Can power to methane systems be sustainable and can they improve the carbon intensity of renewable methane when used to upgrade biogas produced from grass and slurry?

Vo, Truc T. Q.; Rajendran, Karthik; Murphy, Jerry D.

Can power to methane systems be sustainable and can they improve the carbon intensity of renewable methane when used to upgrade biogas produced from grass and slurry?

dc.contributor.author	Vo, Truc T. Q.
dc.contributor.author	Rajendran, Karthik
dc.contributor.author	Murphy, Jerry D.
dc.contributor.funder	Science Foundation Ireland	en
dc.contributor.funder	Environmental Protection Agency	en
dc.contributor.funder	Ervia, Ireland
dc.date.accessioned	2018-07-23T10:42:22Z
dc.date.available	2018-07-23T10:42:22Z
dc.date.issued	2018-07-06
dc.date.updated	2018-07-23T10:21:15Z
dc.description.abstract	The recast of the renewable energy directive (RED recast) considers power to gas (P2G) an advanced transport biofuel if a 70% greenhouse gas savings as opposed to the fossil fuel displaced is achieved. Power to methane systems can store electricity as gas and the system can be optimised in sourcing CO2 from biogas to upgrade biogas to biomethane. The crucial question in this work is whether P2G systems can be sustainable and if they can improve the sustainability of biomethane systems using traditional upgrading systems. This work evaluates a comparative lifecycle assessment of grass and slurry (50:50 wet weight equivalent to 80:20 volatile solid weight) biomethane using P2G and/or amine scrubbing as an upgrading method. The sustainability of P2G upgrading systems is heavily dependent on the carbon intensity of the source of electricity. Using a 41% decarbonised electricity mix the sustainability was reduced using P2G and would not be deemed sustainable under criterion set by the RED recast. Maintaining a maximum of 2% fugitive CH4 emissions, using 74% slurry (wet weight) in a grass slurry feedstock, allowing for 0.6 t carbon sequestration per hectare per annum in grasslands and using an electricity mix with 85% renewable electricity the whole system including P2G upgrading could satisfy the GHG savings of 70%. However, the traditional system employing amine scrubbing had higher levels of sustainability.	en
dc.description.sponsorship	Environmental Protection Agency (EPA 2016-RE-DS-6)	en
dc.description.status	Peer reviewed	en
dc.description.version	Accepted Version	en
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en
dc.identifier.citation	Vo, T. T. Q., Rajendran, K. and Murphy, J. D. (2018) 'Can power to methane systems be sustainable and can they improve the carbon intensity of renewable methane when used to upgrade biogas produced from grass and slurry?', Applied Energy, 228, pp. 1046-1056. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.06.139	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.06.139
dc.identifier.endpage	1056	en
dc.identifier.issn	0306-2619
dc.identifier.journaltitle	Applied Energy	en
dc.identifier.startpage	1046	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10468/6489
dc.identifier.volume	228	en
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.publisher	Elsevier Ltd	en
dc.relation.project	info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SFI/SFI Research Centres Supplement/12/RC/2302s/IE/Marine Renewable Energy Ireland (MaREI) - EU Grant Manager/	en
dc.rights	© 2018, Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.	en
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/	en
dc.subject	Life cycle assessment	en
dc.subject	Sustainability criteria	en
dc.subject	Advanced biofuels	en
dc.subject	Power to gas	en
dc.subject	Biological methanation	en
dc.subject	Co-digestion	en
dc.title	Can power to methane systems be sustainable and can they improve the carbon intensity of renewable methane when used to upgrade biogas produced from grass and slurry?	en
dc.type	Article (peer-reviewed)	en