• Energy Research
• 12. Responsible consumption close
• Energy Procedia close

AbstractFor a commercial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) chain to be successful, it must satisfy a whole range of requirements: technical, economic, environmental, safety, and societal. A comprehensive, understandable and reproducible assessment of CCS projects is a complex task due to several reasons: wide range of actors and factors involved, substantial differences in the type and nature of both actors and factors, and numerous associated uncertainties. In this paper, a standardised methodology is described and illustrated on a few examples of relatively simple case studies. The proposed methodology provides means and tools for evaluation of several economic, environmental, and in the future also risk associated criteria and thereby enables selection of the most promising options for CCS. The methodology will also help to reduce the uncertainty by improving understanding of the most important dependencies and trends for the investigated key performance indicators as enlightened by the case studies examples. It could also help to design efficient incentives and measures to stimulate realization of CCS by identifying and evaluating the most important non-technical factors affecting the CCS chain viability.

Abstract Solid waste is generally disposed as landfills due to the simplest and cheapest disposal procedures, as compared to incineration and composting. High amount of organic material, particularly food waste (approximately 45%) can be found in the solid waste in this country. Being the most practical solution, landfilling however does not seem to be the most rational approach considering its byproducts, i.e. methane gas and fluidic leachate which could cause high contamination to the air and water. Lately, researchers have placed emphasis in food waste as its high organic content has a great potential of being turned into ethanol or a source of biofuel. Bioethanol is one of the most promising alternative energy sources to diminish the dependence on fossil fuel. It could be produced by the fermentation of sugar-rich crops and food wastes. This paper investigates the use of an electrostatic separator to segregate the food waste and non-food waste from the waste mixtures. Electrostatic separator is capable of separating particles based on the conductivities of the constituent components. It is widely used to sort out particles with high conductivities from those with relatively low conductivities, e.g. to recover conductors from non-conducting mixtures, serving as an environmentally friendly way for recycling without negative impact to the surrounding. In this study, influences of various volumetric ratios of non-food waste, i.e. plastic and glass, on recovery process of food waste would be studied. The findings contribute to reduction of landfill size with rare existence of organic matters in landfills. In addition to the environmental protection, the proposed food waste recovery process would enable the Waste-to-Energy (WtE) development and economical growth from biogas and potential biomass energy generation.

AbstractMaking new coal-fired power plants carbon capture ready (Carbon Capture Ready) in China has been recognised as a crucial by a number of stakeholders academics, energy companies and regional government, based on a study in EU-UK-China NZEC project. A number of publications have investigated the definition, engineering requirements, economic and finance of CCR for China. However there remain a number of questions regarding the extent to which a plant’s physical location might constrain the feasibility of CCS retrofit. To address this issue, a Geographical Information System (GIS) has been used as a tool for mapping current and planned large carbon dioxide sources in Guangdong, also illustrating potential storage sites and calculating possible carbon dioxide transportation route.This paper investigates the location factors that should be considered when locating new build CCR power plants and demonstrates the methodology of using GIS software with spatial analysis in planning new build power plant in Guangdong. A preliminary study has identified over 30 large power plants within the region, with plant locations and historical emission data collected and presented in ArcGIS. Factors such as distance to potential storage site, route of CO2 pipeline, extra space on site and potential development plan etc. were investigated in the modelling and calculated the potential source and sink solution. The study then moves on to suggest possible new build plant locations which can be easily fitted in to the current network, based on economic optimisation. The scope for future coal plant development combined with a possible nuclear plant siting plan is discussed towards the end of the paper.Guangdong province, which owns the third largest coal-fired power installed capacity out of 31 provinces, generated over 8% of China’s total electricity every year for the past 15 years. CO2 storage opportunities could be found in the surrounding South China Sea, where Guangdong has a total of 4,300 km of coastline and some small scale oil fields on shore within the region. It is also among the first places to start the national open and reform policy in China. The province is one of the richest in China, with the highest GDP among all other provinces since 1989, and the foreign trade accounts for more than a quarter of China’s total amount. It also contributes around 12 of the total national economic output. Currently, the provincial government is proposing a low carbon roadmap, which is the first of its kind in China.The work has created a totally new thinking on capture ready power plant planning. This differs from existing studies (e.g., which aim to investigate the existing carbon dioxide emission sources at specified location and provide source and sink matching analysis. Instead the study focuses on policy implementation for new build capture ready power plants. Three clusters within Guangdong province are identified as potential temporary CO2 storage hubs before transporting the gas to a long term storage site. When officials are planning new power plant locations from a capture ready perspective, the plants should not necessarily be close to storage sites in straight line, but rather should be within a reasonable distance of a cluster. Transport of the captured CO2 will not be limited to pipelines, but could be extended to road and rail tankers.Power plant parameters and storage site data were collected for this research. Public transportation, utilities, landscapes, river, land used and population data were referenced from various sources; therefore, some of the data could be out of date. Nevertheless, it should still provide enough information when deciding the location of the transport cluster. Any future work could build on the existing model with updated data. Moreover, it could fit in with the national natural gas transportation network and utility planning network to provide long term integrated energy system analysis.The paper could provide policy makers, investors and urban planning officials with a view on how conventional thermal power plant investment and planning could be optimised, using Carbon Capture Ready designs, to keep the CCS retrofitting option open.

Abstract One of the most prominent urban problems European cities face, is not only the physical degradation of its historic city centers, but also the degradation of their social, economic and environmental context. Moreover, common rehabilitation methods and strategies are often unsuccessful combatting such problem, and new ways and strategies must be researched, tested, and implemented under a new sustainable development policy. Creativity and artistic activities can play an important role in the resolution of this problem. For example, the re-occupation of derelict buildings, through creative and innovative activities, can contribute to resolving the primary issue. While analyzing a comparative case study using three examples: LxFactory in Lisbon, Ateneu Popular 9 Barris in Barcelona, and 59 Rivoli in Paris, it´s possible to conclude that their rehabilitation through art and culture, could produce positive side effects leading to social renovation and solid economic activity within itself and its surrounding area, creating new local economies, jobs, new tourists attractions, real estate opportunities and more. Considering the current standpoint and outlook on rehabilitation, as an action and movement of sustainability, especially at the environmental level, and associating it with the arts and culture movement, will allow it to solve the social and economic problem simultaneously. By introducing new dynamic living spaces in unoccupied and derelict buildings also re-energizes the economic value of the building as well as, most importantly, regenerating the actual city.

AbstractWith the development of a low-carbon economy, the concept of low-carbon tourism is also increasingly popular. The implementation of low-carbon tourism responds to society's collective call for energy conservation and emission reduction. This is also the inevitable choice for sustainable development of tourism. This paper begins by explaining the concepts of low-carbon economy and low-carbon tourism; summarizes the content of low-carbon tourist attractions; describes the current plight of construction of low-carbon tourist attractions in China; and proposes some countermeasures for the construction of standard low-carbon tourist attractions.

This paper describes modifications to improve the feasibility of a pre-combustion CCS concept for a gas turbine combined cycle. A natural gas-fired greenfield combined heat and power (CHP) plant equipped with pre-combustion capture was used as a base case, for which various improvement options were identified, assessed and selected. The base case was modified using the selected improvement options, after which the investment costs were re-evaluated. The results showed that the investment cost can be reduced with 8 % by excluding the pre-reformer and the low temperature water-gas-shift reactor from the reforming process. The exclusion of the pre-reformer did not affect the performance of the plant, but the exclusion of the low temperature water-gas-shift reactor led to higher CO2 emissions.

AbstractBanana peel and biodiesel derived glycerol are one of the most abundant agricultural waste in Southeast Asian countries. This current research demonstrated potential biomethane production from co-digestion of agricultural wastes under mesophilic fermentation. The wastes used include (1) banana peel (varying total solids in the range 2.5-10% w/v) and (2) Banana peel mixed with pure or waste glycerol. All treatments were setup in duplicate in 0.5 L batch reacotr. Gas and liquid samples were collected every 12 and 24 hr, respectively. Maximum methane production potential and yield were 181 mL and 188mL g-1 TS at 7.5% banana peel. The maximum methane production potential and yield of 7.5% banana peel mixed with 7.5 g L-1 pure glycerol (in the presence of buffer) were 467 mL and 151 mL g-1 COD, respectively, while those of 7.5% banana peel mixed with 7.5 g L-1 waste glycerol (in the presence of buffer) were 652 mL and 281 mL g-1 COD, respectively. Small amount of VFAs and ethanol was accumulated in the reactor content. The current findings indicate the potential use of glycerol waste as a co-substrate in biomethane production.

Abstract Improving building thermal performance is important if the UK is to meet the 80% emission reduction target by 2050. Aiming to provide insights into UK building thermal performances, relevant national policies were highlighted and a one-day workshop was run. Real-time responses of industrial stakeholders were collected using Poll Everywhere. The stakeholder perspectives on challenges, barriers, thermal performances and other concerns were reported. It showed that (i) a whole-house retrofit plan was necessary; (ii) improving thermal performances would be challenging but achievable; and (iii) industrial stakeholders were concerned about building performance, legislation, drivers, cost, professional development, technology alternatives and future vision. It was concluded that industrial consultation should be continued to assist thermal performances of buildings in the UK.