has potential as a net carbon sink for pulp mill residues conventionally destined for energy recovery.

Rural living environment governance is an issue of great importance in global economic development. It is also a significant facet of the rural revitalization strategy pursued by the Chinese government. Henan Province is a major agricultural province in the inland Central Plains region and is one of the most populous provinces in China. In this study, we take two villages in the underdeveloped areas of Henan Province in central China as case studies. We use field investigations and in-depth interviews to analyze the feelings of farmers in the case study villages towards the efforts to improve the rural environment, and explored the factors that affect levels of satisfaction with the rural living environment from the perspective of grassroots governance. The results showed that there were significant differences in the perceptions and satisfaction levels of rural residents in the two villages. The grassroots government has great influence over the rural human settlement environment, and its deployment capacities and management level are the key factors that affect overall levels of farmer satisfaction. China’s experience in improving rural human settlements provides reference for rural governance in other developing countries and regions around the world.

Globally, 2.01 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) were generated in 2016, about 37% of which was disposed of into landfills. This study evaluates the environmental and financial viability of producing ethanol from autoclaved MSW via fermentation. Experimental screening of four different microorganisms (i.e., S. cerevisiae, Z. mobilis, E. coli, and S. pombe) and process modelling indicate that MSW-derived ethanol can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions relative to gasoline (84% reduction following EU Renewable Energy Directive accounting methodology, and by 156–231% reduction following the US Energy Independence and Security Act methodology). Utilisation of wastes for biofuel production in the UK benefits from policy support and financial support for renewable fuels (Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates). Financial analysis highlights that microorganisms achieving higher ethanol yield and productivity (S. cerevisiae and Z. mobilis) can achieve financial viability with higher cumulative net present value than E. coli, S. pombe. However, the positive net present value can be achieved primarily due to the benefit of gate fees received by diverting wastes to autoclave and ethanol production (64% of total revenues), rather than from revenues from ethanol sales (7% of total revenues). Key process improvements must be achieved to improve the financial viability of ethanol production from MSW and deliver a clear advantage over waste incineration, specifically improving hydrolysis yield, reducing enzyme loading rate and, to a lesser extent, increasing solid loading rate. The results provide significant insights into the role of policy and technology development to achieve viable waste-to-biofuel systems.

Conversion of wastes to biofuels is a promising route to provide renewable low-carbon fuels, based on a low- or negative-cost feedstock, whose use can avoid negative environmental impacts of conventional waste treatment. However, current policies that employ LCA as a quantitative measure are not adequate for assessing this type of fuel, given their cross-sector interactions and multiple potential product/service streams (energy, fuels, materials, waste treatment service). We employ a case study of butanol and ethanol production from mixed municipal solid waste to demonstrate the challenges in using life cycle assessment to appropriately inform decision-makers. Greenhouse gas emissions results vary from -566 gCO2 eq/MJbiofuel (under US policies that employ system expansion approach) to +86 gCO2 eq/MJbiofuel and +23 gCO2 eq/MJbiofuel (under initial and current EU policies that employ energy-based allocation), relative to gasoline emissions of +94 gCO2 eq. LCA methods used in existing policies thus provide contradictory information to decision-makers regarding the potential for waste-based biofuels. A key factor differentiating life cycle assessment methodologies is the inclusion of avoided impacts of conventional waste treatment in US policies and their exclusion in EU policies. Present EU rules risk discouraging the valorisation of wastes to biofuels thus forcing waste toward lower-value treatment processes and products.

Understanding the material challenge of electrifying passenger vehicles is key to delivering the greenhouse gas emissions reduction that is targeted by transportation sector policies.